Waste water treatment system

Claim 2

Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said last-mentioned means includes a lamp projecting a light beam at an angle with respect to the vertical, a photocell responsive to reflection of said light beam from the upper surface of said blanket when the level of the floc blanket reaches a predetermined level.

Claim 3

Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said feeding means includes a blending chamber, a pump having its inlet communicating with a discharge port of said chamber, the outlet of said pump communicating with said clarifier and said chamber, and means for feeding a dry coagulant into said chamber.

Claim 4

Apparatus in accordance with claim 4 wherein said coagulant feeding means includes a supply hopper, a motor for causing delivery of powdered coagulant from the supply hopper to the chamber, and a switch responsive to the pump outlet for controlling operation of said motor.

Claim 5

Apparatus in accordance with claim 4 wherein said pump outlet communicates with the clarifier by a flexible plastic conduit.

Claim 6

Water-treating apparatus comprising an upflow clarifier, a downflow filter chamber containing filtering means, said filter chamber partially surrounding said clarifier and having its upper end communicating with the upper end of said clarifier, an upflow adsorbtion chamber containing adsorbtion means, said adsorbtion chamber partially surrounding said clarifier, pumping means for pumping water from the bottom of said downflow filter chamber upwardly through said adsorption chamber, a clearwell chamber communicating with the upper end of said adsorbtion chamber, means for feeding a mixture of water to be treated and coagulant into the bottom of said clarifier, said feeding means including a blending chamber and a pump, said blending chamber having an inlet port and a discharge port, said pump having its inlet communicating with said discharge port of said blending chamber and its outlet communicating with said clarifier and said inlet port of said blending chamber, means for feeding a dry coagulant into said blending chamber, said dry coagulant feeding means including a supply hopper and a motor for causing delivery of said dry coagulant from said supply hopper to said blending chamber, a switch responsive to the pressure in said pump outlet for controlling operation of said motor, and means for limiting the upper level of a floc blanket in said clarifier.

Claim 7

Water-treating apparatus comprising an upflow clarifier, a downflow filter chamber containing filtering means, said filter chamber partially surrounding said clarifier and having its upper end communicating with the upper end of said clarifier, an upflow adsorbtion chamber containing adsorbtion means, said adsorbtion chamber partially surrounding said clarifier, pumping means for pumping water from the bottom of said downflow filter chamber upwardly through said adsorbtion chamber, a clearwell chamber communicating with the upper end of said adsorbtion chamber, means for feeding a mixture of water to be treated and coagulant into the bottom of said clarifier, said feeding means including a blending chamber and a pump, said blending chamber having an inlet port and a discharge port, said pump having its inlet communicating with said discharge port of said blending chamber and its outlet communicating with said clarifier and said inlet port of said chamber, means for feeding a dry coagulant into said blending chamber, said pump outlet communicating with said clarifier by a flexible plastic conduit, and means for limiting the upper level of a floc blanket in said clarifier.

Claim 8

Water-treating apparatus comprising a first chamber disposed in an upright position defining an upflow clarifier, said chamber having an inlet conduit at its lower end and an outlet conduit at its upper end, a pump having an inlet and an outlet, a blending chamber having an inlet and an outlet, motor means for feeding a dry coagulant to said blending chamber, said pump outlet being connected to said inlet of said clarifier and said inlet of said blending chamber so that portions of the outlet of said pump flow to both said clarifier and said blending chamber whereby said dry coagulant is mixed with water from said pump outlet, and means for limiting the upper level of the floc blanket in said clarifier.

Claim 9

Apparatus in accordance with claim 9 wherein said means for limiting the upper level of said floc blanket include a floc blanket detector and an outlet at the lower end of said clarifier, said outlet at said lower end comprising a drain conduit and a valve, said valve in said drain conduit being responsive to detection of a floc blanket by said detector to open thereby removing the contents of said clarifier through said drain conduit at the lower end of said clarifier without altering said floc blanket when its upper level rises above a predetermined level.

Claim 10

Apparatus in accordance with claim 10 wherein said floc blanket detector is disposed above the floc blanket and includes means for projecting a beam onto said floc blanket and means for sensing the presence of said beam on a predetermined portion of said floc blanket to open said drain valve.

Claim 11

Apparatus in accordance with claim 10 wherein said detector includes a lamp projecting a light beam at an acute angle with respect to the vertical, and a downwardly directed photocell responsive to reflection of said light beam on the upper surface of said blanket.

Claim 12

Apparatus in accordance with claim 9 wherein the portion of the pump outlet communicating the pump with the upflow clarifier is at least in part a flexible plastic conduit containing a pressure switch, and said motor means being responsive to said pressure switch whereby the motor means is operative only when a predetermined discharge pressure is present in said flexible conduit.