Aerating system

Claim 1

Apparatus for agitating and aerating a liquid waste suspension containing suspended organic matter, said apparatus comprising in combination: a holder adopted to contain said liquid suspension, said holder having lateral boundaries and a bottom. agitating and aerating means disposed along said bottom, said agitating and aerating means covering the bottom of said holder, said agitating and aerating means comprising a bag having upper and bottom sheets, each of said sheets being formed of water-impermeable material, said upper sheet being flexible, and somewhat larger in size than said bottom sheet, said sheets being sealed to each other along their entire outer edges and also at spaced apart regions so as to define a plurality of closed inflatable cells disposed in side by side relation, and a plurality of holes in said upper sheet for releasing gas from within said cells at restricted rates so as to form small bubbles that rise in said liquid suspension and make intimate contact with and oxidize said suspended organic matter; means disposed along the periphery of said bag for anchoring said bag to said bottom so that said bottom sheet overlies and engages and is prevented from moving with said respect to said bottom; and gas delivery means coupled to said cells for supplying gas to said cells so that sequentially and repetitively said cells are (a) inflated by inflow of gas from said gas delivery means and (b) deflated by outflow of gas via said holes, and a wave of agitation is produced in the suspension by the sequential and repetitive inflation and deflation of the cells.