Ultrafiltration membrane cartridge separation system

Claim 1

An ultrafiltration system using membrane cartridges comprising: a vertical water pump casing defining a flow path for water therethrough and having upper and lower end portions; inlet and outlet means for water in said pump casing; a submersible axial-flow pump mounted in said casing comprising a pump motor and an impeller connected to said motor for being rotatably driven by said motor to pump water through said casing; a plurality of separate upper fluid flow conduits having uper portions substantially radially extending from and connected in fluid flow relationship with said upper end portion of said casing and downwardly extending distal end portions; a corresponding plurality of separate lower fluid flow conduits having lower portions substantially radially extending from and connected in fluid flow relationship with said lower end portion of said casing and upwardly extending distal end portions; a plurality of separate filtration cartridge housings spaced radially outwardly with respect to said pump casing and spaced with respect to each other, each housing being hollow and having opposite ends connected respectively in fluid flow relationship with said distal ends of said fluid flow conduit and corresponding lower fluid flow conduits, so that said casing, upper and lower fluid flow conduit and cartridge housings comprise a plurality of separate fluid flow circuits for water pumped by said pump; hatch means on each cartridge housing for providing access to the interior of each housing and for passing filtration cartridges therethrough; and at least one box-shaped ultrafiltration cartridge detachably mounted in the hollow interior of at least one of said cartridge housings for filtering water flowing through said at least one cartridge housing.