AU726262B2

AU726262B2 - Waste treatment apparatus

Info

Publication number: AU726262B2
Application number: AU27253/95A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Leslie Richards
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1994-07-28
Filing date: 1995-07-28
Publication date: 2000-11-02
Anticipated expiration: 2015-07-28
Also published as: AU2725395A

Description

Our Ref RLCS2 P/00/00 1 1 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

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ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Applicant: Leslie Richards of 11 Jamieson Parade Collaroy NSW 2097 Address For Service:' PAUL R. TAYLOR ASSOCIATES Patent and Trademark Attorneys P0 Box 742 SPIT JUNCTION NSW 2088 Australia Invention Title: Waste treament apparatus Inventor: Leslie Richards The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: stpatco.doc The present invention relates to a sewerage treatment apparatus, an d in particular to a sewage treatment apparatus for connection between the toilet pan discharge and the mains sewerage line.

Due to the continuing urbanisation of our environment, an increasing load is being placed on our sewerage and waste water disposal systems. The problems with the treatment of waste solids and sludge and their final disposal is increasing.

The existing systems can be generally divided into three types, as follows: 1. Direct connection to the existing sewerage with all treatment carried out at a centralised treatment works, this having the disadvantage that all the sludge and waste are mixed with a dishwater and shower and bath water creating problems with ~screening and breakdown of solids wastes; 2. Septic tanks, which are used for individual dwellings, require an aeration chamber and allows overflow to pass into the surrounding soil, which can cause pollution problems; and 3. Chemical and biological toilets which hold the waste where it is digested or converted to a less noxious. These units by there 2 very nature can be odorous and unsightly and are not readily acceptably the public at large.

Therefore the present invention seeks to ameliorate these problems by providing in one broad form a sewerage treatment apparatus comprising: a first holding chamber having a top and a base, a sewerage inlet located at or adjacent the top of the first holding chamber; a filter chamber having filter medium located therein, a base and a top, an inlet, in communication with the first holding chamber, located at or adjacent S: the base of the filter chamber, and a treated effluent outlet located at or 10 adjacent the top, at a level the same as or lower than the inlet into the first Sholding chamber; and a baffle wall located in said first holding chamber and having a height intermediate between the sewerage inlet into the holding chamber, and the inlet into the filter chamber, to form a weir to retain solid wastes, from said sewerage, in said holding chamber, where the solids breakdown to form sludge, and as the level of treated and non treated sewerage rises above the height of the baffle wall, said solids and sludge flow, as a result of the head of water caused by the height difference between the level of sewerage in the holding chamber and the outlet from the filter chamber, over the baffle wall and into the filter chamber, for further breakdown, before exiting through the outlet of said filter chamber.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings; in which: Figure 1 shows a crossectional elevation view of a waste treatment apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 shows a sectional plan view of the waste treatment apparatus shown in figure 1 taken in the direction of arrow 2-2; Figure 3 shows a sectional view of the waste treatment apparatus shown in ao oaOo Figure 3 shows a sectional view of the waste treatment apparatus shown in S. figure 1 taken in the direction of arrow 3-3; Figure 4 shows a crossectional elevation view of a waste treatment apparatus according to a further embodiment of the present invention; and Figure 5 shows a sectional plan view of the waste treatment apparatus shown S in figure 4.

One embodiment of a waste treatment apparatus according to the present invention is shown in figures 1 to 3. The apparatus is connected between the toilet pan discharge and the sewer lines. Bath, sink and all other waste water would bypass the waste treatment apparatus in its connection to the sewer line.

The waste treatment apparatus would retain solids and sludge, where they would be broken down by bacteria before passing into the sewer line. One of the problems in large sewer treatment works is the foreign objects that pass down the sewer lines. The waste treatment apparatus would also retain such foreign objects.

As shown in figures 1 to 3, the waste treatment apparatus comprises a tank (1) of suitable size, in this case formed with a concrete slab base with external brick walls and a suitable concrete render The tank could be of made of any suitable plastics.

10 The inlet passes waste from the toilet pan into a first chamber which is separated from a second or filtering chamber by a weir wall The weir wall has a screening opening or grate located adjacent its base, as shown in figures 1 3, communicating with the filtering chamber The filtering chamber can contain suitable type or size of filtering or screening material such as 50mm blue metal or the like. A holding grid (11) can sit on top of the thus formed filter bed material to retain the metal in place. This can allow the bed to rise and separate in the case of hydraulic surges.

Located above the level of the bed (10) is a treated effluent outlet (12) connected to the sewer line (not shown). The outlet has a screen or grate (13) to screen out solids from entering the sewer system.

The system relies on the position of the outlet (12) to determine the height of waste, and thus the retention time the waste in the tank In use solids and liquid waste from the toilet pan flows down the pipe has its outlet (14) located some distance below level of the treated effluent outlet (12).

As can be seen the volume of effluent in the tank builds up until it reaches the height of the treated effluent outlet where the treated effluent flows into the sewer line.

.O In the first chamber a baffle (24) is positioned to prevent clogging of the S: grating The waste builds up in the first chamber with only sludge and 10 solids of small size passing with the liquid into the filtering chamber The :.solids and sludge in the first chamber are broken down by natural bacterial V action, such that only partially broken down particles of small size pass into the filtering chamber As the retention time in the tank is relatively long, usually only liquids and colloidal suspension would pass into the sewer line.

a. i To prevent back flow or over flow of the system, the weir wall has a gap (16) from the roof such that if the grate is blocked, material can flow over the weir wall and out of the outlet (12).

Further, in case of blockage of the outlet (14) of the inlet pipe an overflow outlet (18) is located above the outlet An inspection box (19) and vent 6 are provided in the roof together with a man hole cover where access to the tank can be gained, if it is ever needed to clean out or repair either of the chambers (6 or 7).

A further embodiment is shown in figures 4 and 5, wherein the filtering chamber (23) is located centrally in the tank with a baffle wall (25) surrounding the filtering chamber Thus waste enters into the outer liquefying chamber and where eventually itpasses of the baffle wall (25) and passes through the grate into the filtering chamber (22) and out of the outlet into the sewer line.

10 The tank can be of any suitable material or of any suitable size or shape.

The invention thus provides an effective method of lessening the amount of solids from entering the sewer system and for providing a partial treatment of the effluent, so as to lessen pollution.

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Claims

1. A sewerage treatment apparatus comprising: a first holding chamber having a top and a base, a sewerage inlet located at or adjacent the top of the first holding chamber; a filter chamber having filter medium located therein, a base and a top, an inlet, in communication with the first holding chamber, located at or adjacent the base of the filter chamber, and a treated effluent outlet located at or :f adjacent the top, at a level the same as or lower than the inlet into the first 4 holding chamber; and a baffle wall located in said first holding chamber and having a height ee intermediate between the sewerage inlet into the holding chamber, and the inlet into the filter chamber, to form a weir to retain solid wastes, from said S• sewerage, in said holding chamber, where the solids breakdown to form sludge, S!S..q and as the level of treated and non treated sewerage rises above the height of the baffle wall, said solids and sludge flow, as a result of the head of water caused by the height difference between the level of sewerage in the holding chamber and the outlet from the filter chamber, over the baffle wall and into the ricsl 8 filter chamber, for further breakdown, before exiting through the outlet of said filter chamber.

2. A sewerage treatment apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein all the chambers are located in a single structure.

3. A sewerage treatment apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the holding and filter chambers are cylindrical with the filter chamber located o centrally in the holding chamber with the baffle wall located concentrically o• ,t around the filter chamber. 000.. 4. A sewerage treatment apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the filter medium is granular material such as blue metal or crushed concrete.

9. go b l A sewerage treatment apparatus according to any one of the 0:0.0: preceding claims wherein the outlet from the filter chambemedium is locgranular material such as blue the :metal or crushed concrete.m. 5. A sewerage treatment apparatus according clto any one ofwherein there preceding claims wherein the outlet from the filter chamber is located above the filter medium. 6. A sewerage treatment apparatus according claim 5 wherein there is an over flow diversion from the holding chamber to the outlet of the filter chamber to bypass the filter medium if the filter medium becomes blocked or cannot cope with the rate of inflow of sewerage. ricsl 9 7. A sewerage treatment apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. dated this 28th June 1999 Leslie Richards by his patent attorney PAUL R. TAYLOR ASSOCIATES s 0* ~0 5. S00