GB2249121A

GB2249121A - Water supply system

Info

Publication number: GB2249121A
Application number: GB9023267A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Richard John Hampden Lucy
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1990-10-25
Filing date: 1990-10-25
Publication date: 1992-04-29
Anticipated expiration: 2010-10-25
Also published as: GB2249121B; GB9023267D0

Abstract

A water supply system. e.g. for domestic use, includes a pump unit (30) having a hydraulic motor driven automatically by the pressure of water flow in a primary supply e.g. mains water of drinking quality and a pump driven by the hydraulic motor to transfer a secondary flow of water through a separate piped feed automatically. The main purpose of the system is to economise on use of water by drawing the pumped secondary supply from a lower quality source, e.g. rain-water or recycled used water such as washing water, for sanitary purposes such as supply to W.C.'s. The pump unit and the hydraulic motor suitably comprise a pair of opposing diaphragm type variable volume devices linked together for double acting action (see Figs. 2 and 3 not shown). <IMAGE>

Description

WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM This invention relates to water supply systems e.g.

for houses and other dwellings.

The efficient utilization of water supply is of increasing importance worldwide as population grows, living standards increase, more stringent requirements for water purity are imposed, and primary supplies are under threat from pollution and possible climate changes.

Charging according to usage, e.g. by means of water meters, for mains supply of pure water is common practice in many countries and is under active consideration by water authorities in the U.K. Yet it is common knowledge that much of the pure water supplied, e.g. in a dwelling house, is "wasted" by being used for purposes for which water of drinking quality is quite unnecessary, a particularly notable example being the water used for flushing W.Cs where, in effect, pure water is poured straight down the drain so that it has to go round the treatment and purification cycle again to no real purpose.

The object of the invention is to provide a water supply system which is simple, reliable and economical to install and run and which will make very substantial savings in use or waste of pure water by supplementing the supply of the latter from other sources or recycling a proportion of used water for purposes for which a pure supply is not required.

According to the invention a water supply system includes a hydraulic motor for operation by pressure flow in- a piped feed for delivery of a primary water supply in the system in use, and pumping means operatively coupled to the motor to be driven thereby for transferring a secondary flow of water through another piped feed to supply a part of the system with said secondary flow automatically whenever said primary flow takes place.

The invention further resides in a domestic or other water supply system including a piped feed delivering a pressure flow from a primary water supply, a hydraulic motor operated by said pressure flow, a reservoir or other source of a secondary supply of water of lower quality than the primary supply, and pumping means driven by the motor for transferring water from said secondary supply to a part of the system through another piped feed thereof in use.

The primary flow will commonly be provided from a mains or other supply of pure water suitable for drinking while the secondary flow will be taken from a source of water of lower standard e.g. collected rain or ground water and/or water from the primary flow which has been used, e.g. for washing or the like. Said secondary flow will typically be used to feed or supplement the feed to W.Cs or like sanitary appliances.

Conveniently the hydraulic motor is a device defining one or more variable volume chambers, e.g.

defined by flexible diaphragm(s) which are cyclically expanded and contracted by pressure of the primary flow to provide oscillating motion linked for actuation of the pumping means though it is contemplated that other forms of hydraulic motor could be used.

The pumping means may be a device similar to the above diaphragm or other variable volume motor defining one or more variable volume chambers e.g. defined by flexible diaphragm(s) for impelling the secondary flow through the respective part of the system.

An example of the invention is now more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawing wherein: Figure 1 is an outline diagram of one form of domestic water system incorporating the invention; Figure 2 is a diagrammatic sectional elevation of a hydraulic motor of said system, and Figure 3 is an end elevation of said motor coupled to pumping means of said system.

Parts of a water supply and drainage system of a two storey dwelling house 10 relevant to this example of the application of the invention are shown schematically in Figure 1.

A primary flow of clean water of drinking quality is provided from a mains supply by way of a main stop tap 12 and a supply meter 14 for charging according to consumption. This primary supply is fed through primary pipework 16 to, for example, a kitchen sink 18, a washing machine 20, and a bath 22 in conventional manner. There will normally be other appliances fed from this supply which have not been shown for simplicity, for example a hot water system fed from a primary supply header tank and other appliances such as washbasins. It is to be noted that flushing cisterns 24a, 24b of upstairs and downstairs W.Cs 26a, 26b are not connected to the primary mains supply but are supplied as described hereinafter.

The foul drainage from the W.Cs will be conventional and is not shown.

Conveniently on first entering the house the mains supply is connected through a pump unit 30 which is now described in detail with reference to Figures 2 and 3.

The unit comprises a hydraulic motor 32 including a pair of opposed variable volume chamber devices 34a, 34b including respective flexible diaphragms 36a, 36b linked by a connecting rod 38.

The mains water entering the unit through a connection 40 branches so that the water can flow into either device 34a, 34b by way of respective input valves 42a, 42b and exits from each said device by way of respective delivery valves 44a, 44b before passing to a common output connection 16a of the pipework 16.

The valves 42, 44 are interlinked to operate automatically in response to the displacement of rod 38 by cyclic expansion and contraction of the diaphragms 36 whereby, in the part of the cycle shown in Figure 2, valve 42b is open to admit mains pressure water for expanding the lower diaphragm 36b with valve 44b closed while at the same time input valve 42a of device 34a is closed so that the water is expelled from the chamber of the upper device 34a through valve 44a which is open. As the rod reaches the end of its stroke the valves will change over, 42b and 44a closing as valves 42a and 44b open to repeat the cycle. In this way rod 38 is reciprocated while there is substantially continuous total flow through the motor 32.

Motor 32 is coupled to pumping means of unit 30 as shown diagrammatically in Figure 3. In this example said pumping means comprises å linked pair of variable volume diaphragm devices 46a, 46b which act as a double acting pump when the rod 48 connecting their diaphragm is reciprocated. A simple self-acting one way valve in the connections to units 46 ensures uni-directional flow therethrough. The inputs and outputs of devices 46 are connected in common to suction and delivery pipes 50, 52 for carrying a secondary flow (see Figure 1) which will be further referred to hereafter.

The rods 38 and 48 of the motor 32 and pumping means are drivingly connected by a rocking lever 54 (Figure 3) fulcrummed on a pivoted upright 56, the pivotal connection between the lever and upright being adjustable to selectively vary the ratio between the motor and pump strokes depending on the delivery rate and head to be handled by the latter in the particular installation.

Unit 30 will operate automatically whenever there is any flow (however small) through the primary pipework 16, no electrical or other energy source is required as the power to drive the pump is derived entirely from the mains delivery pressure and the unit will operate without noticeable or significant reduction in effective mains pressure in the majority of cases, indeed the pressure from the supply mains is often found to be excessive for domestic purposes and is quite commonly choked by adjusting the mains stop tap.

Diaphragm devices of this type have few moving parts, do not provide any risk of contamination of the mains water and need little or no maintenance. However, if there should be any failure, n.g. due to a diaphragm splitting, a detector within the casing of unit 30 may be provided which will respond to any leakage of water therein to automatically close all the valves of the unit so that no water flow therethrough or therefrom can take place until a repair has been effected.Isolation valves 54 will preferably be provided in the mains input and output from the unit as indicated in Figure 1 and it is also preferable that a mains by-pass 56 controlled by a valve which will be closed during normal operation is provided so that water supply can continue dependent totally on the mains if unit 30 should be out of service or the secondary supply should not be available for any reason.

Referring again to Figure 1 the secondary part of the system will now be further described. A low level secondary supply reservoir 60, e.g. below ground floor level, collects once-used water draining from e.g. the sink 18, bath 22 and washing machine 20 (the latter producing large quantities of relatively clean nondrinking water through its rinse cycles etc) and it also collects rain water from the house roof via a rain water pipe 62. If the quantity of water reaching reservoir 60 exceeds the quantity drawn therefrom the excess will drain away through an overflow pipe 64. The suction pipe 50 of pump unit 30 is fed from reservoir 60, delivery pipe 52 rising to the top of the house where it discharges into a secondary header tank 66, conveniently in the loft. This tank in turn feeds the flushing cisterns 24 of the W.Cs 26 by way of a down pipe 68.If the secondary supply delivered by unit 30 to tank 66 exceeds the outflow therefrom an overflow 70 will discharge the surplus, preferably by returning it to reservoir 60, e.g. by way of roof drain pipe 62.

If, for any reason, there is insufficient secondary supply to keep tank 66 adequately filled, for example due to pump unit 30 being inoperative, a feed 72 connected to tank 66 from the primary pipework 16 will come into operation to replenish tank 66 from the mains, this back up supply being regulated by a low level ball valve 74 in tank 66.

In the above way the substantial quantities of water needed for flushing the W.Cs are taken from the secondary source of low grade water which would otherwise run to waste, substantially reducing consumption of the more valuable primary supply and making efficient use of resources in that at least a proportion of the primary supply will be used twice.

It will be appreciated that numerous variations in the above system may be made depending on circumstances and requirements, for example the pumped secondary supply might also be utilized for other purposes where clean water is not essential, e.g. for garden or horticultural purposes in a greenhouse or out of doors, particularly desirable in times of drought. Various secondary sources may be applied in this way, for example in localities where there is available ground water or possibly a stream or pond the pump unit could draw the secondary supply therefrom directly or indirectly. In some cases it may not be desirable that waste water from e.g. a kitchen sink, particularly if fitted with a waste disposal unit, is recycled in this way in a raw condition and such waste water may pass direct to the drainage system rather than being directed into the reservoir 60.

It is also or alternatively contemplated that some form of filtration or purification might be applied to the secondary supply before it is recirculated with the possibility of giving it wider usage even though it is not up to the standard of drinking water, and/or possibly so that large quantities of water could be held long term in a secondary reservoir as a reserve to meet times of shortage.

Claims

1. A water supply system including a hydraulic motor for operation by pressure flow in a piped feed far delivery of a primary water supply in the system in use, and pumping means operatively coupled to the motor to be driven thereby for transferring a secondary flow of water through another piped feed to supply a part of the system with said secondary flow automatically whenever said primary flow takes place.

2. A system as in Claim 1 wherein the hydraulic motor comprises one or more variable volume chambers which are operatively cyclically expanded and contracted by pressure of the primary flow to provide oscillating motion linked for actuation of the pumping means.

3. A system as in Claim 2 wherein the or each variable volume chamber is defined by a flexible diaphragm.

4. A system as in Claim 2 or 3 wherein the hydraulic motor includes a pair of variable volume chambers linked together for double acting reciprocation

5. A system as in any preceding claim wherein the pumping means includes one or more variable volume chambers which are cyclically expanded and contracted by operation of the hydraulic motor to impel the secondary flow through the other pipe feel of the system.

6. A system as in Claim 5 wherein the or each variable volume chamber of the pumping means is defined by a flexible diaphragm.

7. A system as in Claim 5 or 6 wherein the pumping means includes a pair of variable volume chambers linked together for double acting reciprocation.

8. A system as in Claim 7 so far as dependent on claim 4 wherein the reciprocating linkages of the motor and pump are drivingly connected by a rocking lever.

9. A system as in Claim 8 wherein the fulcrum point of the lever is selectively adjustable for varying the drive ratio between the motor and pump.

10. A system as in any preceding claim wherein the motor and pumping means include self-acting inlet and delivery valves for continuous automatic operation.

11. A water supply system including a hydraulic motor and pumping means substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

12. A domestic or other water supply system including a piped feed delivering a pressure flow from a primary water supply, a hydraulic motor operated by said pressure flow, a reservoir or other source of a secondary supply of water of lower quality than the primary supply, and pumping means driven by the motor for transferring water from said secondary supply to a part of the system through another piped feed thereof in use.

13. A supply system as in Claim 12 wherein the prinary flow is provided from a mains or other supply of pure water suitable for drinking and the secondary flow is taken from a source of non-drinking water.

14. A system as in Claim 13 wherein the secondary flow is used to feed or supplement the water feed to T.1.C.'s or like sanitary appliances.

15. A domestic water supply systen substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.