IL32259A - Apparatus of collecting rainwater - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to apparatus for collection of In many tropical in particular coastal areas and severe water shortage is experienced at certain seasons of the although at certain other times of year there may be substantial local which if collected could be used to augment supplies at other times of the it is necessary to provide large catchment areas for this purpose and it is desirable not to sterilise otherwise usable land by employing it as a catchment The pal object of this invention is therefore to for rain catchment such areas as salt tidal lagoons and sheltered sea coves and which are ently or periodically covered by tropical areas it is necessary to protect the face of collected rainwater to prevent rapid evaporation loss an apparatus for and accordingly the present invention collecting rainwater in which it is collected on a catchment surface and is run into a collecting vessel at a level neath the catchment means being provided for ing the catchment surface and collecting In this arrangement the contents of the collection vessel are tected from excessive evaporation by the catchment surface and the method may be carried out at catchment areas which are either permanently bays and or alternately and dry tidal or indeed areas which are only at certain periods of the carrying this invention into effect the apparatus employed comprises a floating structure for gathering and storing Preferably the apparatus is constructed in a readily transportable form and is built up from separate units of convenient size using plastic The vidual units are constructed so that one unit can be readily joined to one or more additional units to provide a ment area of any desired size by merely joining the required number of The individual units preferably each comprise a deck which slopes inwardly to one or more preferably a single orifice arranged centrally of the the orifice preferably being provided with a simple form of valve so that the weight of collected water opens the valve and allows the water to run through into a collecting vessel whilst the orifice remains closed at other times to minimise the loss of water by Whilst the deck is preferably rectangular for convenience in joining it to the deck of neighbouring units and so that the bined collecting area provided by the decks of a large number of connected units is as large as possible in relation to the superficial area occupied by the the shape of the under lying collecting vessel may be the same as that of the deck or of some other such as The collecting vessel may be constructed so as to be inherently buoyant or a separate buoyancy means may be either connected to the collecting vessel or to the Where the units are to be used in any area which may dry out the units are preferably provided with supporting legs on which they may rest so as to avoid the collecting preferably formed of light gauge plastic from coming into contact with the Whilst the deck may be made it can be made of flexible sheet material and in such case it is only necessary that the deck should be constructed in such a way that collected water will gather in the area of the orifice and run through under its own weights it is only necessary that the deck should assume a sloping condition under the weight of a small quantity of The deck is preferably formed of material providing a so as to minimise heat transfer to the interior of the collecting vessel and to have a low heat The distance from any point on the deck to an orifice is also preferably arranged to be quite The purpose of these two measures is to minimise the evaporation which can be large in relation to total rainfall where large concrete areas are provided on hillsides for catchment The deck is also preferably thermally insulating to minimise pressure changes within the vessel through changes in internal The collecting vessel in each case is preferably provided with two outlet connections in the lower part of the This permits an array of units to be connected together to permit collected water to be pumped out by a single Referring now to the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a plan view showing a particular ment of the present invention having a square shape although other shapes can be used as the shape of the structure is not of great significance to its Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of the present figure 4 is a section of a further modified Referring to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings a collecting vessel 14 is formed of thin flexible plastic sheet material and may be of any desired dimension or has a deck 2 with a suitable slope draining to an opening through which falling on the surface 2 of the drains into the vessel The vessel 14 is provided with a side wall and a bottom to complete a fully enclosed container except for holes for the entry and withdrawal of liquid therein A detachable flotation collar 5 provided around the periphery of the The collar turn is provided with a barrier 6 of sufficient height to prevent waves from breaking over the top of the buoyancy collar and on to the deck An auxiliary detachable frame jointed by any suitable means 11 may be provided to support the vessel 14 to prevent it coming to rest on the bottom of a pond or lagoon after the water in which it is floated has receded or should it be desired to utilise the vessel on dry Such supports 9 may be placed diagonally between the points 17 and and 18 and respectively or along the line connecting the points 18 and 19 and 17 and 20 and Figure In order to prevent the vessel from collapsing inwards as it fills with additional struts 10 follow the direction of supporting members 9 to hold the uppermost parts thereof at a predetermined Each vessel is fitted for attachment to one or more receptacles around its In the drawings the provided for this purpose is shown as a surrounding tongue on the flotation collar Grommets 8 are placed at suitable intervals in tongue so that each unit may be joined to other units by connectors When the apparatus is to act as a floating unit the buoyancy collar with the wave barrier 6 is attached along line 24 to the collecting vessel by suitable means such as zippers or lacing through When the collecting vessel is to be used on dry land the buoyancy collar removed and the supporting frame 9 is placed through grommets 23 at points suitably spaced around the tongue 3 having a flange larger than the grommet below with a clamp or other suitable fixture 25 above the grommet to support the collecting vessel around its upper Stiffening members 10 to maintain the shape of the upper surface of the receptacle may be required for both the floating and ground The vessel 14 is provided with an outlet pipe 21 which is connected by a sleeve 22 to a common outlet for a number of units from which the contained liquid may be withdrawn by pumping or by the application of compressed air to the interior of any one or more Alternatively the vessel may be provided with a pair of outlet so that the collecting vessels of an array of units may be connected up in As shown in Figure a flap 12 is positioned beneath the hole 1 and is hinged on one side and to remain closed except when there is sufficient liquid above the flap to open it sufficiently for the liquid to drain into the collecting vessel This flap 12 is designed with sufficient strength to seal the container when it is emptied by the introduction of compressed The upper surface of the deck 2 is provided with a white exterior surface to reflect heat and may be provided with additional layer of insulation 16 to minimise the heating of the contained liquid and thus minimise evaporation losses and pressure It is intended that the apparatus of this invention may be employed as a floating structure carried by a supporting buoyancy collar or as a structure which may alternately float or rest on the bottom on supporting members 9 s the water level Both the buoyancy collar 5 and the supporting members 9 are detachable and may be used together or It should also be understood that it is the intention that a large number of units as described be joined together to cover large areas of water ponds or marshes subject to tidal oscillations or periodic It should also be understood that it is the intention of the invention that similar units may be supported on dry land around their upper periphery by support 9 and with each unit on a relatively flat surface but if the contour of the land demands rows of can be stepped down in successive terraces with the drainage flowing towards the storage units at the lower level under controlled conditions by providing valves at the junction 22 of the drainage pipe connecting different levels of containment The use of a valve at each orifice is a special feature of the present invention in that it greatly reduces the loss of collected water in tropical and tropical territories where the apparatus of the present invention finds its principal When the deck is formed of thin flexible plastic sheet the deck rises when exposed to strong sunlight and assumes a convex but it is found that as soon as the rain starts to the cooling effect of the rain leads to almost i mediate fall of the deck to a position in which water is collected around the orifice or The apparatus of Figure a very simple unit made from thin flexible plastic sheet and comprises a series of inflatable rings 32 33 secured to each other and carrying a floor and a deck each formed of a single thickness of plastic The deck 35 provided with an orifice 36 which is normally retained in the closed condition by a valve 37 of any simple In this case the rings could be replaced by a single ring of larger volume when in the inflated A further type of unit is illustrated in Figure This comprises a ring which is substantially rigid in the vertical connected by a flexible side wall to a bottom plate which can move between the upper and lower positions A rigid deck is connected to the ring 40 and is provided with a central orifice 44 having a valve Owing to the fact that the collected rainwater and the unit is floated in salt adequate buoyancy is provided by the air entrapped in the space 46 under the 43 preferably moulded from a rigid plastic preferably a cellular plastic to provide good thermal The deck is preferably square for ease of connection to other units and is provided with such as those shown at in Figure for attachment to other like The hang of the deck provides an effective wave Both the constructions of Figures and may be vided with supporting as in the case of Figures 1 and Furthermore the collecting space may be provided with one or more outlet pipes for interconnection with other insufficientOCRQuality

Claims (1)

1. WHAT IS CL AIMED IS : 1. A unit for colleoting rainwater coapriaing a colleoting vessel, a deck covering substantially the whole superficial area occupied by the vessel and closing the aouth thereof and a buoyanoy means for supporting said colleoting vessel and deck, the surface of the deck sloping inwardly to at least one orifice tlirough whioh rainwater falling on the deck oay enter the vessel* and the wall of the colleoting vessel below said deck being substantially free fron openings to atmosphere whoreby substantially the whole volume enclosed by the colleoting vessel and deck are available for collection of rainwater* 2* A unit according to claim 1 in whioh each orifice in said deck is provided with a non-return valve openable by the pressure of the overlying rainwater to allow passage thereof into the collecting vessel* said valve being normally closed to prevent emission of water vapour and thus minimise evaporation loss of water collected in the vessel* J* A unit according to any preceding claim wherein the deck is formed of a thin flexible plastics material* 4· A unit according to any preceding claim including a buoyancy oollar arranged around the upper edge of the collecting vessel adjacent to the deck to buoyantly support the unit* 5· A unit according to claim 1 comprising at least one inflatable ring forming the side wall of a collecting vessel* a thin plastics sheet connected to the lower end of said ring and forming the floor of said collecting vessel* and a thin plastics sheet conneoted to the top end of the ring and forming the deck of the unit, eaid deck sloping inwardly to an orifice provided with a nonreturn valve. 6. A unit according to claim 5 in which the side wall of the unit is formed of a plurality of superposed inflatable rings. 7· A unit according to claim 1 provided with a supporting framework adapted to contact the ground and maintain the bottom of the collecting vessel out of contact with the ground when not supported buoyantly.