JP2000288539A - Prevention of bacterial contamination of reverse osmosis membrane water purifier, and bacteria-removing and antibacterial system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the bacterial contamination of a reverse osmosis membrane water purifier by installing a bacteria-removing filter prepared by integrally forming a silver-activated carbon and an MF or UF hollow yarn membrane at between a posttreatment activated carbon filter installed at the last step of a water purification system and a water storage tank. SOLUTION: Water is introduced through a raw water supply hose connected to a water tap into a pretreatment filtration filter 1, wherein rust components and solid components in water are removed, The water is then pressurized by a pressure pump 3 and is introduced into a pretreatment activated carbon filter 4. When the fullness of water in a storage tank 10 is detected, a raw water supply valve 2 is closed and the pressure pump 3 is stopped. The water freed of chlorine, carcinogen, and organic substances by the pretreatment activated carbon filter 4 is caused to pass through a reverse osmosis membrane filter 5, a posttreatment activated carbon filter 7 and a bacteria-removing filter 8a having a silver-activated carbon and an MF (or UF) hollow yarn membrane attached thereto, thus being purified and sterilized. The resultant pure water is stored in a water storage tank 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the construction of an antibacterial and antibacterial system for a reverse osmosis membrane water purifier.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, reverse osmosis membrane water purifiers are said to be superior to other water purification systems developed so far in removing pollutants.

[0003] However, purified water that has passed through a reverse osmosis membrane filter in a reverse osmosis membrane water purification system has a superior ability to remove the reverse osmosis membrane, so that the pH tends to be lower than that of raw water. The filter material may smell the filter material), and the taste of the filter is unsatisfactory. Most reverse osmosis water purifier manufacturers in the world Later, by using an activated carbon filter (alias: post-treated activated carbon filter)
This activated carbon filter is contaminated with bacteria in a short time, and it is used by most reverse osmosis water purifier manufacturers because the bacteria are contaminated by water in a storage tank (the water is purified through fine pores. The use of this activated carbon filter is the main cause of contaminating the clean water in the water storage tank with bacteria.

[0004] Further, fine dust generated from the activated carbon filter also flows into the water storage tank and becomes nutrients for the bacteria, thereby further contaminating the bacteria in the water storage tank.

[0005] Generally, the water storage tank is made of plastic (ABS resin, PE resin, etc.), but the water stored completely cannot be used 100% at a time and only a part of the water is used. In the process of mixing the water remaining in the water storage tank and the newly-entered purified water, the water comes into contact with air and is further contaminated with bacteria.

As a result, reverse osmosis membrane water purifiers have been provided because of the problems described above after the reverse osmosis membrane filter even if the various contaminants are completely removed through an extremely fine reverse osmosis membrane filter. Unless the problem of bacterial contamination of the activated carbon filter (also known as post-treated activated carbon filter) can be fundamentally solved, bacterial contamination of purified water in the water storage tank is an unavoidable problem.

Therefore, in order to solve such a bacterial problem, most water purifier manufacturers recommend that consumers (users) clean their water storage tanks regularly (three to four times a month). However, it is difficult to implement in practice, the effect is unknown and it is not a fundamental solution, and there is a method of passing water by installing an ultraviolet lamp in the water purification system, Not only does it have no germicidal effect, it also creates new problems such as safety issues on the human body due to ultraviolet rays and corrosion problems of materials (such as ABS resin and PE resin used in each part of the water purifier), and is practical. In fact, this is not yet a fundamental solution to the bacterial problem.

In addition, in the case of an undersink type reverse osmosis membrane water purifier installed under a sink base, an activated carbon filter is generally used in a process of pouring water from a pressure tank to a water intake faucet. Since the filter is easily contaminated by bacteria, the water taken from the water intake faucet is left unprotected in terms of bacterial contamination.

[0009]

In a reverse osmosis membrane water purifier, the problem of bacterial contamination occurring in a water storage tank or a pressure tank provided for the convenience of consumers due to the characteristics of a water purification system having a small amount of purified water is reduced. Activated carbon and MF (or UF)
With a sterilization filter integrated with a hollow fiber membrane,
In addition, bacterial contamination generated in purified water in the water storage tank due to contact with air during long-term storage is prevented by the silver-impregnated antibacterial ceramic cartridge filled with silver-impregnated antibacterial ceramic balls.

[0010] As described above, the present invention aims to completely solve the problem of bacterial contamination in a manner safe for the human body while satisfying economy and practicality.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, silver activated carbon and MF (or U.S.A.) are used in the final stage of a water purification system of a reverse osmosis membrane water purifier.
F) Equipped with a disinfecting filter integrated with a hollow fiber membrane, silver activated carbon plays a role in suppressing the generation of bacteria and removing odor, and MF (or UF) hollow fiber membrane is generated from activated carbon. Completely removes fine particles and bacteria that could not be treated with silver activated carbon, completely blocks the flow of fine particles, which become nutrients for bacteria and bacteria, into the water storage tank, and prevents contamination in the tank by the activated carbon filter. Prevent.

Further, in order to prevent the purified water in the water storage tank from being contaminated by contact with air, the silver-impregnated antimicrobial ceramic ball is floated on the purified water in the water storage tank. The antibacterial metal (silver) ions eluted from the water uniformly spread into the purified water being stored, and play a role in suppressing and preventing bacterial contamination.

In the case of an undersink type reverse osmosis membrane water purifier provided with a pressure tank instead of a water storage tank, water is discharged by connecting a tube from the pressure tank (purified water tank) to a water intake faucet. Therefore, a tube between the pressure tank and the water intake faucet is equipped with a disinfecting filter to completely prevent bacterial contamination.

[0014]

According to the characteristics of the system having a small amount of purified water, in a reverse osmosis membrane water purifier provided with a storage tank, a disinfecting filter integrated with silver activated carbon and MF (or UF) hollow fiber membrane is used. Bacteria and activated carbon from the activated carbon filter (also known as post-treated activated carbon filter) provided to solve problems such as the pH, odor, and taste of purified water passed through the reverse osmosis membrane filter Prevents contamination in the water storage tank by blocking the fine dust that becomes nutrients of bacteria from flowing into the water storage tank.

Further, by floating the silver-impregnated antibacterial ceramic cartridge in the water storage tank (silver ions have a higher specific gravity than water), silver ions eluted from the silver-impregnated antibacterial ceramic balls in the purified water in the tank are uniform. And a small amount of silver ions of 50 ppb or less (10 ppb to 1
5 ppb) to prevent the purified water stored in the water storage tank from being contaminated with bacteria by contact with air.

In the case of an undersink type reverse osmosis membrane water purifier, a disinfection filter is installed between the pressure tank and the water intake faucet, and a system in which water discharged from the water intake faucet passes through the sterilization filter. The purified water can be completely sanitized.

Such a system completely solves the problem of bacterial contamination, and is free from the bacterial problem during use of the water purifier or when the water purifier is not used for a certain period of course. Non-economic and impractical problems due to washing, human safety problems due to the use of ultraviolet filters, and corrosion problems of materials (such as ABS resin and PE resin used in each part of the water purifier). Solvable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a water piping diagram of a water purification system of a reverse osmosis membrane water purifier according to the present invention, which is used to explain a schematic water purification process. Water is introduced into the body of the reverse osmosis water purifier through a raw water supply hose connected to a raw water supply hose (not shown in the drawing), and a pretreatment filtration filter (1) (which mainly floats in the water with rust components). That serve to remove solid matter).

The raw water supply valve (2) is closed when the water level sensor of the storage tank (10) detects that water is full, and is connected to the pressurized pump (3) through the raw water supply valve (2). Stops operation.

After chlorine, carcinogens and organic chemicals in the water are removed by the pretreated activated carbon filter (4), the filter is connected to a reverse osmosis membrane filter (5) and dissolved in water of 0.0001 micron or more. Most of the pollutants and harmful components that have been removed are removed.

At this time, the impurities removed by the reverse osmosis membrane filter (5) are discharged to the outside through the concentrated water control valve (6), and the purified water is purified through the activated carbon filter (7). Improve the taste of water,
Odor and gas components are removed.

Then, as shown in FIG. 2 (a), the water which has passed through the post-treated activated carbon filter (7) is a silver activated carbon (13a) according to the present invention and an MF (or UF) hollow fiber membrane (12a).
Is passed through the disinfecting filter (8a) equipped with the silver activated carbon (13a). At this time, the silver activated carbon (13a) further improves the taste of water and elutes silver ions, thereby preventing bacterial growth. In addition, the silver ions flow into the water storage tank and also serve to help antibacterial in the tank. On the other hand, MF (or UF) hollow fiber membrane (12a)
Performs a role of completely removing fine dust discharged from activated carbon and completely removing bacteria that could not be treated with silver activated carbon. As shown in FIG. 2 (b), the silver activated carbon (13a) and the MF (or UF) hollow fiber membrane (12a) as the materials inside the sterilization filter (8a) are respectively replaced with the silver activated carbon filter (13b) and the MF ( Or UF) separated as a hollow fiber membrane filter (12b) and used by attaching both filters together, or as shown in FIG. 2 (c), the sterilization filter (8a) was replaced with a post-treated activated carbon filter (7). ) Can be used as an alternative filter (8b) to perform the same function as the sterilization filter (8a).

The purified water that has undergone the above treatment is stored in the water storage tank (10) through a tube. The purified water in the water storage tank (10) is stagnated for a certain period of time (when the water purifier is not used). ) While repeating the process of pouring (when purified water is discharged by using a water purifier) and flowing in (when purified water is newly flowing into the water storage tank), it is brought into contact with outside air, However, the conventional water purifier has not been able to provide a solution that can fundamentally solve the bacterial contamination problem in the water storage tank (10).

FIG. 3 shows an antibacterial system in a water storage tank according to the present invention.
The silver-impregnated antibacterial ceramic cartridge (9) equipped with 5) and the float (14) is floated on purified water in a water storage tank (10) which may be contaminated with various bacteria by contact with external air.

At this time, the silver-impregnated antibacterial ceramic balls (15) contained in the cartridge get wet with water, and the water is absorbed into the porous gaps inside the ceramic balls.

The silver-impregnated antibacterial ceramic ball (15) wetted with water releases antibacterial metal (silver) ions. The antibacterial metal (silver) ions released in this way are transferred to the water storage tank (10) purified water. It slowly spreads inside like an arrow. Silver ions have been reported to be more effective at killing bacteria than other metal ions.
It has been clarified that silver ions in pb units are harmless to the human body, and in Europe and the like, sterilization treatment of drinking water using silver ions has been generalized as a water purification treatment system.

However, in some countries such as the United States, silver ions are a secondary pollutant (SECOND) due to drinking water quality standards.
ARY CONTAMINANT)
Since the permissible standard is regulated at 50 ppb or less, in the present invention, silver ions are spread uniformly in the tank by floating the silver-impregnated antibacterial ceramic cartridge in the water storage tank, and a small amount of elution (10 ppb to 15 pp
In b), the antibacterial effect was enhanced so as not to exceed 50 ppb.

Under these conditions, silver ions eluted from the silver-impregnated antibacterial ceramic balls (15) slowly spread into the water in the water storage tank while destroying the metabolic action of bacteria invading by contact with the outside air, and completely. Kill and always maintain fresh and clean water.

Further, the water in the water storage tank (10) stagnates for a certain period of time (when the water purifier is not used), discharges (when purified water is discharged by using the water purifier), and inflows (purifies water into the water storage tank). When the concentration of silver ions in the purified water changes while repeating the process (when water is newly introduced), a certain amount of silver ions are eluted from the silver-impregnated antibacterial ceramic balls, and the concentration is kept in equilibrium. The purified water in the water storage tank (10) is always kept in a sterile state.

As a result, the user is free from the problem of contamination such as bacteria during use of the water purifier or even when the water purifier is not used for a certain period of time.

FIG. 4 shows a disinfection system in an undersink type reverse osmosis membrane water purifier, which is connected to a water tap (not shown in the drawing) to supply tap water through a raw water supply hose. It flows into the vessel body and is connected to a pretreatment filtration filter. This serves to remove red rust components and solids suspended in water.

In general, when the water pressure is low, after the chlorine, carcinogens and organic chemicals in the water are removed by a pretreatment activated carbon filter (4) through a pressurizing pump (3) used, AUTO is used. -SHUT-OFF VALVE
Through (16), it is connected to the reverse osmosis membrane filter (5).

At this time, AUTO-SHUT-OFF VA
The role of LVE (16) is that the purified water is stored in a pressure tank (18), so that a constant pressure (1-2 k
If gf / cm ² ) is generated, it shuts off raw water.

[0034] In the reverse osmosis membrane filter (5), the osmotic pressure is 0.1 mm.
Most contaminants and harmful components in water of 0001 microns or more are removed, and impurities that have not passed through the reverse osmosis membrane filter are discharged to the outside through the concentrated water control valve (6). Through the activated carbon filter (7), the pH is increased, the taste of water is improved, and the odor and gas components are removed.

The purified water thus purified is stored in the pressure tank (18) via a water pressure switch (17) for sensing the pressure in the pressure tank (18).

At this time, if water is stored in the pressure tank (18) and a constant pressure (1-2 kgt / cm ² ) is generated, the water pressure switch (17) detects this and pressurizes the pressure pump (18). 3) Turn off the power and AUTO-SHUT-O
FF VALVE (16) shuts off the input of raw water (tap water).

FIG. 5 is a detailed view of a part of the sterilization filter system in FIG. 4. The purified water stored in the pressure tank (18) is supplied to a water tap by a consumer (user) in order to discharge water. 19), the silver activated carbon (13a) passes through a sterilizing filter (8a) equipped with a MF (or UF) hollow fiber membrane (12a). At this time, the silver activated carbon (13a) further increases the taste of water. The MF (or UF) hollow fiber membrane (12a) completely removes fine dust escaping from the activated carbon, and prevents bacteria that could not be treated with silver activated carbon. Perform the role of perfect removal.

As a result, the user is free from the problem of contamination such as bacteria during use of the water purifier or even when the water purifier is not used for a certain period of time.

FIG. 6 shows the measurement results of the number of general bacteria generated in the water storage tank of a reverse osmosis membrane water purifier adopting a general reverse osmosis membrane water purification system. For each type of water purifier and each region, measurements were made by arbitrarily selecting places that could be used and gained cooperation. Each numerical value is a number that greatly exceeds the water quality standard value of 100 bacteria / ml for general bacteria according to the water supply law.

FIG. 7 shows the measurement results of the number of general bacteria in a water storage tank for 53 weeks (about one year) in a reverse osmosis membrane water purifier equipped with the disinfecting and antibacterial system of the present invention.
Even after a long period of 53 weeks, a perfect antibacterial effect with a general bacteria count of 0 has been obtained.

FIG. 8 shows an antibacterial test of a silver-impregnated antibacterial ceramic ball filled in a silver-impregnated antibacterial ceramic cartridge used in the sterilization and antibacterial system of the present invention. This figure compares the natural increase number of general bacteria in a flask containing silver-impregnated antibacterial ceramic balls and a flask without silver-impregnated antibacterial ceramic balls (control). As shown in FIG. 8, the number of general bacteria in the flask containing the silver-impregnated antibacterial ceramic ball was almost zero after 8 hours, whereas the control one was greatly increased. It shows that it has antibacterial activity.

FIG. 9 shows the results of measurement of general bacterial contamination due to the passage of water through a post-treated activated carbon filter generally used in a reverse osmosis membrane water purifier, and the antibacterial effect of passing water through a silver activated carbon filter of each manufacturer. This is the result of the study.

FIG. 10 shows the sterilization filter (8b) of the present invention.
1 shows the general specifications of an MF (or UF) hollow fiber membrane used as an internal material of the MF.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an application diagram of a water purification system of a reverse osmosis membrane water purifier, a sterilization filter (8a) of the present invention, and a silver-impregnated antibacterial ceramic cartridge (9) in a water storage tank.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view and a position diagram (a) of the sanitizing filter (8a) of the first embodiment of the present invention, and a cross-sectional view and position diagram of the sanitizing filter of the second embodiment at the time of separate mounting (12b, 13b) ( b) is a sectional view and a position view (c) of the sterilization filter (8b) when installed as an alternative filter to the post-treatment activated carbon filter of claim 3.

FIG. 3 shows purified water (1) in a water storage tank (10) of the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of a silver-impregnated antibacterial ceramic cartridge (9) floating in 1) and a state of elution of silver ions. (A lot of holes are provided in the lower part of the cartridge that is exposed to water so that silver ions can be eluted from the filled silver-impregnated antibacterial ceramic balls.)

FIG. 4 is an application diagram of a water purification system of an undersink type reverse osmosis membrane water purifier and a sterilization filter (8a) of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a structure and a cross-sectional view of a sterilization filter (8a) of the present invention in an undersink type reverse osmosis membrane water purifier.

FIG. 6 shows the results of measurement of the number of general bacteria in a water storage tank in a reverse osmosis membrane water purifier adopting a general reverse osmosis membrane water purification system.

FIG. 7 shows the results of a measurement of the number of general bacteria in a water storage tank in a reverse osmosis membrane water purifier equipped with the sterilization and antibacterial system of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an antibacterial test of a silver-impregnated antibacterial ceramic ball used in the disinfection and antibacterial system of the present invention.

FIG. 9 shows the results of a study on the antibacterial effect of passing water through a post-treated activated carbon filter generally used in a reverse osmosis membrane water purifier and a silver activated carbon filter of each manufacturer.

FIG. 10 shows general specifications of an MF (or UF) hollow fiber membrane used as an internal material of the sterilization filter (8a) of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pretreatment filtration filter 2 Raw water supply valve 3 Pressure pump 4 Pretreatment activated carbon filter 5 Reverse osmosis membrane filter 6 Concentrated water control valve 7 Posttreatment activated carbon filter 8a Bactericidal filter << Silver activated carbon and MF according to the present invention
(Or UF) integrated hollow fiber membrane >> 8b Disinfection filter to be mounted as an alternative filter for post-treated activated carbon filter 9 Silver-impregnated antibacterial ceramic cartridge (including silver-impregnated antibacterial ceramic ball and float according to the present invention) 10 Water storage Tank (natural load type open / close tank) 11 Purified water stored in a water storage tank 12a MF (or UF) hollow fiber membrane 12b Filter made of MF (or UF) hollow fiber membrane (12a) 13a Silver activated carbon 13b Silver Filter made of activated carbon (13a) 14 Floating for silver-impregnated antibacterial ceramic cartridge 15 Silver-impregnated antibacterial ceramic ball 16 AUTO-SHUT-OFF VALVE 17 Water pressure switch 18 Pressure tank 19 Intake faucet

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) C02F 1/50 520 C02F 1/50 520B 531 531E 540 540F 550 550H 560 560B 560E F term (reference) 4D006 GA03 GA06 GA07 HA03 HA19 JA67A KA02 KA03 KA52 KA55 KA57 KA71 KA84 KB12 KB14 KB30 KD06 KD19 KE11R KE13P KE21Q KE22Q MA01 MA22 MA25 PA01 PB06 PB24 PB55 PC51 4D024 AA02 AB07 AB11 BA02 BC04 CA04 DB04 DB04

Claims (7)

[Claims] In a reverse osmosis membrane water purifier, silver activated carbon (13
a) and an MF (or UF) hollow fiber membrane (12a) as a raw material, and a disinfecting filter (8a) integrated therewith is usually used as a post-treatment activated carbon filter (7) and a water storage tank (10) provided at the final stage of a water purification system. ) Prevention of bacterial contamination, disinfection and antibacterial system of reverse osmosis membrane water purifier characterized by mounting during 2. An activated carbon (13a) and a MF (or UF) hollow fiber membrane (1) as materials inside the sterilization filter (8a).
2a) was replaced with a silver activated carbon filter (13b) and MF, respectively.
(Or UF) Separating as a hollow fiber membrane filter (12b), and attaching both filters together between the post-treatment activated carbon filter (7) and the water storage tank (10), which is usually provided at the final stage of the water purification system. 2. A system for preventing and eliminating bacterial contamination of a reverse osmosis membrane water purifier according to claim 1, and an antibacterial system. 3. The reverse osmosis membrane water purifier according to claim 1, wherein said sterilizing filter (8a) is mounted as a filter (8b) instead of a post-treated activated carbon filter (7). Disinfection, antibacterial system 4. An undersink type reverse osmosis membrane water purifier, wherein a sterilizing filter (8) is formed by integrating silver activated carbon (13a) and MF (or UF) hollow fiber membrane (12a) as materials.
2. A reverse osmosis membrane water purifier according to claim 1, wherein a) is mounted between the pressure tank (18) and the water intake faucet (19). 5. The reverse osmosis membrane water purifier according to claim 1, wherein the antibacterial ceramic cartridge impregnated with silver is floated in purified water in a water storage tank together with the disinfecting filter. Bacterial contamination prevention and sterilization, antibacterial system 6. The silver activated carbon (13a) in the sterilizing filter (8a) elutes silver ions and flows into the water storage tank, and the antibacterial power of the silver ions causes the water storage tank (1).
6. A system for preventing and eliminating bacterial contamination of a reverse osmosis membrane water purifier according to claim 1, wherein the bacterial contamination in 0) is prevented. 7. The silver-impregnated antibacterial ceramic cartridge (9) has a role of eluting silver ions, thereby suppressing and removing bacterial contamination of the water storage tank (10) by the antibacterial power of the silver ions. Item 7. Prevention of bacterial contamination, disinfection, and antibacterial system of reverse osmosis membrane water purifier according to item 1, 5 or 6.