JPH11128913A - Water purifying/sterilizing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a water purifying/sterilizing device which can surely sterilize a large amount of raw water to be purified and is advantageous in view of both economy and maintenance. SOLUTION: The capacity of a sterilization unit 20 is improved without the scale-up of the unit 20 by installing ultraviolet irradiation parts 24 in which ultraviolet lamps 24a are arranged in series and in parallel in the unit 20. Since raw water in the unit 20 meanders in each irradiation part 24, the length of a raw water passage in the unit 20 is extended to strengthen the sterilization effect of raw water adequately. When the flow rate of raw water is small, the number of the operated lamps 24a is decreased, while the number is increased when the flow rate is large, so that the ultraviolet lamps 24a can be operated always appropriately corresponding to the consumption of city water.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a water purification apparatus for purifying and sterilizing tap water supplied to an apartment house or a detached house.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a water purifier for drinking water, those using activated carbon or various filters are generally used, and these include suspended matter, protozoa, chlorine odor, moldy odor and organic components remaining in tap water. It is used for the purpose of removing the like. In addition, as a water purification sterilizer installed in an apartment house or the like with a large amount of purified water treatment, such as an apartment, there are many devices that use a large filtering material or a magnetic effect, or devices that use far-red ceramic or natural stone. There are various types of devices, from large to small. In this case, there is a possibility that various bacteria may be generated and proliferate in the activated carbon or water retained in the filter from which the residue in the drinking water has been removed, and in order to perform this sterilization, a method using heating, filtration or ultraviolet irradiation is generally used. It is used regularly.

[0003]

However, in the case of using a filter medium, for example, the apparatus becomes large and complicated, which is disadvantageous in terms of economy and maintenance, and has a problem that the flow resistance is large and clogging is liable to occur. There was a point. Further, when an ultraviolet irradiation device is used, there is a problem that the life of the ultraviolet lamp is short, the sterilization ability is easily reduced, and the ultraviolet lamp needs to be replaced frequently. Furthermore, in the case of using either the filter medium or the ultraviolet irradiation device, when the water supply is infrequently used or when the water supply has not been used for a long time, various bacteria may flow from a water receiving tank on the upstream side or the like, There was a problem that germs propagated inside.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has as its object the advantage that raw water can be surely sterilized even when the amount of purified water is large, and is advantageous in terms of economy and maintenance. It is to provide a clean water sterilization apparatus.

[0005]

To achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a purifying unit for filtering raw water by a filter, and a raw water irradiating the raw water with the purifying unit being disposed on a raw water outflow side of the purifying unit. And a plurality of ultraviolet irradiation units each having an ultraviolet irradiation lamp are provided in series or in parallel with each other. Thereby, the raw water is reliably sterilized by the plurality of ultraviolet irradiation units in the sterilization unit, and since the ultraviolet irradiation units are provided in series or in parallel with each other, the sterilization unit does not increase in size.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the water purification apparatus according to the first aspect, the raw water communication ports of the ultraviolet irradiation units adjacent to each other are provided to be staggered. Thereby, in addition to the operation of claim 1, since the raw water in the sterilizing unit circulates in a meandering manner through each ultraviolet irradiation section through the raw water communication port, the flow path of the raw water in the sterilizing unit becomes longer.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the water purification apparatus according to the first or second aspect, further comprising a plurality of sterilization units connected in series or in parallel with each other. Thereby, in addition to the effect of claim 1 or 2, it becomes possible to install a number of sterilizing units according to the scale of the water supply destination.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the water purification apparatus according to the first, second or third aspect, a flow rate detecting means for detecting a flow rate of the raw water per unit time, and an ultraviolet ray when the detected flow rate of the flow rate detecting means is small. Reduce the number of operating lamps,
When the flow rate detected by the flow rate detecting means is large, a control means for increasing the number of actuations of the ultraviolet irradiation lamp is provided. This allows
In addition to the effects of the first, second, or third aspect, each ultraviolet irradiation lamp always operates properly in accordance with the amount of water used.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the water purification apparatus according to the fourth aspect, the water temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the raw water and the operation of the ultraviolet irradiation lamp when the detected flow rate of the flow rate detecting means becomes a predetermined amount or less. Is stopped, and when the detected temperature of the water temperature detecting means is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature, a control means for operating the ultraviolet irradiation lamp after a predetermined time has elapsed is provided. Thus, in addition to the effect of the fourth aspect, sterilization is surely performed even in a case where the temperature of the water is high and the use of the water supply or the like is stopped or the amount of use is extremely small, so that various germs can easily propagate.

According to claim 6, claims 1, 2, 3,
The water purifying and sterilizing apparatus according to 4 or 5, further comprising: a light amount detecting unit that detects a light amount of the ultraviolet irradiation lamp; and a warning unit that issues a predetermined warning when the detected light amount of the light amount detecting unit is equal to or less than a predetermined amount. Thereby, Claims 1, 2, 3, 4
Or, in addition to the effect of 5, a decrease in performance due to the life of the ultraviolet irradiation lamp is promptly confirmed.

Further, in claim 7, claims 1, 2, 3,
7. The water purification apparatus according to 4, 5 or 6, wherein the sterilizing unit is subjected to a sterilizing treatment having a sterilizing action.
Thereby, in addition to the operation of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth or sixth aspect, the sterilization of the raw water is performed by the sterilization process in the sterilization unit.

[0012]

1 to 6 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a water purification apparatus, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a sterilization unit, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control system, FIG. 5 and FIG.
6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control unit.

The water purification apparatus includes a purification unit 10 for filtering raw water, a sterilization unit 20 for irradiating the raw water filtered by the purification unit 10 with ultraviolet light, a flow sensor 30 for detecting a flow rate of the raw water, a temperature of the raw water, Temperature sensor 40 for detecting the amount of light, a light amount sensor 50 for detecting the amount of ultraviolet light, and a warning light 6 for displaying a warning regarding maintenance.
0, and a control unit 70 for controlling the operation of the sterilizing unit 20 and the warning light 60.

The purification unit 10 has a filter 11 inside, and is arranged on the raw water inflow side of the apparatus main body. That is,
An inflow pipe 12 having an on-off valve 12a is connected to the raw water inflow side of the purification unit 10.

The sterilizing unit 20 is disposed on the raw water outflow side of the purification unit 10, and the raw water inflow side is connected to the first solenoid valve 2.
It is connected to the raw water outflow side of the purification unit 10 via a communication pipe 21 having 1a. An outflow pipe 22 having an on-off valve 22a is connected to the raw water outflow side of the sterilization unit 20, and an inflow pipe 12 of the purification unit 10 and an outflow pipe 22 of the sterilization unit 20 are connected to a bypass pipe 23 having a second electromagnetic valve 23a. Are connected to each other. A plurality of ultraviolet irradiation units 24 are provided inside the sterilization unit 20, and each of the ultraviolet irradiation units 24 communicates in series with each other, and an ultraviolet irradiation lamp 24a is provided therein.
Each of the ultraviolet irradiation units 24 is partitioned by a plurality of partition walls 25, and each of the partition walls 25 is adjacent to the ultraviolet irradiation unit 2.
The four communication ports 25a are alternately arranged in the vertical direction. As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of rows of a plurality of ultraviolet irradiation units 24 communicating in series with each other are provided in the sterilization unit 20, and the rows of the ultraviolet irradiation units 24 arranged in series are connected in parallel with each other. . As shown in FIG. 3, the ultraviolet irradiation lamp 24a is waterproofed by a light-transmitting outer tube 24b, and is detachably accommodated in the outer tube 24b. Further, the inner surface of the sterilizing unit 20 and the surface of the outer tube 24b are subjected to a sterilizing process 26 in which a photocatalyst or a photoelectron emitting material is applied, coated or alloyed, and the photocatalyst is titanium dioxide (TiO ₂ ), ZnO or the like. Is used, and Ba, Ca, Ce, Zn, Cu, or an oxide thereof is used as the photoelectron emitting material.

The flow sensor 30 comprises a known flow detector, and is provided on the inflow side of the sterilizing unit 20.

The water temperature sensor 40 is composed of a well-known temperature detector, and detects the temperature of water in the sterilizing unit 20.

The light quantity sensor 50 comprises a well-known light quantity detector such as CdS, SPD, photodiode, etc., and detects the quantity of ultraviolet light of the ultraviolet irradiation lamp 24a.

The warning light 60 is installed at a place where an administrator or the like can monitor the warning light, and warns of a decrease in the performance of the ultraviolet irradiation light 24a.

The control unit 70 is constituted by a microcomputer, and each of the solenoid valves 21a and 23a, the sterilizing unit 2
0 are connected to the ultraviolet irradiation lamps 24a, the flow rate sensor 30, the water temperature sensor 40, the light quantity sensor 50, and the warning light 60. Further, a timer 71 is connected to the control unit 70.

In the water purification apparatus constructed as described above, when raw water such as tap water flows into the purification unit 10 through the inflow pipe 12, suspended matter contained in the raw water is filtered by the filter 11 in the purification unit 10. Residues such as protozoa, microorganisms or organic matter are removed. The raw water purified by the purification unit 10 flows into the sterilization unit 20 through the communication pipe 21. In the sterilization unit 20, the raw water is irradiated with ultraviolet light from each ultraviolet irradiation lamp 24a, and the raw water is sterilized by the sterilizing action of the ultraviolet light. . At that time, the sterilization unit 20
The raw water in the inside sequentially flows through the ultraviolet irradiation units 24 while meandering between the partition walls 25 in the vertical direction, and is also sterilized by the sterilization process 26 in the sterilization unit 20. The water sterilized by the sterilization unit 20 is supplied to the outflow pipe 2.
The water is supplied to the hydrant, etc., of the house via 2.

The operation of each ultraviolet irradiation lamp 24a is controlled by the control unit 70 as follows. That is, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5, by opening the first solenoid valve 21a (S1) and closing the second solenoid valve 23a (S2), the raw water flows into the purification unit 10 and the sterilization unit 20. Let it. Next, the detected flow rate Q of the flow rate sensor 30
Is greater than the flow rate per unit time Q1 (S3), and if the detected flow rate Q is not greater than the flow rate per unit time Q2 (S4), the number of operations N of each ultraviolet irradiation lamp 24a is set to N1 (S5). . In step S4, the detected flow rate Q
Is greater than the flow rate per unit time Q2 and the detected flow rate Q is not greater than the flow rate per unit time Q3 (S
6), the number of operations N of each ultraviolet irradiation lamp 24a is set to N2 (S7). Further, if the detected flow rate Q is larger than the flow rate Q3 per unit time and the detected flow rate Q is not larger than the flow rate Q4 per unit time in step S6 (S8),
The number of operations N of each ultraviolet irradiation lamp 24a is set to N3 (S
9). If the detected flow rate Q is larger than the flow rate Q4 per unit time in step S8, the number of operations N of each ultraviolet irradiation lamp 24a is set to N4 (S10). Each flow rate is Q1 <Q2 <Q3 <Q4.
The number of operations of 4a has a relationship of N1 <N2 <N3 <N4. On the other hand, if the detected flow rate Q is not higher than the flow rate Q1 per unit time in step S3, the operation of all the ultraviolet irradiation lamps 24a is stopped (S11). that time,
When the detected temperature W of the water temperature sensor 40 is equal to or higher than the water temperature W1 (S
12), the timer 71 is activated (S13), and when the time T1 has elapsed (S14), the ultraviolet irradiation lamp 24a is activated (S15). Thereafter, if the time T2 has elapsed (S
16), the operation of the ultraviolet irradiation lamp 24a is stopped (S1).
7) Return to step S3.

As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6, when the detected light amount L of the light amount sensor 50 becomes less than the light amount L1 (for example, 70% of the normal light amount) (S20), the warning light 60 is activated (S21). When the mode is switched to the exchange mode by a monitoring device (not shown) or the like (S22), the first solenoid valve 21a is closed (S23) and the second solenoid valve 23a is opened (S24). As a result, the raw water is converted into the purification unit 1
0 and flows out through the bypass pipe 23 without passing through the sterilization unit 20.

As described above, according to the water purification apparatus of the present embodiment, a plurality of ultraviolet irradiation units 24 each having an ultraviolet irradiation lamp 24a are provided in series and in parallel in the sterilization unit 20, so that the sterilization unit 20 can be used. The sterilization ability can be improved without increasing the size. In this case, since the raw water in the sterilizing unit 20 circulates in a meandering manner through each of the ultraviolet irradiation units 24 through the communication ports 25a, the flow path of the raw water in the sterilizing unit 20 is lengthened, and the sterilizing effect can be sufficiently enhanced. it can. Also, when the flow rate of raw water is small, the number of operations of the ultraviolet irradiation lamps 24a is reduced, and when the flow rate of raw water is large, the number of operations of the ultraviolet irradiation lamps 24a is increased. It can always be operated properly according to the amount of use. At this time, when the flow rate of the raw water is equal to or lower than a predetermined amount and the water temperature is equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature, the ultraviolet irradiation lamp 24a is operated after a predetermined time has elapsed. The sterilization can be reliably performed even in a state in which various bacteria are easily propagated, such as when the amount is extremely small. Further, since the light amount of the ultraviolet irradiation lamp 24a is detected and a warning is issued when the detected light amount becomes equal to or less than the predetermined light amount, it is possible to promptly confirm the deterioration in performance due to the life of the ultraviolet irradiation lamp 24a.

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the present invention, in which a plurality of sterilizing units 20 are provided. That is, in the present embodiment, a number of sterilization units 20 corresponding to the scale of the water supply destination can be installed, which is extremely advantageous in versatility.

[0026]

As described above, according to the water purifying and sterilizing apparatus of the first aspect, even when the amount of purified water is large, it can be surely sterilized, and the apparatus can be put into practical use without increasing the size of the apparatus. This is extremely advantageous in the production.

[0027] According to the water purification apparatus of claim 2,
In addition to the effect of the first aspect, since the flow path of the raw water in the sterilizing unit can be lengthened, the sterilizing effect can be sufficiently enhanced.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention,
In addition to the effects of the first and second aspects, the number of sterilization units according to the scale of the water supply destination can be installed, which is extremely advantageous in versatility.

[0029] Further, according to the water purification apparatus of claim 4,
In addition to the effects of claims 1, 2 or 3, each ultraviolet irradiation lamp can always be properly operated according to the usage amount of water supply or the like, so that the operation time of the ultraviolet irradiation lamp can be shortened, and ultraviolet irradiation can be performed. The life of the lamp can be improved.

Further, according to the water purifying and sterilizing apparatus of claim 5,
In addition to the effect of claim 4, sterilization can be reliably performed even when the temperature of the water is high, and the use of tap water or the like is stopped or the amount of use is extremely small, so that sterilization can be surely performed. it can.

According to the water purification apparatus of claim 6,
In addition to the effects of the first, second, third, fourth, or fifth aspect, the capability deterioration due to the life of the ultraviolet irradiation lamp can be promptly confirmed, so that the ultraviolet irradiation lamp can always be replaced accurately.

[0032] According to the water purifying and sterilizing apparatus of claim 7,
In addition to the effects of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth aspect, since the raw water can be sterilized by the sterilization treatment in the sterilization unit, the sterilization effect can be further enhanced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a water purification device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a sterilization unit.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part of the sterilization unit.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control system.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control unit.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control unit.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of a water purification device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Purification unit, 11 ... Filter, 20 ... Sterilization unit, 24 ... Ultraviolet irradiation part, 24a ... Ultraviolet irradiation lamp, 2
6: sterilization treatment, 30: flow rate sensor, 40: water temperature sensor,
50: light intensity sensor, 60: warning light, 70: control unit.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A purifying unit for filtering raw water by a filter, and a sterilizing unit disposed on the raw water outflow side of the purifying unit and irradiating the raw water with ultraviolet rays, wherein the sterilizing unit includes a plurality of ultraviolet rays each having an ultraviolet irradiation lamp. A water purification device, wherein irradiation units are provided in series or in parallel with each other. 2. The water purification apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the raw water communication ports of the ultraviolet irradiation units adjacent to each other are provided to be staggered. 3. The water purification and sterilizing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of sterilizing units connected to each other in series or in parallel. 4. A flow rate detecting means for detecting a flow rate of raw water per unit time, and when the detected flow rate of the flow rate detecting means is small, the number of actuations of the ultraviolet irradiation lamp is reduced, and when the detected flow rate of the flow rate detecting means is large, 4. The water purification apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising control means for increasing the number of operations of the ultraviolet irradiation lamp. 5. A water temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature of raw water, and when a detected flow rate of said flow rate detecting means becomes equal to or less than a predetermined amount, the operation of the ultraviolet irradiation lamp is stopped and the detected temperature of the water temperature detecting means is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature. 5. The water purification apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising control means for operating the ultraviolet irradiation lamp after a predetermined time has elapsed. 6. A light quantity detecting means for detecting a light quantity of an ultraviolet irradiation lamp, and a warning means for issuing a predetermined warning when a light quantity detected by the light quantity detecting means is less than a predetermined amount. 6. The water purification device according to claim 2, 3, 4, or 5. 7. A sterilizing process having a sterilizing action in the sterilizing unit.
7. The water purification device according to 4, 5, or 6.