WO2015189819A2

WO2015189819A2 - Water treatment apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2015189819A2
Application number: PCT/IB2015/054466
Authority: WO
Inventors: Niel Hofmeyr HABLUTZEL
Original assignee: Stream Drinks (Pty) Ltd
Priority date: 2014-06-14
Filing date: 2015-06-12
Publication date: 2015-12-17
Also published as: WO2015189819A3; CN106660828A; WO2015189819A4

Abstract

The invention relates to water sanitation apparatus and an associated method of treating water for drinking purposes. The apparatus comprises a cap for connection to a screw-threaded outlet spigot of a container. The cap has a drinking nozzle and a chamber containing a water sanitiser. The chamber is rupturable to dispense the sanitiser into a container fitted with the cap. A flocculent is preferably included in combination with the sanitiser and the treated water is filtered through a filter provided in the cap. The cap will also preferably be provided with a flexible water bag having a screw-threaded outlet spigot, which provides the container for the water treatment process.

Description

WATER TREATMENT APPARATUS

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to apparatus for the treatment of raw or unclean water to provide safe drinking water.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

The shortage of safe drinking water is a global problem and particularly affects developing countries. These are regions that usually have limited purification facilities.

Natural disasters such as earthquakes and (the often associated) tsunamis can destroy clean water supply infrastructure and also the closely connected sanitation facilities. Large sectors of a population are left with nothing but raw water. In these conditions water borne diseases thrive.

In less severe (but further reaching) circumstances, rural communities (which make up a significant part of the global population) live with access to nothing but raw water available from the surrounding environment, which is often contaminated with faecal matter due to poor sanitation (caused by lack of sewage facilities and sometimes cultural beliefs). Naturally occurring water reserves, such as rivers, dams and ground water are also affected by pollutants wherever factories, plants or mines, for example, cause contamination with by-products of industrial processes.

Lack of clean water is responsible for more deaths in the world than war. About 1 out of every 6 people living today do not have adequate access to water, and more than double that number lack basic sanitation, for which water is needed. In some countries, half the population does not have access to safe drinking water, and hence is afflicted with poor health. By some estimates, each day nearly 5,000 children worldwide die from diarrhoea-related diseases.

While known chemical compounds (usually chlorine based) are available for water treatment, the process is often inconvenient. Mixing must often be followed by filtration and this poses additional practical problems and inconvenience.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide apparatus that provides for water sanitation and is convenient to use. It is a further object for the apparatus of the invention to provide additional benefits over conventional water sanitation chemicals.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the invention there is provided water sanitation apparatus comprising a cap for connection to a screw-threaded outlet spigot of a container having a drinking nozzle and including a chamber containing a water sanitiser which is rupturable to dispense the sanitiser into a container fitted with the cap.

The invention further provides for the cap to include a mechanical opening mechanism for opening the chamber; for the cap to include a water filter; for the chamber to include a flocculent in combination with the water sanitiser; and for the filter to include activated carbon. A further feature of the invention provides for the chamber to include supplements selected from the group comprising:

vitamins;

minerals;

electrolytes;

hydrates;

immune system boosters;

prebiotics; and

probiotics.

Further features of the invention provide for the container to be a plastic bottle, alternatively, a flexible pouch provided with a screw-threaded outlet spigot; for the cap to be provided in combination with an empty flexible pouch with a screw- threaded outlet spigot.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of treating a unit of water for drinking comprising the steps of:

supplying a container cap including a chamber containing a water sanitiser;

filling a container with a screw-threaded outlet spigot securable to the cap with a unit of available water;

fitting the cap to the container;

rupturing the chamber to dispense the sanitiser into the container with the water; mixing the sanitiser into the water; and

passing the treated water out of the bottle and through the nozzle.

The invention further provides for a flocculent to be included in combination with the sanitiser within the chamber and for the flocculent to be mixed into the water with the sanitizer to provide a flocculation process and for the treated water to be filtered by passing the treated water through a filter provided in the cap. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features of the invention will become more apparent from the following description made, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

Figure 1 shows a top perspective of a cap;

Figure 2 shows a side cross-sectional view of the cap in Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 shows a bottom perspective of the cap with a lid opened and a chamber ruptured;

Figure 4 shows a side view of the cap in Figure 3; and

Figure 5 shows a side cross-sectional view of the cap in Figure 4;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides water sanitation apparatus in the form of a cap 1 configured for connection to a screw-threaded outlet spigot (not shown) for a container or other suitable water receptacle.

In one example, the cap will be sized and threaded for engagement onto empty used bottles, which have been commercially supplied with a beverage and are readily available for re-use. These would generally be plastics material bottles used for soft drinks but could also be of the kind used for milk, for example. In an alternative embodiment the cap (which may also be a fit to a bottle of the kind referred to) will be used with a water bag (or pouch) that is provided with a screw-threaded outlet spigot of suitable configuration.

The cap 1 shown in the drawings is configured for dual use, either with a commercially available soft-drinks or water bottle or with a water bag that is supplied with the cap 1 .

Such a water bag may be made of any suitable flexible, preferably plastics, material. A rigid spigot (preferably moulded from suitable plastics material) will be secured to the bag. The manufacture of such a bag will be within the design competence and understanding of a person skilled in the art. The cap is manufactured to fit the screw- threaded spigot attachment, which is mated to the flexible wall of the bag, thereby ensuring the correct fitting for the cap to the bag which provides a guaranteed water t treatment receptacle in the event that suitable bottles are not available.

The cap 1 of the invention has a drinking nozzle 2. Once fitted to the container, removal is thus not required for drinking. A chamber or compartment 3 is provided on the inside of the cap 1 . The cap 1 will be supplied with the chamber 3 enclosed or sealed (as shown in Figures 1 and 2). The cap 1 includes a mechanical opening mechanism for rupturing or opening the chamber 3 once the cap 1 is fitted to the container

The chamber 3 will include a dose of suitable water sanitiser. The dose will preferably also include supplements selected from the group comprising (but not limited to):

vitamins;

minerals;

electrolytes;

hydrates;

immune system boosters (which may be in the form of berry extracts);

prebiotics; and

probiotics.

The cap 1 of the invention will accordingly include supplements to be introduced into the treated water and these supplements may be selected to suit a particular situation. This may vary from disaster relief circumstances, which may be accompanied by specific disease outbreaks, to general use of the water treatment cap.

In a development of the invention, a medicament may also be included in the cap 1 .

A screw threaded (bottle engaging) cap flange 4 is moulded concentrically around the cylindrical chamber 3. The top 5 of the chamber 3 is open and the bottom has an end wall 6 connected to the sidewall 7 of the chamber 3 through a line of weakness (at 8) provided by a reduced thickness of the plastics material in this annular region located against the sidewall 7. The chamber 3 may alternatively be provided with an aluminium foil seal secured over a bottom end of the sidewall (opposite the nozzle) to provide a rupturable end wall.

A nozzle component 2 is moulded with a sleeve 9 provided as a close, sliding fit into the chamber 3. The bottom of the sleeve 9 has an inclined and bevelled edge 10. A skirt 1 1 around the sleeve 9 fits over a spigot 12 provided by the outer upper portion of the chamber sidewall 7, which is fixed to the screw-threaded cap flange 4. Two axially spaced apart ribs 13 and 14 on the spigot 12 respectively provide first and second clip-fit positions for an internal rib 15 at the free end of the skirt 1 1 .

A flip-lid 16 is provided with a stop 17 to seal the nozzle opening 18 and with this in place and the nozzle component 2 in the first clipped position (Figures 1 and 2), pressed past the outermost rib 13 on the spigot 12, the components provide the enclosure of the chamber 3. The chamber 3 will be charged with a water treatment dose before the two components (nozzle 2 with its lid 16 and cylindrical chamber sidewall 7 with end wall 6) are fitted together.

The lid 16 and nozzle 2 are moulded integrally with a "living" (or over-centre, membrane) hinge 19 connecting these components and a catch formation 20 on the lid, which engages cooperating formations on the nozzle skirt 1 1 when the lid 16 is moved to a closed condition (in Figures 1 and 2). The catch 20 must be sheared from the lid 16 before it can be lifted from the nozzle 2 to the position shown in Figures 3 to 5.

A removable spacer 21 , provided as a tear-off collar 21 on the free end of the skirt 1 1 , is located around the spigot 12 to prevent the nozzle component 2 from being moved (unintentionally) towards the second rib 14 on the spigot 12. The spacer has a tear tab 22 for removal.

When the spacer 21 is removed, the nozzle 2 can be pressed to displace the sleeve 1 1 through the chamber 3 with the bevelled edge 10 on the end of the sleeve 1 1 shearing the line of weakness (at 8) around the bottom end wall 6 (or cutting the foil which alternatively provides an end wall). The chamber 3 is thus opened and its contents dispensed into the bottle. Figures 3 to 5 show the cap 1 in this second, open condition.

The sleeve 1 1 now forms a flow passage from the inside of the container to nozzle 2.

As an additional feature, in accordance with the invention, the cap 1 will be provided with a filter. The significance of this component in the current application will be explained below. The filter may include activated carbon. The filter can conveniently be located at an inner end of the sleeve adjacent the nozzle. Such a filter in this location is shown in broken lines and indicated by reference numeral 23 in Figure 2.

With the contents of the cap 1 released into a container of water, a user will shake the container and allow the mixed water and dose to rest for a brief period (as will be advised by use instructions). After that the treated water can be consumed.

The invention accordingly also provides for a method of sanitising a unit of water for drinking comprising the steps of: supplying a container cap of the kind and with the dose described; filling a container, engageable with the cap, with a unit of available water; fitting the cap to the container; activating the opening mechanism to dispense the sanitiser into the water; mixing the sanitiser into the water; and passing the sanitised water out of the container (via the filter) and through the nozzle.

The water sanitiser will include a composition of chemicals used to suppress organisms that are harmful to human or animal health. These will remove, amongst other things, arsenic and parathion (chemical pollutants) as well as bacteria (E.coli 25 and Giardia Muris Cysts), Viruses (Polio 1 , Coxsackie B5, Echo 1 ) and Cholera and Shistosomiasis (Bilharzia).

The water sanitiser in this example will be sodium dichloroisocyanurate ("NaDCC") based and may include a disinfectant such as calcium hypochlorite. The sanitiser will also include a suitable flocculant, such as ferric sulphate. Waterborne disease is not related to water availability but rather to quality. Raw water of high turbidity shields pathogens from ordinary disinfectants and filtration methods. Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by individual particles (suspended solids) that are generally invisible to the naked eye. A significant barrier to the eradication of waterborne diseases is often the ability of pathogens to lie dormant within zooplankton and then replicate and spread once conditions are favourable.

Flocculation is considered a vital step in the fight against cholera and the removal of turbidity.

The sanitiser, in applying flocculation, ensures that less disinfectant is required thereby resulting in water that is superior in taste and visual appearance to that delivered by other chemical methods.

The filter provided inside the cap will prevent the passage of, amongst others, the sediment that results from the flocculation process. The filter preferably includes activated carbon for increased adsorption.

In one embodiment of the invention, the sanitiser will be of the kind manufactured by Control Chemicals (Pty) Ltd under the brand WATERMAKER.

The water sanitiser will clarify and sanitise naturally polluted, raw water and removes high tannin loads and many industrial toxins. The sanitiser of the invention is provided to perform across a wide range of water types.

The convenient presentation and use of the water treatment dose contained in the cap provides a unique way of overcoming much of the concerns associated with safe drinking water.

The apparatus of the invention not only provides safe drinking water but will in addition supplement this with vitamins, minerals, hydrates, probiotics etc. and, in so doing, overcomes additional difficulties often associated with disaster relief. With inclusion of these and possibly other "nutraceuticals" in the water dose, it is anticipated that the invention will make a significant contribution to the circumstances which emanate from disaster relief and impoverished countries where the availability of safe drinking water is absent and accompanied by poor nutrition.

Water treatment tablets and sachets of the kind commonly used, do generally not make provision for water turbidity and, accordingly, cannot eliminate the dangers associated therewith (cholera etc.).

The invention will also provide useful application for bottles which would otherwise constitute waste. The water bottling industry, with its continuous production of single- use bottles, adds to this problem.

Logistics of getting water to disaster relief areas are often problematic. The caps are light and can be transported in large numbers with relative ease.

In addition to the application in water-aid circumstances, the convenience afforded by the product will also make it useful to general consumers (such as campers, hikers, scouts, adventurists etc.).

The invention accordingly provides a product that is adaptable, universal and simple in its application, and relatively inexpensive.

A person skilled in the art will appreciate that a number of variations may be made to the features of the embodiments described without departing from the scope of the current invention.

Claims

1 . Water sanitation apparatus comprising a cap for connection to a screw- threaded outlet spigot of a container having a drinking nozzle and including a chamber containing a water sanitiser which is rupturable to dispense the sanitiser into a container fitted with the cap.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the cap includes a mechanical opening mechanism for opening the chamber.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 in which the cap includes a water filter.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 in which the chamber includes a flocculent in combination with the water sanitiser.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 or claim 4 in which the filter includes activated carbon.

6. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the chamber includes supplements selected from the group comprising: vitamins; minerals; electrolytes; hydrates; immune system boosters; prebiotics; and probiotics.

7. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the container is a plastic bottle

8. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 in which the container is a flexible pouch provided with a screw-threaded outlet spigot.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8 in which the cap is provided in combination with an empty flexible pouch having a screw-threaded outlet spigot.

10. A method of treating a unit of water for drinking comprising the steps of: a. supplying a container cap including a chamber containing a water sanitiser;

b. filling a container with a screw-threaded outlet spigot securable to the cap with a unit of available water;

c. fitting the cap to the container;

d. rupturing the chamber to dispense the sanitiser into the container with the water;

e. mixing the sanitiser into the water; and

f. passing the treated water out of the bottle and through the nozzle.

1 1 . A method as claimed in claim 10 in which a flocculent is included in combination with the sanitiser within the chamber and for the flocculent to be mixed into the water with the sanitizer to provide a flocculation process.

12. A method as claimed in claim 10 or claim 1 1 in which the treated water is filtered by passing the treated water through a filter provided in the cap.