Patent ID: 9193605
Filing Date: 2015-11-24
Classification: B01D,C02F

Abstract:
1. A gravity powered liquid treatment system comprising: a first container for receiving contaminated liquid therein, the first container having an interior, an open top and a bottom wall with a first opening; a filter located in the interior of said first container for removing contaminants from the contaminated liquid; a second container for receiving liquid that has passed through the filter, wherein the second container has a top wall with a second opening, and wherein the bottom wall of the first container is positioned on top of the top wall of the second container such that the first opening is in vertical alignment with the second opening; a unitary bulkhead fitting having a head defining a radial shoulder, a threaded stem extending axially from the radial shoulder, and an outlet passage extending coaxially through the head and threaded stem, wherein the radial shoulder bears against a bottom interior surface portion of the upper end wall of the second container surrounding the second opening, and wherein the threaded stem extends through the second opening of the second container and the first opening of the first container and into the interior of the first container; wherein the system is a non-pressurized, gravity fed system, such that gravitational forces are exerted on the liquid located in said first container to thereby exert a force causing the liquid to flow through the filter and into said second container; wherein the first container is subject to atmospheric pressure and atmospheric conditions; wherein the filter comprises filter media having a tubular shape, a top end cap closing an upper end of the tubular filter media, a bottom end cap closing a bottom end of the tubular filter media, wherein the bottom end cap includes a threaded outlet opening, wherein the threaded outlet opening of the bottom end cap is threadedly engaged with the threaded stem of the bulkhead fitting to attach the bottom end cap of the filter to a bottom interior surface of the bottom wall of the first container, the tubular filter media being formed of a plurality of nanofibers made of a metallic material that are grafted to a plurality of microglass fibers, and wherein the plurality of nanofibers are electropositively charged; wherein the filter media further comprises a plurality of pores, wherein the filter media comprises a mean pore size that is within a range of about 1 micron to about 2 microns, such that microbiological and other contaminants containing an overall electronegative charge are permitted to enter through the plurality of pores of the filter media and are electrically attracted by the electropositive charge of the nanofibers thereby substantially removing the electronegatively charged contaminants from the liquid passing through the filter media.