Improvements in Apparatus for Purifying and Softening Water.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Aug., 1895-Accepted, 5th Oct., 1805
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Purifying and Softening Water.
We, WALTER STOWE BRIGHT MCLAREN of The Nook Maidenhead in the
County of Berks Gentleman and HENRY CARROD of 6 Ledbury Road, South
Croydon in the County of Surrey Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Our invention has for its object to provide simple apparatus by means of which
water can be efficiently purified and softened in a continuous manner.
According to our invention the water to be treated is admitted to a vessel and
the solution of the reagent is contained in a tank or tanks above from which it passes
into another vessel the water to be treated and the solution of the reagent by which
it is to be treated passing from the respective vessels by outlets so proportioned as
to give the most advantageous quantity of each the said water and solution of
reagent meeting in a third vessel from which they pass together to the lower part
of a tank beneath so that they are delivered beneath slotted inclined plates having
above them horizontal or approximately horizontal plates which are, or the lower
one of which is, also slotted, the slots in the several plates being so arranged that
they come opposite unslotted parts of the adjacent plate or plates. As the mixture
of water and solution of reagent pass upwards through these plates, solid matter is
deposited and slides down the plates and can be removed at intervals by suitable
sludge openings and cocks.
We will describe an arrangement of apparatus according to our invention with
reference to the accompanying drawings Figures 1 and 2 being elevations (partly
in section) at right angles to each other of such apparatus.
The tank A is that in which the purification is effected.
It has attached to its
sides inclined plates B for the interception of deposit the said inclined plates being
provided with longitudinal or other shaped slots b; the slots may be conveniently
made by making the plates up of strips with spaces between them constituting the
slots. The said plates extend upwards to near the underside of horizontal deflectors
or baffle plates C, the lower one having in it a slot c, there being spaces between
them and the tops of the aforesaid plates B and between them and the sides of the
tank A. The slots of the several plates are so arranged that they are opposite solid
parts of adjacent plates. The reagent tank D is above the tank A and between the
said reagent tank D and tank A are vessels E and F, that marked E being for
receiving the reagent from the tank D above and the vessel marked F being for
receiving the water to be purified, the water and reagent passing together out of
these tanks E and F by means of a ball valve G and down a stand pipe or
mixing pipe H which is open at bottom and descends to near the lower part into
the purifying tank A and beneath the inclined plates B and baffle plates C. The
water and reagent pass together upwards in the said tank A and under and between
the inclined plates B and the baffle plates C and between the edges of the said
plates C and the sides of the tank A and upwards (through any suitable filtering
medium if desired) to the outlet I for the purified water from the tank A. solid
matter depositing on the plates and sliding down to the bottom of the tank A from
whence it can be removed or washed out by sludge pipes and cocks as at Y.
If filtering medium be used it may be situated between perforated or reticulated
plates or trays as shown at J K. We do not limit ourselves to any precise
arrangement of pipes or valves for supplying liquid to or drawing it off from the

page_text: vessels or tanks but the arrangement which we have shown in the drawing is, we
consider, the most convenient. L is the pipe by which unpurified water is supplied
to the apparatus it having branches leading to the reagent tank D and to the
vessel F in which the unpurified water is received. We have shewn the reagent
tank D as being divided into two compartments with a water supply to each so that
they can be used alternately and the process thus be continuous as the one can be
in use whilst the solution is being prepared in the other. is the branch water
pipe for supplying the vessel F it being controlled by a ball cock 15 and 12. 13 are
the branch water pipes controlled by stop cocks for the supply of water to the
compartments of the tank D. The reagent solution or mixture passes off from the
upper part of the compartments of the tank D by the floating outlet pipes M and
pipe m to the vessel E the outlet from the said pipe m into the said vessel E being
controlled by the ball cock m². The water to be purified passes from the tank F
by the nozzle and the reagent solution or mixture passes from the tank E by
the nozzle e the orifices of these nozzles being of such relative size as to give the
requisite proportion of the water and reagent solution and discharging into the
vessel X from which the mixed reagent and water pass by the pipe and ball
valve G into the open top of the stand pipe or mixing pipe H and thence to the
vessel A and past the plates B and C to the outlet I as berein before described.
The tanks E F and vessel X are shewn as being made by dividing one main tank
by partitions.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
The arrangement and combination of parts constituting a water purifying and
softening apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
Dated this 20th day of August 1805
August 1905
August
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.