Patent ID: 8114277

Claim:
Water treatment station, wherein: the station includes a block of treatment material, having a block-throat-area, being the product of a block-width and a block-depth, and having a block-length, these dimensions being overall with respect to the block; the treatment material is porous, and the pores are open, to the extent that water can pass in the direction of the block-length along and through the block of treatment material, and to the extent that bacteria can form viable colonies in the pores; the treatment material is soft, and is resiliently compressible; the treatment material is substantially inert with respect to water, and with respect to pollutants contained within the body of water, and with respect to microbes residing within the pores of the material; the treatment material is significantly absorbent, and has significant capillary attraction with respect to water passing through the block; the station includes a watertight box, which contains the block of treatment material; the box includes an entry-chamber, containing water for treatment, being water that has not yet entered the block of treatment material; the box includes an exit-port through which treated water is discharged from the station; the box includes walls, being left and right side-walls, a floor and a roof; the box is so dimensioned, relative to the block, that the block-width of the block is compressed between the left and right side-walls; and the box is so dimensioned, relative to the block, that the block-depth of the block is compressed between the roof and the floor; and the degree and manner of compression is such as to ensure that substantially no gaps exist between the block and the side-walls, nor between the block and the floor, through which water passing from the entry-chamber to the exit-port could bypass the block.