Patent ID: 7794608

Claim:
Apparatus for purifying water, said apparatus comprising in combination: a) a water tank having a water inlet and a water outlet; b) a UV lamp disposed within said tank for irradiating the water with ultraviolet light; c) a sleeve surrounding said UV lamp for creating an annular space between said UV lamp and said sleeve; d) a chamber in fluid communication with the annular space, said chamber including an outlet; e) a source of oxygen containing gas; f) a gas inlet for conveying the gas into said sleeve for irradiation by said UV lamp to convert oxygen molecules in the gas to ozone molecules; g) a gas outlet for discharging the ozone enriched gas from the annular space into said chamber; h) said chamber having a significantly increased cross sectional area between said gas outlet of the annular space and the outlet of said chamber to reduce the flow rate of ozone enriched gas within said chamber, said chamber further having a substantially larger volume than the annular space, wherein the flow of the gas from the gas outlet to the outlet of the chamber takes substantially longer than the flow of the gas from the gas inlet to the gas outlet; and i) a UV lamp disposed within said chamber for converting oxygen molecules in the ozone enriched gas to ozone molecules.