Drinking Water Installation With Hygienic Flush-Water Reuse
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing drinking water installations do not effectively manage the handling of drinking water to prevent contamination and ensure hygienic safety, particularly in systems where non-potable water is integrated, leading to potential contamination risks.
Innovation Solution
A drinking water installation with a flush valve that drains into a tank via a free outlet, equipped with an overflow and a level detector, uses a fill level control and flushing control to synchronize flushing and filling, ensuring hygienic separation of drinking and non-potable water systems, and includes a backflow preventer to maintain water quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If drinking water is piped directly to the domestic water supply point, then the system is simple and easy to operate, but the risk of contamination increases and hygienic safety cannot be ensured
Solution Approach 1:
The water supply system is segmented into separate zones: a first zone for non-potable water (flushing, irrigation) and a second zone for potable water (drinking, cooking). This segmentation prevents contamination by physically separating water uses and ensuring that non-potable water systems cannot contaminate the potable water supply.
Solution Approach 2:
A backflow preventer is introduced as an intermediary device between the non-potable and potable water systems. This device acts as a barrier that allows pressure equalization but prevents reverse flow, thereby protecting the potable water system from contamination while maintaining system functionality.
2Ease of operation
If flushed water is discharged directly to wastewater system, then the system is simple to operate, but water resources are wasted and environmental impact increases
Solution Approach 1:
Flushed water that would normally be discarded to the wastewater system is instead recovered and redirected to the non-potable water system for reuse in applications such as irrigation, toilet flushing, and cooling. This recovery process conserves water resources while maintaining simple system operation through automated redirection.
3Loss of substance
If a separate non-potable water system is implemented, then water resources are conserved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses a single backflow preventer device that serves multiple functions: preventing contamination of potable water, enabling pressure equalization between zones, and facilitating the redirection of flushed water to non-potable uses. This multi-functionality reduces overall system complexity despite the dual-water-zone implementation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically manages water redirection and pressure equalization through the backflow preventer and associated controls, requiring minimal user intervention. The system self-regulates the flow between potable and non-potable zones based on pressure differentials and usage patterns, reducing operational complexity.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If backflow preventer is installed between non-potable and potable water systems, then contamination is prevented, but pressure differences may cause operational issues
Solution Approach 1:
The backflow preventer is designed with dynamic characteristics that allow it to adapt to varying pressure conditions. The device automatically adjusts its flow characteristics based on pressure differentials between the potable and non-potable zones, maintaining contamination prevention while accommodating normal system pressure variations without causing operational issues.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system maintains hygienically safe drinking water by preventing contamination and allowing the reuse of flushed water for non-potable purposes, while conserving water resources and ensuring compliance with legal drinking water quality standards.
Implementation Method 1
the flushing line (32) drains via a free outlet (42) into a container (44)
Implementation Method 2
The container (44) is provided with an overflow (46) which communicates with the wastewater discharge point (50)
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a drinking water installation with a supply line (8, 10) provided downstream of the point of transition (2) of drinking water, which supplies several points of withdrawal (14) of drinking water, and a flushing valve (22) adapted for flushing the supply line (8, 10), which is provided downstream of the last point of withdrawal (14) of drinking water and connects the supply line (8, 10) with a flushing line (32), wherein the flushing valve (22) is coupled in a control manner to a flushing control (24) which activates the flushing valve (22) to flush the supply line (8, 10). The flushing line (32) drains via a free outlet (42) into a container (44) which is equipped with an overflow (46) and to which a means (52) for discharging water contained in the container (44) is assigned, to which, in the direction of flow, a supply line for non-potable water (54) with at least one consumer (56) is subordinate.The container (44) is assigned a level detection and a level control (38) which, depending on the level detection, allows water into the container (44).