Flexible Tube Water Sampling via Saddle Valve
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Water sampling from buried water lines, particularly at residential sites, is challenging due to unsuitable household outlets, time-consuming and complex procedures at water meter boxes, and the expense and fragility of traditional spigot posts.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a flexible, stainless steel-clad tube with a braided sheath, attached to the water line via a self-piercing saddle valve, allows for easy extension and retraction, and a valved spigot for sampling water from a water meter box, enabling efficient and economical sampling below the frost line.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If water sampling is performed at household water spigots, then sampling can be conducted at residential sites, but the outlets are unsuitable due to household water softening systems
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a saddle valve as an intermediary device that attaches to the water meter box piping rather than household spigots. This saddle valve with integrated spigot serves as a mediator between the water distribution system and sampling equipment, bypassing the unsuitable household outlets while providing direct access to potable water for sampling purposes
2Adaptability or versatility
If water sampling is performed at the water meter box, then sampling can be obtained from exposed pipe components, but the procedure is time-consuming and mechanically complex
Solution Approach 1:
The saddle valve and spigot assembly are pre-installed on the water meter box piping during initial system setup. This preliminary installation eliminates the need for complex disconnection and reconnection procedures during each sampling event, as the sampling infrastructure is already in place and ready for immediate use
Solution Approach 2:
The saddle valve assembly serves multiple functions: it provides a permanent sampling outlet, maintains system pressure, and allows repeated sampling without modifying the main water line. This multi-functional design simplifies the sampling procedure by consolidating multiple operations into a single integrated device
3Ease of operation
If traditional spigot posts are installed above ground, then water sampling is accessible, but they are expensive, difficult to install, and subject to damage from accidental impacts
Solution Approach 1:
The spigot is nested within the water meter box structure, which is typically located at or near ground level. This nesting arrangement protects the spigot from external physical damage while maintaining accessibility for sampling operations, as the meter box itself serves as a protective enclosure
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of extending the spigot vertically above ground where it is vulnerable to impact, the solution moves the sampling outlet to a horizontal dimension within the meter box. The spigot extends laterally from the piping inside the protected box space, eliminating the vertical exposure that creates vulnerability to lawn equipment and other impacts
4Reliability
If water lines are buried below the frost line, then freeze protection is provided, but traditional access methods require expensive above-ground spigot posts
Solution Approach 1:
The water meter box structure itself serves dual purposes: it provides the necessary freeze protection by burying the water line below the frost line, and simultaneously houses the sampling spigot within its protected interior space. This self-service approach eliminates the need for separate above-ground spigot posts and their associated insulation and freeze protection systems
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
Facilitates simple, cost-effective, and repeated water sampling without freeze damage, allowing on-site testing or laboratory analysis, overcoming previous methods' complexities and vulnerabilities.
Implementation Method 1
a saddle valve which incorporates and utilizes a screw driven self-piercing or pipe piercing valve stem
Data Source
AI summary
A method for tapping a water line, the water line being buried below a subterranean frost line, the water line traversing a water meter box's lower end, and having first and second sections within the water meter box respectively extending upwardly to and extending downwardly from a water meter, the method for tapping the water line including steps of providing a flexible tube having an intake end and an output end, the flexible tube having a length sufficient for, upon attachment of the flexible tube's intake end to the water line within the water meter box, extensions and retractions of the flexible tube between first and second positions, the flexible tube's output end residing below the subterranean frost line while in the first position and the flexible tube's output end extending upwardly from the water meter box while in the second position; attaching the flexible tube's intake end to the water line within the water meter box; providing a spigot and attaching the spigot to the flexible tube's output end; providing a mounting bracket for releasably holding the spigot within the water meter box; and performing further steps of grasping the spigot, releasing the spigot from the mounting means, raising the spigot and the flexible tube's output end to the second position, opening the spigot for emission of water sample, closing the spigot, and lowering the spigot and the flexible tube's output end to the first position.