Sewer Connection Trap Assembly for Capturing Improper Disposal
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Flushable disposable products such as diapers and wipes often fail to disintegrate in sewer systems, causing blockages and stress on wastewater treatment systems, and consumers continue to improperly dispose of non-flushable items, necessitating a solution to capture and assign responsibility for improper disposal.
Innovation Solution
A trap assembly installed at the sewer pipe outlet captures prohibited materials using hooks, barbs, or screens, with an alarm to indicate imminent clogging, ensuring the burden of disposal is placed on the originator and preventing animal entry.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If flushable disposable products are designed to disperse in water, then they should dissolve or disintegrate in sewer systems, but they fail to properly disperse and cause blockages
Solution Approach 1:
The trap assembly is installed at the outlet end of the sewer lateral to preemptively capture prohibited materials before they can cause blockages in the municipal sewer system. This preliminary action prevents the problem from occurring downstream by intercepting non-dispersible waste at the source.
Solution Approach 2:
The trap assembly serves as an intermediary device between the private sewer lateral and the municipal sewer system. It captures prohibited materials that would otherwise pass through the system, allowing the municipal system to operate without the burden of processing non-dispersible waste from individual properties.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If screens are installed in sewer receptacles to filter large foreign matter, then blockages are prevented, but maintenance burden falls on the municipality
Solution Approach 1:
The trap assembly is installed on the private property at the outlet end of the sewer lateral, making the homeowner responsible for its maintenance and operation. This shifts the self-service burden from the municipality to the property owner, who can easily access and maintain the trap without requiring municipal intervention.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If consumers are educated about proper disposal, then improper disposal should decrease, but consumers continue to deposit prohibited materials into the system
Solution Approach 1:
The trap assembly provides immediate visual feedback to consumers about their disposal actions by capturing and retaining prohibited materials in a visible location. When consumers see their improperly disposed items caught in the trap, they receive direct feedback that reinforces proper disposal behavior and deters future violations.
Solution Approach 2:
The trap assembly applies preliminary anti-action by physically preventing prohibited materials from entering the municipal sewer system. This mechanical barrier counteracts the consumer's improper disposal action, stopping the harmful effect before it can reach the municipal system.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system that operates to capture improper disposal materials prior to their entry to the municipal sewer system in order to the burdens of such improper disposals on the originator of the waste. A trap assembly captures improper disposal materials at their source so as to provide notice to the generator of such waste that such activity is prohibited and to provide a mechanism by which responsibility for such improper waste disposal can be correctly identified and assigned while including an animal screen at an outlet thereof to prevent ingress of animals.