US341649A - Filtering cistern or vat - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

C. C. GILMAN.

FILTERING GIS'I'ERN 0R VAT.

No. 341,649. Patented Ma Wt# j' 7 UNITED STATES APATENT OFFICE.,

CHARLES CARROLL GILMAN, OF ELDORA, IOIVA.

FILTERING CISTERN OR VAT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 341,649, dated May ll, 1896.

n Application filed December 1l, i884. VSerial No. 150,128. (No model!) c eistern and a reservoir,containing my invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of several contiguous tltering-cisterns located at the margin of a stream of water, with conduits leading from the stream to the cisterns, together' with a common reservoir, into which all the cisterns empty. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the Sallie, and Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the cistern.

This invention relates to cisterns or vats for filtering liquids, the same being specially adapted to the iltering of water on alarge scale for the use of cities or villages; and it consists in cisterns or vats having the peculiar construction and formed of the material herein described and claimed.

My filtering-cisteru is constructed as follows: rIhe walls and bottom I make of brick or stone laid in cement, so as to be watertight. The top may be open. I then lay upon the bottom a number of joists, which are preferably about three by six inches in cross-section, laid on their edges and extending lacross the cistern. Thesejoists or supports may be ot' wood, but preferably,i`or durability and cleanliness, they are of brick or terra-cotta. Upon these snpports I lay a false bottom Aformed of porous terra-cotta slabs from two to three inches in thickness, and extending between and resting upon the supports, the abutting edges being cemented together, so as to form water-tight joints. A false bottom supported in any other `way may be used, but the manner described will be found to be preferable. The porous terra-cotta used for this purpose is produced by mixing sawdust with the clay of which theterra-cotta is made, which in the firing is burned out, leaving the terra-cotta porous, as described in United States Reissued Letters Patent Nos. 10,419 and 10,420, granted to me December 11, 1883.

One of the side walls of the cistern is pierced with openings on a level with the bottom and y from the cistern into the reservoir E.

below the said false bottoni between the `=sev eral joists or supports, for the escape of the water after iltration.

My storing vat or reservoir, adapted to receive the water as it escapes from the lteringcistern, -is a simple water-tight inclosure of suitable size to hold the quantity of water which it. is desired to store. Its walls are preferably' formed of brick or stone cemented together. It is located relatively to the cistern so that its top is on a level with the bottom of the Gistel-11,01 nearly so, in order that the water as it issues from the cistern may tlow naturally into and ll the reservoir.

In the drawings, A represents the illeringcistern,

O represents the joists or supports laid on the bottom A of the cistern, and l) the false porous terracotta bottom resting on the said Supports.` Y

E represents the storing vat or reservoir,

placed in the proper position relatively to the i cistern, and b theopenings in the front wall of g5 the ciste-rn, through which the waterescape For the purpose of rendering the process of filtering more perfect, I spread upon the de-i scribed false bottom D a layer of coarse clean gravel, preferably about six inches thick, and upon the gravel I spread an equal layer ot' p ure sand. The water in percolating through the false bottom alone will usually leave its impurities wholly or in great measure in the porous terra-cotta; but the gravel and sandA will greatly aid the filtering process. The said false bottom ot' porous terra-cotta, in this connection, performs two functions, namely: It acts as au indestructible support for the loose ltering material placed thereon, and also acts as a iilter to iilter the water passing therethrough after having passed through the sand and gravel.

When the filtering material has become nnduly loaded with impurities, the sand and gravel (if they are employed) may be removed and a new supply laid in.

To cleanse the false bottom itself, it is only necessary to take up and turn over the blocks of terra-cotta, when the water, in percolating through them, will force the deposited. im puri- IOO jacent storage-reservoir, may be located by the margin of a stream from which the supply for a city or town is obtained, and the water from the stream led directly into the cistern through a suitable conduit. In such ease the cistern is sunk in the ground to below the level ofthe surface ofthe stream and the reservoir sunk to a still lower level.

It is preferable to construct several separate or adjoining ltering-cisterns, which may all disehargeinto one and the same storagereservoir. Fig. 2 represents such an arrangement. A A A represent these cisterns located by the margin of a stream, G, the same being sunk in the ground H below the surface of the stream. E is the reservoir, also sunk in the ground, with its top about on a-level with the bottom of the cistern. a a a are conduits leading from the stream to the oisterus, and b b b conduits leading from the cisterns to the res ervoir. By suitable gates (not shown) connected with these conduits the water may be shut off from either cistern at pleasure, so that one or more ofv the cisterns may be cleansed,

' while the other or others may be kept in operation.

When the source ot' the water-supply will permit it, or where artificial means are einployed to raise the water into the filteringcistern, it is not of course essential that the cistern should be sunk in the ground. It may be placed onor above the ground, with the storage-reservoir located relatively to it, as described.

The use of the described filtering-cist-ern is not of course limited to the filtering of water. lt may be employed to filter other liquids, such as oils, sii-ups, Ste.

The cistern, as well as the storage-reservoir which I have described, may be of any desired dimensions adapted to the quantity of liquid 1t is desired to vfilter in a given time.

I am aware that ithas been proposed to construct a eistern with a false bottom composed of ordinary brieks,through which the water is filtered, as shown in Patent No. 100,323, to B. B. Redfield; but thisIdo not claim, for the ordinary brick is too dense to permit the rapid ltration of the water therethrough.

I am aware that a bed of sand has been placed upon a sheet of' perforated metal or wire-cloth, as described and shown in patent to J.V.Hyatt, No. 27 3,539, March 6,1883; also, that loose filtering material has been placed upon aperforated metal plate; but 'these constructions differ materially from my invention in two respects-rst,beeause I substitute for the iron support a material which cannot rust o1' decay, and will last a greatly longer time than-iron as a support for the loose ltering material; and, second, because my porous terra-cotta support acts to purify the water passing therethrough, retaining much impurity that may not have been eliminated by the superimposed layer of loose filtering material. A perforated iron plate or wire-cloth supportinga loose filtering material performs no filtering functions, since the openings therein are much larger than the interstices between the particles of the loose filtering material. Such a support serves merely to allow the passage of filtered water-4. e., the Water filtered by the superimposed filtering material. I do not claim a support which is astrainer or filter in thev broadest sense in which those terms can be used, but only in the sense that it can remove the finer impurities. A wire-cloth support by itself cannot eliminate these finer impurities, but serves only to prevent the passage ot' sticks and other relatively large foreign bodies.

Vlbat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A filtering cistern or receptacleprovided with a false bottom of porous terra cotta, aet- Ving as a filtering means, as described, and with loose filtering material resting on and supported by said bottom, substantially as described.

2. A ltering cistern or receptacle provided with a false bottom of porous terracotta, aeting as a filtering means, as described, and with layers of gravel and sand supported by said bottom, substantially as described.

CHARLES CARROLL GILMAN.

Vitnesses:

HENRY M ARKELL, A. G. N. VERMILYA.

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