JPH07178389A - Drinking water production equipment and drinking water generator - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] The carbon dioxide gas dissolution tank and dilution process of conventional drinking water production equipment are unnecessary. Prevents bacterial contamination of the hollow fiber separation membrane of the drinking water generator. [Constitution] Water supply pipe 10 to the carbonate-containing substance packed tower 50
A flow meter 12 is installed in the column, a valve 20 is installed in the carbon dioxide gas supply pipe 14 to the carbonate-containing substance packed tower 50, and the controller 30 controls the opening and closing of the valve 20 based on the measured value of the flow meter 12. The hollow fiber separation membrane 64 of the drinking water generator 50 is provided with a wash water inlet and a drain for supplying tap water. [Effect] If it is a low-concentration carbonated water of 200 ppm or less,
It can be sufficiently obtained in the pipe or the retention part in the upper part of the carbonate-containing substance packed tower. By adjusting the amount of carbon dioxide gas according to the amount of water supplied and supplying low-concentration carbonated water whose concentration has been adjusted to the carbonate-containing substance packed tower, water with a desired bicarbonate hardness component concentration and low carbon dioxide concentration is obtained. Can be obtained. By washing the hollow fiber separation membrane with tap water, it is possible to effectively prevent odor generation due to bacterial contamination and bacterial growth.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a drinking water producing apparatus and a drinking water generator, and more particularly to a drinking water producing apparatus for producing delicious drinking water rich in bicarbonate minerals and the drinking water producing apparatus. To a suitable drinking water generator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, water purifiers for removing organic substances, free chlorine and suspensions in tap water by using activated carbon and hollow fiber membranes with tap water as raw water have been used to provide delicious drinking water. Water purification equipment is commercially available.

[0003] In these water purifiers and water purification equipment, the quality of water is almost constant once the raw water is determined, and therefore, it has only a certain taste. That is, in the case of these water purifiers and water purification equipment,
It can only remove free chlorine, trace organic substances, iron, suspensions, etc. in tap water, and cannot change dissolved ions in raw water. Therefore, a change in taste due to this change in dissolved ion cannot be expected.

On the other hand, although a mineral water producing device for dissolving a trace amount of minerals by using coral or a specific ore and a production device for alkaline ionized water are commercially available, they can produce only water having a specific taste. .

In order to solve such a problem, the applicant of the present invention has disclosed, in JP-A-5-212388, a tower filled with a carbonate-containing substance and a low-concentration carbonated water through a carbon dioxide gas dissolving tank in the tower. A drinking water producing apparatus containing a hardness component of bicarbonate was proposed.

That is, the inventors of the present invention investigated the famous waters in various parts of the world, and found that the most delicious water came from the ground. Therefore, attention was paid to the reaction between underground water and underground components. Then, an experiment was conducted to mechanically carry out the same reaction. As a result, the important ingredient that is the basis of water that feels delicious is the bicarbonate hardness ingredient, even among minerals.
It has been found important that this be present in the water in the proper amount.

However, this bicarbonate hardness component exists only in a low concentration in nature. That is, when the concentration of the bicarbonate hardness component increases, it has a gas-liquid equilibrium relationship in which it is decomposed into carbonate and carbon dioxide according to the following reaction formula. Therefore, there is no high concentration bicarbonate hardness component under atmospheric pressure.

Ca (HCO ₃ ) ₂ = CaCO ₃ + H ₂ O + CO ₂ Mg (HCO ₃ ) ₂ = MgCO ₃ + H ₂ O + CO ₂ The drinking water production apparatus described in JP-A-5-212388 has a carbon dioxide gas dissolving tank. By injecting water into the tank containing carbon dioxide, carbonated water is produced by utilizing the absorption of carbon dioxide in water, and the carbonated water is passed through the tower filled with the carbonate-containing substance to increase the concentration. It is intended to obtain water having a concentration of bicarbonate hardness.

Incidentally, in JP-A-5-212388, as the column packed with the carbonate-containing substance, specifically, the carbonate-containing substance is packed in a pressure vessel, and
A water collection pipe filled with activated carbon is installed so as to be embedded in this carbonate-containing substance, and bicarbonate hardness-containing water is
From this water collection pipe to a hollow fiber separation membrane (UF (ultrafiltration) membrane, etc.)
The drinking water generator is configured so as to be taken out after passing through. The bicarbonate hardness-containing water from the drinking water generator is diluted with tap water and then supplied as drinking water from a dispenser (water cooling device).

[0010]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention
In the drinking water production apparatus described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 8, a carbon dioxide gas dissolution tank is required to produce carbonated water, and when a large amount of carbonated water is instantly required, a temperature drop and a water supply flow rate drop occur. There is a defect.

Further, there are variations in the concentration of carbonated water obtained depending on the water temperature of the carbon dioxide gas dissolution tank, the amount of water supplied, the pressure of carbon dioxide, the amount of dissolved air in the water, etc., which causes variations in the concentration of water containing bicarbonate hardness There was also a problem. Furthermore, in order to adjust the concentration of this bicarbonate hardness-containing water, manually analyze the water quality of the mixed water of bicarbonate hardness-containing water and dilution water (tap water) with a flow rate proportional setting device. There is also a problem that the operation is complicated because it is necessary to adjust the dilution ratio.

[0012] In addition to such a problem, the secondary side (permeate side) of the hollow separation membrane provided in the drinking water generator is caused by backflow of bacteria from the water supply port of the dispenser to the drinking water generator. ) There was also a problem of bacterial contamination of the membrane surface and piping from the drinking water generator to the dispenser.

Particularly, since the UF membrane captures organic suspensions and dead bodies of bacteria existing in raw water, odors such as hydrogen sulfide odor are generated by anaerobic bacteria when the water continues to stay. There is also a problem. In particular, when the membrane inflow water is treated with activated carbon, chlorine in tap water, which is raw water, is removed with activated carbon, so that bacteria are more likely to propagate on the membrane surface.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and if the low-concentration carbonated water is supplied continuously or intermittently without the need for a carbon dioxide gas dissolving tank, the concentration of the carbon dioxide gas is continuously increased. A water supply device that can supply water containing a hardness component of bicarbonate and that can omit the dilution step when drinking, and a drinking water that can effectively prevent bacterial contamination of the hollow fiber separation membrane inside It is intended to provide a water generator.

[0015]

The drinking water producing apparatus according to claim 1 is a column filled with a carbonate-containing substance, a pipe having a flow meter for supplying water to the column, and a pipe connected to the pipe. It is characterized by comprising a pipe having a valve for supplying carbon dioxide gas, and a control device for controlling opening / closing of the valve based on a measurement result of the flow meter.

The drinking water generator according to claim 2 is a drinking water generator comprising an activated carbon packed bed and a hollow fiber separation membrane module into which the outflow water of the packed bed is introduced, wherein the hollow fiber separation membrane module is provided. Has an inlet and an outlet for washing water,
A supply means of tap water is connected to the inlet.

That is, the inventors of the present invention have described the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-21
As a result of various studies to further improve the drinking water production apparatus described in Japanese Patent No. 2388, as long as it is a low-concentration carbonated water diluted to about 200 ppm, a pipe to reach a carbonate-containing substance packed tower or a carbonate salt It can be obtained sufficiently by the dissolution reaction of carbon dioxide gas in water in the retention part in the upper part of the column containing the substance to be contained, and therefore, the tank for dissolving carbon dioxide gas is not necessary, and it is obtained by adjusting the carbon dioxide concentration. By using low-concentration carbonated water, in the reaction in the carbonate-containing substance packed tower, elution of the bicarbonate hardness component of an appropriate concentration occurs,
In addition, the concentration of residual carbon dioxide can be suppressed to a low level, so that the dilution step for making drinking water is unnecessary, and further, the hollow fiber separation membrane of the drinking water generator is washed with tap water. The inventors have found that bacterial contamination can be prevented, and have completed the present invention.

[0018]

In the drinking water producing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, carbon dioxide is dissolved in water in a pipe for supplying water and carbon dioxide to the carbonate containing substance-filling tower or in a retention portion in an upper part of the carbonate containing substance-filling tower. The amount of dissolved carbon dioxide can be adjusted to an appropriate amount according to the amount of water supplied to the carbonate-containing substance packed tower by controlling the carbon dioxide supply valve with a flow meter. For this reason, for example, the low-concentration carbonated water of 200 ppm or less, and the carbonate hardness component-containing water obtained by adjusting the carbon dioxide gas concentration to obtain the bicarbonate hardness component concentration of the obtained bicarbonate hardness component-containing water has a desired concentration. Can be adjusted to.

That is, when low-concentration carbonated water is passed through a packed column filled with uncalcined shell calcium or uncalcined coral, which is a food additive other than a chemically synthesized product, bicarbonate hardness is calculated by the following reaction formula. The components are eluting.

CaCO ₃ + H ₂ O + CO ₂ = Ca (HCO ₃ ) ₂ MgCO ₃ + H ₂ O + CO ₂ = Mg (HCO ₃ ) ₂ Therefore, by varying the CO ₂ concentration in this carbonic acid, The bicarbonate hardness component can be varied.

Moreover, the water containing the bicarbonate hardness component is
By obtaining from a low concentration carbonated water of 200 ppm or less, the unreacted free carbonic acid concentration becomes 200 ppm or less regardless of the reaction time of the carbonated water and the carbonate. Therefore, the obtained bicarbonate hardness component-containing water can be supplied as drinking water without dilution.

In the drinking water generator of the second aspect, by washing the hollow fiber separation membrane with tap water, it is possible to effectively prevent odor generation due to contamination with bacteria and bacterial growth.

In the present invention, examples of the mineral containing a bicarbonate hardness component include a substance mainly composed of a carbonate component by a porous organism such as a coral skeleton or a shell.

The bicarbonate hardness component-containing water obtained according to the present invention cannot be water having a hardness equal to or lower than the hardness of raw water. Therefore, it may be diluted to an appropriate concentration according to the preference of the user. In this case, the diluting method is not particularly limited, but as the diluting water, tap water treated with a water purifier combining activated carbon and a hollow fiber membrane, purified water further treated with a reverse osmosis membrane, and purified water can be used. Carbonated water in which carbon dioxide gas is dissolved can be used.

The hardness component concentration (ppm as CaCO ₃ ) in water at the time of drinking is about 300 ppm or less.

[0026]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to examples.

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing an embodiment of the drinking water producing apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the drinking water generator of FIG.

The tap water used as the raw material for the drinking water production apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is a pipe 10 provided with a pulse transmission type flow meter 12.
Thus, the carbon dioxide gas is supplied to the mixing point A of the pipe 14.
The mixing point A is made of cheese for piping and does not require a special structure. However, when the carbon dioxide gas pressure is lower than the tap water pressure, a pipe part having a suction function such as an ejector may be required. is there.

On the other hand, carbon dioxide gas from the carbon dioxide gas cylinder 16 for food is fed to the pressure reducing valve 18 at several kg / cm ² (for example, 8
Pipe 1 that has a solenoid valve 20 and is depressurized to kg / cm ² ).
4 and is mixed with tap water at the mixing point A. In addition, 22 and 24 are check valves.

At the mixing point A, the carbonated water obtained by mixing the carbon dioxide gas and the tap water is supplied to the inlet 50A of the drinking water generator (mineral water generation tower) 50 through the pipe 14.

As shown in FIG. 2, the mineral water generation tower 50
In the pressure vessel 52, an inflow part 54 having a structure that creates a swirling flow so that carbon dioxide gas and water are mixed and dissolved, a space retention part 56, a carbonate-containing substance 58 such as coral, and silver-supporting activated carbon 60, The layers of the carbonate-containing substance 58 are sequentially stacked and filled, and the carbonated water reacts with the carbonate-containing substance 58 to produce mixed water of the hardness component of bicarbonate and unreacted free carbonic acid. The mixed water is then subjected to activated carbon 60 to remove residual chlorine, organic matter and the like, and is further collected from the bottom of the water collecting pipe 62. The collected water (mineral water) is taken out of the system through the outflow portion 64B and the pipe 66 after the suspended matter is removed by the UF membrane 64A of the hollow fiber membrane module 64.

In the drinking water producing apparatus of this embodiment, the measured value of the flow meter 12 is input to the controller 30, and the opening / closing of the solenoid valve 20 is controlled based on this measured value to obtain a desired low concentration carbonated water. Is supplied to the mineral water generator 50. Therefore, from the mineral water generator, it is possible to obtain water having a desired bicarbonate hardness component concentration and a lower carbon dioxide concentration, so that the obtained bicarbonate hardness component water is not particularly diluted, Can be supplied directly for drinking.

The water containing the bicarbonate hardness component produced in this manner is mellow and delicious mineral water.

By the way, residual chlorine in tap water of raw water is
Since it is removed by the activated carbon 60 of the mineral water generator 50, residual water does not exist in the water collected by the water collecting pipe 62. Therefore, if left unattended for a long period of time, various fungi propagate and are removed on the primary side of the hollow fiber separation membrane 64. When the bacteria and the organic suspension removed by the UF membrane 64A of the hollow fiber membrane module 64 become anaerobic, as described above,
It starts to emit odor. Also, on the secondary side of the hollow fiber membrane, contamination of various bacteria including the piping occurs due to the reverse flow of various bacteria from the piping 66.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the hollow fiber membrane module 64 of the mineral water generator 50 is constructed so that it can be washed with tap water.

That is, in the tap water supply pipe 10, a washing pipe 34 having a solenoid valve 32 for washing is branched, and this pipe 34 is a washing water inlet 64B of the hollow fiber membrane module 64.
It is connected to the.

Therefore, the electromagnetic valve 32 for cleaning is opened, tap water containing chlorine is introduced into the membrane module 64 through the cleaning water inlet 64C, and taken out through the UF membrane 64A, the outflow portion 64B, and the outflow pipe 66. Clean the tap water to the extent that residual chlorine can be detected. Then, after that, if the electromagnetic valve 32 is closed and this state is maintained until the next use, germs in the system are sterilized, and aseptic water can be taken out at any time.

A chlorine water introducing pipe 70A having a manual valve 70A is provided in the pipe 66, and the manual valve 7 is provided in the pipe 34.
A discharge valve 72 having 2A is provided, and a chlorine cleaning manual valve 70 is provided.
By opening A and 72A and injecting about 200 ppm of chlorine water in a pressurized state from the pipe 70 and taking out from the pipe 72, backwashing and sterilization of the membrane module 64 can be performed, and long-term use becomes possible.

[0039]

As described in detail above, according to the drinking water production apparatus of claim 1, the concentration step of any bicarbonate hardness component can be eliminated by omitting the carbon dioxide gas dissolving tank and the dilution step for making drinking water. It is possible to easily supply the extremely delicious water containing the bicarbonate hardness component that is possessed only by operating the panel of the control device. According to the drinking water production apparatus of the first aspect, the apparatus can be made small and compact and the operation can be simplified, which is extremely advantageous industrially.

According to the drinking water generator of the second aspect, a drinking water generator having a simple device configuration is provided, which is capable of effectively preventing contamination and odor generation due to various bacteria. It

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing an embodiment of a drinking water production apparatus of the present invention.

2 is an enlarged view of the drinking water generator used in FIG. 1. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 12 Flowmeter 16 Carbon dioxide cylinder 20, 32 Solenoid valve 30 Controller 50 Mineral water generation tower 58 Bicarbonate-containing substance 60 Activated carbon 62 Water collecting pipe 64 Hollow fiber membrane module 64A UF membrane

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location C02F 1/68 540 AD

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A tower filled with a carbonate-containing substance, a pipe having a flow meter for supplying water to the packed tower, a pipe having a valve for supplying carbon dioxide gas connected to the pipe, and the flow meter. And a controller for controlling the opening and closing of the valve based on the measurement result of 1. 2. A drinking water generator comprising a packed bed of activated carbon and a hollow fiber separation membrane module into which the outflow water of the packed bed is introduced, wherein the hollow fiber separation membrane module comprises a washing water inlet and A drinking water generator having a drainage port, and tap water supply means is connected to the introduction port.