Granted Patent B2

US 12,734,467 · App. 18/526,907 · Granted Sep 15, 2026

Inventors: Eric S. Ball (Roseburg, OR); Terry R Bounds (Roseburg, OR)

Assignee: Orenco Systems, Inc.

B01D29/23B01D29/70

Abstract

Claims (21)

1 . A filter vault, comprising:

a filter housing including:

a lower tube sheet sealingly spanning a lower interior of the filter housing functionally preventing passage of unfiltered wastewater, and having a plurality of apertures extending therethrough;

an upper tube sheet substantially spanning an upper interior of the filter housing having a plurality of apertures extending therethrough;

an inlet opening below the lower tube sheet, positioned to introduce wastewater to be filtered into a lower chamber beneath the lower tube sheet;

a plurality of elongate filter elements each having a porous wall defining a hollow interior and being open at both ends, disposed within the filter housing, and extending between the lower tube sheet and the upper tube sheet, the respective apertures of the lower tube sheet, the hollow interior of each filter element and the apertures of the upper tube sheet being substantially aligned;

an outlet passageway extending through a wall of the filter housing and positioned between the lower tube sheet and the upper tube sheet permitting egress of filtered wastewater; and

a pump closet defining an interior volume in fluid communication with the interior of the filter housing via outlet passageway for receiving filtered wastewater;

wherein, wastewater to be filtered enters the filter housing through the inlet, flows through chamber, through apertures, into the hollow interior of the elongate filter elements, and at least a portion of the wastewater flows through the porous wall producing filtered wastewater.

2 . The filter vault of claim 1 , wherein, the upper tube sheet sealingly spans the upper interior of the filter housing, functionally preventing passage of unfiltered wastewater.

3 . The filter vault of claim 1 , wherein, said lower chamber includes an open area and a floor that slopes downwardly toward the inlet opening to receive accumulated solids from an interior filtering surface of the elongate filter elements and allow said accumulated solids to exit said filter housing through said inlet opening.

4 . The filter vault of claim 3 , wherein, the open area is free from any structures positioned within or extending into the open area, so that solids are free to settle directly downwardly.

5 . The filter vault of claim 1 , wherein, the lower tube sheet rests on a ledge on an inner circumference of the filter housing.

6 . The filter vault of claim 1 , wherein, said filter vault is free from one or more cleaning devices that move said solids away from said elongate filter elements.

7 . The filter vault of claim 1 , wherein, said filter vault is free from one or more cleaning devices that move said solids toward said inlet opening.

8 . The filter vault of claim 1 , wherein, said elongate filter elements are tubes.

9 . The filter vault of claim 1 , wherein, the pump closet includes a foot enclosing a ball valve that permits filtered wastewater in the pump closet to drain out of the pump closet.

10 . The filter vault of claim 1 , further comprising:

a pump disposed in the pump closet for pumping filtered wastewater out of the pump closet.

11 . The filter vault of claim 1 , further comprising:

a lid which sits atop the upper tube sheet, and covers the open tops of the elongate filter elements, preventing unfiltered wastewater from passing into an upper chamber except through the porous wall of the filter elements.

Assignments (4)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (277)