US20090212051A1

US20090212051A1 - Rainwater Collection and Storage System

Info

Publication number: US20090212051A1
Application number: US12/038,117
Authority: US
Inventors: David C. Liu
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-02-27
Filing date: 2008-02-27
Publication date: 2009-08-27

Abstract

A rainwater collection and storage system includes at least one rainwater collector and a rainwater storage unit. The rainwater collector includes a bucket, a rainwater collector plate, and a decorative item. The decorative item camouflages the rainwater collector and makes it more pleasant to see. The rainwater collector also includes one or more filtering elements, filtering out leaves and debris and preventing intrusion of insects into the bucket. The rainwater collected is pumped to the rainwater storage unit. The rainwater storage unit has a support structure and a flexible rainwater container attached to the support structure. Because of the flexible rainwater container, the rainwater storage unit can be placed in a terrain that is not flat. The rainwater storage unit is also camouflaged to resemble a tree.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to water storage, and more particularly, to a system for collecting and storing rainwater.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Water conservation has become an important issue in many cities, states, and countries. When drought affects a city, most often the first water use restriction imposed by city officials is to stop outdoor use of water, and this measure affects greatly all the outdoor activities that require water, such as car wash, gardening, or even some indoor use, such as flushing toilets, laundry, or shower after some simple treatment.
To overcome this limitation, house owners have resort to saving rainwater in plastic containers. Several containers are available for purchase and most of them are either in barrel shape or square shape. These containers are simple in construction, which essentially comprises of a storage compartment with an opening for collection of rainwater and an outlet for draining of stored rainwater. Generally, these containers are not pleasant to see and require to be placed on a relatively flat surface. Consequently, they are placed away from the front entrance of a house or any position that is easily seen from the street. Often, homeowners have to build short wall or fence to block the view of the containers from the street.
Besides the appearance problem, the containers often cause another problem, which is providing a breeding place for mosquitoes. Stored rainwater in the containers often provides a good environment for mosquitoes to lay eggs, and this problem has stopped some homeowners from installing rainwater collection containers. Another problem is that these barrels are usually small and range from 50 to 200 gallons, generally not big enough for storing rainwater for more extensive water use, such as irrigation, car wash, or toilets use. Large scale water tank is available, but it is generally for commercial and/or industrial use and requires a large space and professional installation with a high cost of installation, shipping, removal, relocation, and dismounting. A rainwater barrel normally is placed near a downspout and not interconnected to other rainwater barrels and thus not suited for centralized filtration.
Maintenance is another issue for the water tank and rainwater collectors. Many commercial tanks are large and it is difficult to clean, replace, relocate, move, and disassemble. For large plastic tanks, it is not easy to access inside of a tank and not safe because of lack of fresh air. Another issue with plastic tanks is they age easily. Steel tank is expensive and not easy to clean. Cement (concrete) tank is not easy to replace, clean, move, and disassemble.
A large rainwater storage tank is also vulnerable to crack with ice formation inside the tank, which is likely to happen when the water reaches a freezing temperature. Large tank also poses an aesthetic problem for residential users living in subdivisions with restrictive covenants.
The cost is also an issue for a rainwater collection and storage system. The tap water is normally cheap and the low cost of the tap water does not give much incentive for users to use free rainwater by making investment in a rainwater collection and storage system. To make a rainwater collection and storage system attractive to users, the rainwater collection and storage system must be able to provide long term savings.
Therefore, there is a need for a low cost rainwater collection system that reduces the chance of mosquitoes, is easily installed and visually pleasant, is easy to install, remove, and relocate, and is resistant to icing weather and to rust and it is to this apparatus the present invention is primarily directed to.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a rainwater collection and storage system. In one embodiment, the rainwater collection and storage system has at least one rainwater collector for collecting rainwater and a rainwater storage unit connected to the at least one rainwater collector. The rainwater collector has at least one decorative camouflage. The rainwater storage unit has a flexible rainwater container and at least one decorative camouflage. The rainwater collected by the rainwater collector is transferred to the rainwater storage unit.
In another embodiment of the invention there is provided a rainwater collector. The rainwater collector has a container, a collector plate with a second center opening, a conic filter with a third center opening, and a decorative camouflage. The container has a slow dripping outlet and a first opening; the collector plate is placed on top of the container, and the conic filter is placed concentrically on top of the collector plate. The decorative camouflage is placed through the second center opening and the third center opening.
In yet another embodiment of the invention there is also provided a rainwater storage unit. The rainwater storage unit has a support structure, a flexible rainwater container, a bottom outlet (optional with a pump on outlet, or inside of water), (to inlet or side inlets) and a plurality of decorative camouflages. The flexible rainwater container is removably attached to the support structure through a plurality of attaching devices and has a top opening removably covering the top opening. The plurality of decorative camouflages is attached to the support structure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features and advantages of embodiments of the invention will become apparent as the following Detailed Description proceeds, and upon reference to the Drawings, where like numerals depict like elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a rainwater collection and storage system according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a rainwater collector according to one embodiment of the invention:

FIG. 3 illustrates a filter for the rainwater collector:

FIG. 4 illustrates a collector plate for the rainwater collector;

FIG. 5 illustrates an rainwater collector according to an alternative embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a small scale rainwater collection system according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 depicts a rainwater storage unit;

FIG. 8 depicts a camouflage scheme for the rainwater storage unit;

FIG. 9 illustrates an alternative small scale rainwater collection system;

FIG. 10 depicts an alternative support structure for a rainwater storage unit;

FIG. 11 depicts yet another alternative support structure for a rainwater storage unit;

FIG. 12 depicts yet another alternative support structure for a rainwater storage unit;

FIG. 13 depicts a cross section view of an alternative embodiment of a rainwater collector;

FIG. 14 depicts a perspective view of a rainwater collector for a corner; and

FIG. 15 depicts a perspective view of a rainwater collector for a wall.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a rainwater collection and storage system that is decorative and easy to maintain. The rainwater collection and storage system of the present invention is easy to clean, to replace, to check, to install, and to move. The rainwater collection and storage system also provides a good return in investment through reducing household water consumption Its construction is also resistant to sunshine, freezing temperature, and rust resistant. It is expandable (size of bag, height of water tank), movable (change location, rearrange), extendable (add more units), easy to upgrade, portable (integrate with other system, pump, connections, and purification system), easy to dismount, easy to ship away, and easy to dispose FIG. 1 illustrates a rain collection and storage system 100 according to one embodiment of the invention. The rainwater is generally collected from rain that falls on the roof 102 of a house, and collected through the gutters 104 and downspouts 106. A decorative rainwater collector 108 can be placed at the end of the downspout 106 to collect the rainwater. The decorative rainwater collector 108 is connected through a pipe 110 or a flexible hose to a rainwater storage unit 112. The rainwater collected at the decorative rainwater collector 108 can be transferred through the pipe 110 to the storage unit 112. The rainwater storage unit 112 has an outlet from which the rainwater can be drained and used for different purposes. The rainwater storage unit 112 can be placed anywhere near house; it can be placed near the rainwater collectors 108 or near the place of usage. The rainwater storage unit 112 can also be placed in less visible locations for aesthetic reasons. Both the decorative rainwater collector 108 and the rainwater storage unit 112 are camouflaged with decorations, thus making them visually pleasant, and homeowners no longer need to hide them behind fences or walls or get special permission from their homeowner association.
FIG. 2 depicts a cross section view of a decorative rainwater collector 108. The decorative rainwater collector 108 may have different themes. The decoration on the decorative rainwater collector 108 may resemble a small tree, a flower plants a sculpture, or other artistic decoration. The decoration can be either real plants and flowers or artificial trees and silk flowers. The decoration shown in FIG. 2 is a tree 202, but other type of decorations may also be employed. The tree 202 may be a single piece made from plastic or a suitable recycled material. The tree 202 may also be a real plant. The tree 202 may also be composed by branches 204 of leaves inserted onto a main trunk 206. The trunk 206 is then inserted into a cup 226 attached to a concave collector plate 210. The cup 226 may have different shape or size; a live potted plan may be placed inside the cup 226. The concave collector plate 210 is placed on the top of a container, such as a bucket 212. The bucket 212 preferably has a conic shape with a large opening facing up, but any other shape, such as round, square, polygon, or partially flat, may also be used. Though the decorative rainwater collector 108 is shown to have a circular shape, it may a half circular shape as shown in FIG. 15 for placing adjacent to a flat surface or ¾ circular for placing around a corner of a building as show in FIG. 14.
The concave collector plate 210 is shown in more detail in FIG. 4. The concave collector plate 210 has preferably a round shape with a border 404 that may be slightly raised up from the concave surface 402. When the border 404 is tall, the angle between the border 404 and the concave surface 402 is diminished. At the center of the concave surface 402 there is a cup 226 and some openings 406 around the cup 226. The openings allow the rainwater collected through the concave collector plate 210 to flow through the cup 226 and into the bucket 212. The cup 226 is preferably made from a mesh material, having openings that enable flow of rainwater but detaining solid materials of certain sizes, such as leaves and branches. This is second filtration, which has longer time to filter and provides finer filtration. The mesh materials can be a fine cloth bag which can catch small dust and particles. The mesh also prevents the mosquito getting into the bucket. The bucket 212 and the concave collector plate 210 can be made from plastic, fiber glass, glass, aluminum, stainless steel, ceramic, porcelain, wood, cement, or other rust resistant material and they may have shapes other than the circular conic shape.
An additional filter 208 can be used to screen off leaves and also to prevent insects from depositing eggs inside the bucket 212. The filter 208 can serve as a mechanical support for the tree 202. The filter 208 is also used to support the main trunk 206. One embodiment of the filter 208 with a conic shape is illustrated in FIG. 3. The filter 208 has a conic surface 304 and a center opening 302. The filter 208 is placed concentrically on the top of the concave collector plate 210, such that the trunk 206 of the tree 108 can be inserted through both the filter 208 and concave collector plate 210. The filter 208 may be a large mesh and serves as the first filtration stage. The filter 208 requires less time to filter and is easy to clean. If the area is clear of debris, this filter 208 is optional. The filter 208 may also have different shape such as square.
The filtering may also be accomplished with a different filter illustrated in FIG. 13. The decorative piece may be a real or fake plant 1302 in a pot 1304. The pot 1304 is placed on a collector 1308 filled with filtering material 1306, such as stone and sand or other suitable material. The collector 1308 is placed on top of a bucket 212.
The bucket 212 has a slow dripping (drainage) outlet 220 near its bottom and an overflow opening 222 near its top. The overflow opening 222 may be a recess on the edge of the bucket 212 as shown in FIG. 15, so the pump lines can be easily taken in and out. The slow dripping outlet 220 allows a small amount of rainwater to exit from the bucket 212, thus preventing accumulation and freezing of rainwater inside the bucket 212. By allowing an automatic draining of the rainwater from the bucket 212, it can also reduce the chance of procreation of mosquitoes inside the bucket 212. Alternatively, the slow dripping outlet 220 can be replaced by a faucet that allows a user to control the amount of rainwater flowing out of the bucket 212. A pump 214 may be placed inside the bucket 212. The pump 214 has a float control 218, an intake 216, and an outlet hose 224. The float control 218 determines when the pump 214 should operate and when the pump 214 should shut down. The intake 216 is preferably a floating intake, taking water from the surface or near the surface, instead of taking water from the bottom where most likely there will be some debris. The outlet hose 224 may be bundled with the electrical cable into one unit for a certain length, thus reducing number of hose and cables inside the bucket 212. After the predetermined length, the outlet hose 224 and the electrical cable can then be separated.
FIG. 5 depicts a cross section view of a decorative rainwater collector 108 according to one alternative embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the bucket 508 has two interconnecting outlets 502. The interconnecting outlet 502 can be closed by a cap 506. The interconnecting outlets allow a bucket 508 be connected to neighboring buckets 508. The overflow from one bucket 508 can flow to another bucket 508. This is useful when a user for esthetic reasons wants to place multiple decorative rainwater collectors 108 close to each other, as shown in FIG. 6, and only one of them is placed near a downspout 108. Multiple decorative rainwater collectors 108 may be connected in series by placing them at the same level or at different levels, as shown in FIG. 9, which requires only one pump at the lowest position collector. Rubber bumps may be used near the garage door area for protecting the connecting pipe 110 as the pipe crosses different areas outside the house. Alternatively, the decorative rainwater collectors 108 can be connected to each other through the slow dripping outlet 220 (not shown). When several decorative rainwater collectors 108 are connected to each other, only one pump 214 is needed to pump rainwater out of multiple rainwater collectors 108. The decorative rainwater collectors 108 can be interconnected by a fixed or flexible pipe 602.
The bucket 508 may have an optional filtering cup 504 placed at the inside bottom. The filtering cup 504 may permanently attached to the internal base inside the bucket 508, and a filtering cloth may be placed inside. The rainwater flowing out from the cup 226 is discharged into the filtering cup 504. The filtering cup 504 provides an additional filtering, and the filtering cloth can be easily washed or replaced. Alternatively a filtering bag may be connected to the cup 226, which will allow the rainwater to gradually leak out by gravity. The filtering bag is disposable and requires no clean effort. The filtering bag can be made from plastic, cloth, rubber, or any porous or netlike material. A submersible pump 214 is placed inside the bucket 508 and pumps rainwater from the outside of the filtering cup 504. Alternatively, a pedestal pump or other type of pump can also be used. The pump may be of 110 V or powered by a battery pack. It is recommended the pump be operated by a battery of 12V, 24V, or 36 V, which is safe, and the pump may be controlled by a water level sensor.
FIG. 7 illustrates a rainwater storage unit 112. The rainwater storage unit 112 includes a support 702 and a flexible rainwater container 706. The support 702 is preferably made from rods or tubes of different sizes and diameters. The support 702 may be made from stainless steel, aluminum, plastic, wood, bamboo, fiberglass, coated steel, or other materials that is rust resistant. The rods may be shipped loose by manufacturer and assembled by the end user. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the support 702 has a square top made from four rods, but the support 702 can have different shape, such as triangle, polygon, circle, trees shape, or spherical. The square top is supported by four leg-rods 708 and several horizontal rods 704 are attached between two adjacent leg-rods. The horizontal rods 704 strengthen the frame and may also serve as ladder for accessing the top of the rainwater storage unit 112. The leg-rods and horizontal rods are made from plastic, wood, or other solid and rust resistant material. The support 702 may have different sizes depending on the number of rods used for the leg-rods. If the end-user prefers, he may have a support 702 with a height that ranges from 3 feet to 20 feet tall. The support 702 may be assembled from several individual pieces, which allows the support 702 to be extendable to different heights. The support 702 may also be flexible and bendable frame like camping tent's support. The support 702 can have different “shoes” such as nail-like which can go to ground, or rubber shoes such as those used for ladders for concrete floor. The flexible rainwater container 706 can be made from plastic, rubber, enforced fiberglass, or specially treated water-resistant fabric. The flexible rainwater container 706 may be also have multiple layers, where one layer serves as a strength net and other layer serves as a disposable plastic bag. The flexible rainwater container 706 can be also extendable with additional sections attached through zippers in a construction commonly used in traveler bags. The flexible rainwater container 706 has special edges 708 with holes. Hooks or hangers 710 can be placed into these holes and attached to the support 702, so the rainwater container 706 can be removably attached to the support 702 after water in the container 706 is drained. The attachment of the rainwater container 706 to the support 702 can be done in a manner similar to hanging a shower curtain onto a shower rod.
The flexible rainwater container 706 has a top opening 714, which can be covered by a top cover 716. The top cover 716 can be closed with a zipper placed around the top opening 714. The top cover 716 may have openings for different hoses. Alternatively, the top cover 716 may be closed with a loop-and-hook faster, such as Velcro™. The border of top cover 716 may be reinforced with thin rods, so the proper shape of the top cover 716 can be maintained. The top cover 716 may have a filtering screen 718 with a cover to shield the inside of the flexible rainwater container 706 from light). The filtering screen 718 allows a visual inspection of inside of the flexible container and prevents entrance of insects into the flexible rainwater container 706 The flexible rainwater container 706 should be preferably completely sealed from light to prevent growth of mold and mildew. The top cover 716 should prevent, when covering the top opening 714, smell from escaping the flexible rainwater container 706, but should not be air tight. The flexible rainwater container 706 may also be equipped with an outlet 720, which allows the stored rainwater be drained and used.
The rainwater from a rainwater collector 108 can be channeled to the rainwater storage unit 112 though a flexible hose with one end inside the flexible rainwater container 706, or alternatively, through a fixed pipe, such as PVC pipe connected to an inlet pipe 724 attached to the flexible rainwater container 706. The flexible hose or the PVC pipe can be hidden behind camouflages and go into the container from its top.
The flexible rainwater container 706 has a soft bottom surface and can be placed in any irregular surface. The flexible rainwater container 706 can also be easily washed, cleaned, or replaced by removing it from the support 702 after draining the container 706. The flexible container 706 can be flipped inside out for cleaning purposes. The rods on the support 112 have holes onto which decorative camouflages 802 can be placed on the leg-rods 708 and support rods 704 as shown in FIG. 8. The decorative camouflages may be military camouflages, such as net/clothing of different shape and color, silk flowers, artificial plants and trees, sculptures, artistic decorations, statutes made from plastic, cement, stone, wood, fiberglass, porcelain, etc. Alternatively, live plants may also be hung around the support 702. When the support 702 is covered by the decorative camouflages, the support 702 may resemble a tree or other artistic decorations, thus making it pleasant to see.
The rainwater storage unit 112 may have a water pump placed immerse the flexible rainwater container 706 for pumping the water out of the container 706. A filtration system can also be attached to the water pump for filtering purposes. An incoming water filtration system may also be installed by connecting to the inlet pipe 724. The inlet pipe 724 can be also discharge from the top into the container 706. The inlet pipe 724 can be installed on the top of the rainwater storage unit 112.
A filtering bag may be placed inside the flexible rainwater container 706. The filtering bag can be made from cloth, plastic, rubber, or other suitable porous material. The stored rainwater water will flow through the filtering bag first before exiting the flexible rainwater container 706. The filtering bag has a large surface to allow water penetrate. This will speed up the filtration speed while requiring no pressure and drive for the filtration. As the pump pumps the stored rainwater out of the rainwater storage unit, the deposit/dust will be kept inside the bag.
The rainwater storage unit 112 may have a profile other than trapezoidal form shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. The rainwater storage unit 112 may have a triangular profile, a circular profile, a polygonal profile, etc. FIG. 10 depicts an alternative support for the rainwater storage unit 112. The support rods 1002 are circular and fixed on the leg-rods 1004. FIG. 11 depicts another alternative support where the leg-rods 1104 are curved. In FIG. 12, the leg-rods 1204 are curved and extend above the top support-rod 1202. These different shapes of supports enable the rainwater storage unit 112 to have a different external appearance when camouflages are placed on these supports.
The rainwater collection and storage system of the present invention can be sold to end-users as a system or as separate items. The system can be easily installed and uninstalled; each component can be cleaned easily. The design of the rainwater collection and storage system is modular, and can be extended easily to increase the amount of rainwater collected and stored. Additional storage will also increase the level of water purity as additional filtering stages may be added with the additional storage capacity.
The terms and expressions which have been employed herein are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described (or portions thereof), and it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. Other modifications, variations, and alternatives are also possible. Accordingly, the claims are intended to cover all such equivalents. Dimensions in the drawings here presented are not to the scale unless otherwise indicated.

Claims

1. A rainwater collection system, comprising:

at least one rainwater collector for collecting rainwater, the at least one rainwater collector having at least one decorative camouflage; and

a rainwater storage unit connected to the at least one rainwater collector, the rainwater storage unit having a flexible rainwater container and at least one decorative camouflage,

wherein the rainwater collected by the at least one rainwater collector is transferred to the rainwater storage unit.

2. The rainwater collection system of claim 1, wherein the at least one rainwater collector further comprising a filter.

3. The rainwater collection system of claim 1, wherein the filter has a conic shape.

4. The rainwater collection system of claim 1, wherein the at least one rainwater collector further comprising a collector plate.

5. The rainwater collection system of claim 1, wherein the collector plate has a concave shape.

6. The rainwater collection system of claim 4, wherein the collector plate further comprising a cup for holding the decorative camouflage.

7. The rainwater collection system of claim 1, wherein the rainwater collector further comprising at least one interconnecting outlet.

8. The rainwater collection system of claim 1, wherein the flexible rainwater container having an opening with a cover, the cover being equipped with a filtering screen.

9. The rainwater collection system of claim 1, wherein the rainwater storage unit further comprising a support structure for supporting the flexible rainwater container.

10. The rainwater collection system of claim 9, wherein the flexible rainwater container further comprising at least one outlet.

11. The rainwater collection system of claim 9, wherein the flexible rainwater container further comprising a filter.

12. A rainwater collector comprising:

a container, the container having a slow dripping outlet and a first opening;

a collector plate with a second center opening, the collector plate being placed on top of the container;

a filter with a third center opening, the filter being placed on top of the collector plate; and

a decorative camouflage, the decorative camouflage being placed on top of the filter.

13. The rainwater collector of claim 12, further comprising a first cup attached concentrically to the collector plate.

14. The rainwater collector of claim 12, wherein the collector plate having a concave shape.

15. The rainwater collector of claim 12, wherein the filter having a conic shape.

16. The rainwater collector of claim 12, wherein the container further comprising at least one interconnecting outlet.

17. The rainwater collector of claim 12, wherein the container further comprising a slow dripping outlet.

18. The rainwater collector of claim 12, further comprising a filtering cup placed inside the container.

19. A rainwater storage unit comprising:

a support structure;

a flexible rainwater container, the flexible rainwater container being removably attached to the support structure through a plurality of attaching devices, the flexible rainwater container having a opening and a cover removably covering the opening;

a outlet; and

a plurality of decorative camouflages, the plurality of decorative camouflages being attached to the support structure.

20. The rainwater storage unit of claim 19, wherein the cover further comprising a screen.