System and method for flushing a drinking water installation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10934690-B2
Application number	US-201715447195-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 2, 2017
Priority date	Mar 3, 2016
Publication date	Mar 2, 2021
Grant date	Mar 2, 2021

Abstract

A system and method for flushing a drinking water installation, comprises at least one riser or distribution pipe, branch pipes connected to the riser or distribution pipe, as well as consumer devices and flushing stations connected to the branch pipes. The flushing stations have measuring devices for the temperature change in the branch pipe or the throughflow through the branch pipe, and/or measuring devices for the temperature change or the throughflow. The system includes and the method uses a control unit which is connected to the measuring devices by means of data cables or by radio. The control unit has an evaluation module for the data transmitted by the measuring devices, and the evaluation module is set up to determine, on the basis of the transmitted data, which flushing stations need to be flushed simultaneously in order for the riser or distribution pipe to be flushed.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system for flushing a drinking-water installation, said system comprising at least one riser or distribution pipe, a plurality of branch pipes connected to the riser or distribution pipe, consumer devices and flushing stations connected to the branch pipes, and measuring devices, wherein each of the measuring devices is provided at a location selected from the group consisting of a flushing station and a consumer device, wherein each of said measuring devices is configured to measure a quantity selected from the group consisting of temperature change in the branch pipe and throughflow through the branch pipe wherein the system further comprises a control unit that is connected to the measuring devices by data cables or by radio, wherein the control unit has an evaluation module for evaluating data, said data having been transmitted by the measuring devices, and wherein the evaluation module is set up to determine, on the basis of the data, how many flushing stations need to be flushed simultaneously in order for the riser or distribution pipe to be flushed.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the least one riser or distribution pipe is one of a plurality of risers or distribution pipes for the feed flow and return flow of a hot water pipe and a cold water pipe, and wherein the risers or distribution pipes have larger diameters than the branch pipes.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein each flushing station is assigned an ID and, on the basis of the ID, the branch pipe associated with the flushing station is able to be identified and the location of the flushing station in the system is able to be identified.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein each flushing station is assigned an ID for identifying the branch pipe to which the flushing station is connected.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the evaluation module is set up to output a notification that identifies which riser or distribution pipe needs to be flushed.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control unit comprises a configuration module that determines how many flushing stations are to be flushed depending on the riser or distribution pipe that is to be flushed, wherein said configuration module is configured to accept a setting of a parameter, wherein the parameter is selected from the group consisting of a flushing time, a flushing duration, whether only the hot-water pipe is to be flushed, whether only the cold-water pipe is to be flushed, and whether both the hot water and cold water pipes are to be flushed.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the evaluation module is set up to initiate flushing of the riser or distribution pipe automatically by simultaneous flushing of the flushing stations.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control unit comprises a configuration module that is configured to determine how many flushing stations are to be flushed depending on the riser or distribution pipe to be flushed, wherein the configuration module is further configured to receive a setting that identifies an interval between periodic flushes of the flushing stations that are to be flushed.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the evaluation module is set up to determine, on the basis of the data, how many flushing stations need to be flushed simultaneously in order to cause turbulent flow in the riser or distribution pipe to be flushed.

10. A method for flushing a drinking-water installation, said method comprising providing a drinking-water installation that comprises at least one riser or distribution pipe, a plurality of branch pipes connected to the riser or distribution pipe, consumer devices and flushing stations connected to the branch pipes, and measuring devices, wherein each of said measuring devices is provided at a location selected from the group consisting of a flushing station and a consumer device, measuring, using each of said measuring devices, data representative of a quantity selected from the group consisting of temperature change in a branch pipe and through-flow through a branch pipe, and, based at least in part on said data, determining how many flushing stations need to be flushed simultaneously in order to flush the riser or distribution pipe.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising outputting a notification identifying which riser or distribution pipe needs to be flushed.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising determining how many flushing stations are to be flushed depending on the riser or distribution pipe to be flushed and accepting a manual selection of which of the flushing stations are to be flushed.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising outputting a notification indicating how many flushing stations are to be flushed depending on the riser or distribution pipe to be flushed and receiving a manually-selected set of flushing stations that are to be flushed.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising setting a parameter, wherein said parameter is selected from the group consisting of flushing time, flushing duration, flushing for the hot water pipe, flushing for the cold water pipe, flushing once, and flushing in a periodically recurring manner, wherein flushing is initiated by a user of the control unit.

15. The method of claim 10 , further comprising automatically flushing a plurality of flushing stations, thereby flushing the riser or distribution pipe.

Assignees

• Uponor Innovation Ab

Inventors

• Bartenstein Paul

Classifications

• E03B7/08 Primary

  Arrangement of draining devices, {e.g. manual shut-off valves}(draining devices in general F16K, F16L) · CPC title

• G01K13/02

  for measuring temperature of moving fluids or granular materials capable of flow · CPC title

• E03C1/122

  Pipe-line systems for waste water in building (pipe-line systems in general F17D) · CPC title

• E03B7/07

  Arrangement of devices, e.g. filters, flow controls, measuring devices, siphons or valves, in the pipe systems · CPC title

• E03B1/04 Primary

  for domestic or like local supply · CPC title