1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to macerator pumps and more particularly, to a macerator pump which is adapted to macerate materials, such as sewage or human waste, into particles of a predetermined size and pump the macerated materials to a desired location.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are various systems for disposing of waste, such as human waste, either on site or to a remote location. Although some on-site disposal type systems provide means for on-site disposal of a mixture of flushing fluid and human waste resulting from use of toilets, urinals, or the like, it may be inconvenient or contrary to law to dump such mixture at certain times or at any time, such as in harbors or at stations or the like unless such waste has been ground to a predetermined size and treated in a manner reducing the bacteria count thereof.
Self-contained recirculating toilet systems have been used on vehicles, such as buses, railroad trains, boats, aircraft and the like. Such systems generally comprise a plurality of substantially independent recirculating toilet systems, each with its own filter and pump assembly and storage tank.
In both systems, if such waste is to be disposed in situ, such as along a railroad track, from an aircraft, while travelling on a highway, into a body of water, etc., the waste must be treated prior to dumping. Certain regulations may also require that the waste must be reduced to a particular size prior to dumping. Such size may be determinable by the ability of the waste to pass through a certain sized sieve. Generally the waste must be chemically treated prior to disposal. There is a need for a macerator that can reduce materials, such as sewage or human waste to a particular size so that the waste can be subsequently disposed of in situ, if desired, without causing pollution or the like.
In my copending application, Ser. No. 660,645, filed Feb. 23, 1976, now also U.S. Pat. No. 4,032,995, issued on July 5, 1977, assigned to Monogram Industries, Inc., I disclosed a system for macerating and treating human waste. In that system, I disclosed the fact that any suitable macerator pump may be used. However, the macerator pump disclosed in this application is particularly suited for use in the system disclosed in my copending application. However, the macerator pump of this application is not limited to a human waste treatment system and may be useful in the macerating of any desired materials, such as sewage or the like.