The concept of floating dispenser for delivering a dispersant to a body of water are known in the art. In one type of floating dispensers the dispensers contain a halogen and float upright in a body of water until the halogen is consumed whereupon the dispenser flops on its side. In another type of dispenser the dispenser sinks to the bottom of the pool and remains there until the dispersant has been consumed at which time the dispenser floats to the top of the pool to alert the operator to replace the dispenser. In another type of a floating dispenser a nondissolvable weight, such as a marble, is included in the dispenser with the dispenser floating on its side when the dispersant is consumed. As the dispenser floats on its side the marble rolls along the interior of the dispenser and transfers the weigh to the end of the dispenser causing to dispenser to invert after the dispersant is consumed.
A typical floating dispenser contains a buoyancy chamber and a dispersant chamber that may contain a dispersant for killing harmful organisms. Once the dispersant is spent the dispenser may be refilled or the dispenser may be replaced with a fresh dispenser. Although the use of dispersants, such as a halogen may be necessary to maintain a body of water such as a pool or spa in a condition where the water can safely used for recreational purposed there are events or times when additional conditioning of the water may be needed. For example, spring start up of the pool or spa, after heavy use of the pool or spa, after severe weather if the pool or spa is located outdoors, when containments build up in the water, when chloramines build up in the water and when a pool is closed for the season owner are typical events that may require other types of dispersants or water treatment materials to maintain the water in proper condition for recreational use. Oftentimes such water treatment materials are purchased from different sources, which may lead to problems in water maintenance since each of the products may have different directions or instructions on use as well as being incompatible with each other.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds