A Lakewood company claims Aurora stole the idea for the city's $800 million water-purification and recycling project and is seeking up to $100 million in compensation. The patent-infringement dispute centers on how treated water from the South Platte River will be stored underground. The company, PS Systems Inc., said it met with Aurora Water officials in 2002 and presented a proposal about using water from the river, treating it through the ground, storing it in reservoirs underground, then piping it to customers. PS Systems president Don Summers said he filed for two patents that year on the underground-storage idea and both were granted several years later. Once a patent is applied for, the design is protected. 

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