Welcome To The Florida Aquarium

Welcome to the Official Unofficial Unauthorized Florida Aquarium Website

The Florida Aquarium Main Building

Entrance to the Florida Aquarium

Entrance to the Florida Aquarium In Downtown Tampa

Spectacular At Night

A World Class Attraction

Catch Some Rays! - This Manta Ray was originally located on the 2nd floor balcony

Administrative Entrance

Devilray Photo Spot

Main Entrance

Florida Aquarium Entrance

Alongside The Ticket Booths

Ticket Booths

The Florida Aquarium Entrance Garden

Front Walkways

Outside Walkways

The Hidden Side

The Waterline - Thanking Patrons Of The Florida Aquarium

Ducks Inside - Ducts Outside

Right This Way!

Channelside Drive

We're Off To See The Lizard...

The Florida Aquarium in Tampa

From The Traffic Circle

Tram Service

Woodlands In The City

Aquarium Tram Station

Additional Port Parking

Outside Detention Ponds & Wetlands Projects

Detention Ponds

Outdoor Wetlands Projects

Detention Ponds

Cattails

Detention Ponds

Detention Pond Overlook

Detention Ponds

Got Scum?

Cattails

Aquarium's Environmental Experimental Parking Lot

Environmentally Friendly Parking Lot Plan

Experimental Parking Lot

The parking lot of the Florida Aquarium in Tampa, which serves 700,000+ visitors annually, has been innovatively designed as a research and demonstration project for the use of permeable pavers as part of a treatment terrain approach, comparing three paving surfaces in conjunction with swales, in the attempt to achieve the most environmentally friendly approach. First-year results found that load removal efficiencies for metals (copper, iron, lead, manganese and zinc) ranged from 23 to 59% for asphalt pavement with a swale; 62 to 84% for cement pavement with a swale; and 75 to 92% for porous concrete with a swale. In general, metals were measured at much higher concentrations in the basins paved with asphalt than those paved with cement products. The porous system with a swale also achieved 91% removal efficiency for total suspended solids, higher than the other two paving systems.This is important for the health of our Florida drainage, and ground water.

Planted Swale

Porous Pavement Swale

Paved Swale

Figure 12-36: Layout of the Florida Aquarium site showing LID management practices. The eight study basins highlighted in this case study are outlined with dotted lines.Layout of the Florida Aquarium site showing LID management practices. The eight study basins highlighted in this case study are outlined with dotted lines.

Florida Aquarium Site Plan

The Florida Aquarium Stormwater Research/Demonstration Site project is an both effort to document the benefits of low impact development (LID) strategies and inform the public as part of the process. In 1993, the Southwest Florida Water Management District and the Florida Aquarium partnered to evaluate the effectiveness of alternative parking lot design and materials to reduce runoff and improve water quality.

The study site is an 11.5-acre asphalt and concrete parking area in mid-town Tampa, Florida (about half of the parking lot has been recently converted to a construction area for cruise ship terminals). The original parking lot served approximately 700,000 visitors annually. Researchers modified the parking lot by installing the following integrated LID practices throughout the site:

End-of-island bioretention cells
Bioretention swales around the parking perimeter
Permeable paving
Bioretention strips between parking stalls
A small retention pond to supplement storage and pollutant removal

The distributed LID practices can be considered a stormwater treatment train that treats runoff from the building roof, parking lots, and access streets.

Monitoring has demonstrated that the LID practices significantly reduce runoff volume and protect water quality. Researchers collected samples from 30 storm events over a one-year period. They collected data that allowed comparisons between both treatment techniques and paving surfaces (asphalt paving with and without a swale and swale areas with cement, permeable pavement, and asphalt). The LID practices achieved between 60 and 90 percent reduction in runoff volume. Researchers also documented pollutant removal efficiencies with the highest load reduction coming from the basin with permeable pavement and swales (see table below).

Table 12-6b: Percent pollutant reduction compare to the asphalt non-swaled area
Constituent	Asphalt with Swale	Cement with Swale	Perm-eable with Swale

Ammonia	45	73	85
Nitrate	44	41	66
Total Nitrogen	9	16	42
Ortho Phosphorus*	-180	-180	-74
Total Phosphorus*	-94	-62	3
Suspended Solids	46	78	91
Copper	23	72	81
Iron	52	84	92
Lead	59	78	85
Manganese	40	68	92

Experimental Parking Lot

Florida Aquarium Stormwater Fact

Thank You For Your Visit

Welcome To The Florida Aquarium

Thanks To Our Contributors On This Page: Tim McGuinness • Florida Aquarium


Boat Tour		Outside - Dockside		Inside