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Water Analysis Laboratory In Bays
& Beaches Exhibit |
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Water Analysis Lab in Bays & Beaches |
© Photo By: Florida Aquarium |
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Water Analysis Team At Work |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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Water Analysis Lab |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness
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Water Analysis Laboratory Where Aquarium Water Is Carefully Checked |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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Outside Saltwater Treatment & Filtration
Plant, and Reservoir |
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Salt Water Filtration Plant Sits On Top Of The Aquarium's Natural Salt Water
Reservoir |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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Salt Water Filtration Plant Sits On Top Of The Aquarium's Natural Salt Water
Reservoir |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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Wetlands Ozonation Towers |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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Ozonation Tower - Used To Kill Harmful Bacteria In Filtered Freshwater |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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Wetlands Ozonation Towers |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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2nd Floor
Inside Ozonation Towers With Tops On 3rd Floor |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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Wetlands Ozonation Towers |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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A Staff
Member Fills The Sink Hole Tank In Wetlands - Required By Evaporation |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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Refilling The Salt Water
Reservoir From Teco's Barge |
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TECO's Barge Refills The Aquarium's Natural Salt
Water Reservoir |
© Photo By: Kyra
McGuinness |
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TECO's
Barge At Dock |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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Inside Saltwater Treatment & Filtration |
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Salt Water Filtration Plant Sits On Top Of The Aquarium's Natural Salt
Water Reservoir |
© Photo By: Kyra
McGuinness |
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Authorized
Staff Only! |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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Beach
Filtration |
© Photo By: Kyra
McGuinness |
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Beach Ozonation Towers |
© Photo By: Kyra
McGuinness
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Incredible
Plumbing Systems |
© Photo By: Kyra
McGuinness |
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Incredible
Plumbing Systems |
© Photo By: Kyra
McGuinness
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Incredible
Plumbing Systems |
© Photo By: Kyra
McGuinness |
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Water Treatment At The
Florida Aquarium |
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Where do we get our fresh
water?
The Florida Aquarium fresh
water supply comes from the City of Tampa. It is filtered through a
carbon bed where dissolved organics and impurities are removed. At
this point, the water is stored in two, 20,000 gallon reservoirs
where it is treated, to remove the chloramines which are toxic to
the fish. It is then stored in a large fifth floor reservoir near
the wetlands from which it is gravity fed to the exhibits.
Where do we get our salt
water?
Salt water for the Aquarium is
shipped from offshore in the Gulf of Mexico by Gulf Coast Transit (a
subsidiary of TECO). The barge, Mary Turner, delivers
phosphate from Apollo Beach to Texas for the fertilizer plants. It
then travels to Louisiana to pick up coal for transit back to Apollo
Beach. The specific gravity of phosphate is twice that of coal. In
order for the barge to remain stable in the water it must sit a
particular height out of the water. To attain this level, the
ballasts are filled with 1.5 million gallons of water from the
Mississippi River. When FLAQ is in need of salt water-the Mary
Turner will flush and fill one ballast with salt water from the Gulf
of Mexico as it travels. The 710 ft. Mary Turner docks at our wharf
where the water is transferred into two reservoirs which hold
150,000 gallons each. |
How does the Florida Aquarium
get its brackish water?
Exhibits showing brackish
habitats are first filled with fresh water, salt water is then added
to the exhibit to bring the water to an optimum salinity, between 8
and 10 parts per thousand. When salinity waivers from this optimum
it is brought back into balance with the appropriate form of water.
Does the Aquarium recycle its
water?
Both salt and fresh water are
recycled through the exhibits after passing through filtration
systems. Saltwater is further reclaimed after a backwash (reversing
the flow of water through a filter to release lodged particles). It
takes anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 gallons of water per filter to
perform a backwash of one filter. It takes a total of 70,000 gallons
of water for a full backwash of all 14 filters. This water is
transferred to two, 34,000 gallon reservoirs and allowed to settle
for one to two days. At this point it is filtered with a sand
filter, ozonated, and aerated. Once completed it is ready for use.
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Outside Freshwater Treatment & Filtration
Plant |
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Florida Aquarium Freshwater Filtration |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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Freshwater Filtration Plant |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness
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Freshwater Filtration Plant |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness
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Florida Aquarium Freshwater Filtration |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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Florida Aquarium Freshwater Filtration |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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What do the letter codes on the piping
mean? |
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fresh potable water
FWMK
fresh water make up
FWBWS
fresh water backwash supply
FWS
fresh water supply
FWR
fresh water return
BWD
backwash water drain
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salt water supply
SWR
salt water return
CWS
cold water supply
HWS
hot water supply
CA
compressed air
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Water Comes
And Going Everywhere |
© Photo By: Tim McGuinness |
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Thanks To Our
Contributors On This Page:
Tim McGuinness • Florida Aquarium |
Behind The Scenes
