PLUMBING ENGINEER - FEATURES: DECEMBER 2009: CHALLENGES MET AT THEMONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM

Challenges Met at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

By Matthew Schneider

Recently, I had the privilege of performing a plumbing systems assessment of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, located in Monterey,

California. The third such facility assessment performed by our company — Ballinger Architects and Engineers, Philadelphia — it w as

an overall assessment, including electrical, HVAC, architectural and structural, in addition to the plumbing systems. These

assessments have enabled the aquarium’s facilities department to successfully focus capital expenditures on areas of the aquarium

in most need of repairs and improvements. They also have stimulated improvements in system design, updating the systems allow ing

the facility to capitalize on new technologies and industry advancements.

These assessments have enabled us to conclude that the tw o primary causes of system degradation are the harsh shore line

location and the use of actual seaw ater for the sea life habitats. The use of plastics and stainless steel, w hether original or

upgraded in the systems piping, f ittings, valves, supports or equipment has greatly increased the life and reduced the required

maintenance of those systems.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is housed in a total of 322,000-square-feet f loor area and w as built on the site of the Hovden Cannery,

a former sardine cannery, located on the shores of Monterey Bay. Being an aquarium, its plumbing systems are critical. Portions of

these systems are unlike any other in the country, if not the w orld. In fact, it is one of only a couple of aquariums in the country to

actually draw seaw ater for its exhibits, in this case from the Monterey Bay.

The aquarium is one of the largest in the w orld. It has tw o levels and consists of tw o w ings, the Near Shore Wing and the Outer Bay

Wing. The Oceans Edge Wing is the original aquarium building built in 1984, and the Outer Bay Wing w as added in 1996. The facility

also has 25,500 square feet of multilevel ocean view deck area overlooking a large natural tide pool, as w ell as the Monterey Bay

itself.

The Oceans Edge Wing consists of three large tanks. The 335,000-gallon forest kelp tank, w hich is the f irst aquarium tank to grow

live California Giant Kelp. The tank has a large w ave machine at the top, w hich keeps the w ater circulating, supplying the kelp w ith

nutrients obtained from natural seaw ater. Another large tank in this w ing is the 326,000-gallon Monterey Bay Tank that houses gill

sharks, stingrays, and a variety of other f ish, w hich inhabit the nearby bay. The third large tank is the 55,000-gallon Sea Otter Tank,

w hich is open at the top to the exterior and is equipped w ith large artif icial rocks, as w ell as a fenced in area to allow the otters to

exit and enter the tank in a somew hat familiar natural environment. There are tw o view ing areas of this exhibit: one is on the f irst

level w hich allow s an underw ater perspective; the second level gives observers a view of the playful otters w hen they are at the

tank surface and on the exterior rocks.

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The Outer Bay Wing has a 1,000,000-gallon tank housing (at the time it opened), the w orld’s largest single pane view ing w indow .

This tank is home to large tuna, sharks, giant sea turtles, mahi mahi, ocean sunfish and other species from the outer Monterey Bay.

This Wing also contains an anchovies tank exhibit containing approximately 3,000 anchovies sw imming against a simulated steady

current movement. There is also a jellyf ish exhibit featuring multiple kreisel tanks (tanks w ithout corners) providing a slow , circular

w ater f low w ithout physical interference.

Overall, the main seaw ater system draw s directly from Monterey Bay via tw o 16-inch f iberglass intake pipes. The w ater is pumped

into the facility at a maximum rate of 2,000 gallons per minute. The system consists of tw o seaw ater intakes extending 1,000 feet into

Monterey Bay. There are grates at the ends of these pipes to keep from draw ing f ish and other large marine life into the pipes.

The intakes feed a large main reservoir pit below a main pump house at the exterior of the aquarium. The pump house contains tw o

40-horsepow er vertical pedestal main seaw ater pumps that supply the building’s main seaw ater system. An 18" main runs from the

pumps into the Near Shore w ing basement mechanical room. As the main enters the basement, it splits into tw o systems: f iltered

seaw ater and raw seaw ater.

The f iltered seaw ater is supplied to the displays during the day to provide clear w ater for view ing purposes. The f iltered w ater

system consists of end suction corrosion resistant f iberglass reinforced, plastic composite pumps, pumping raw seaw ater through

large sand f ilters at various locations, out to the exhibits.

The larger display tanks, the Monterey Bay, the Kelp Tank, the Sea Otter Tank, the Outer Bay Tank, and the Jellies System are all

equipped w ith their ow n pumps and f ilters. The smaller systems are fed from the larger tank overflow s.

Raw seaw ater is supplied to the exhibits at night to provide the necessary nutrients such as plankton to the aquarium sea life. This

system bypasses f ilters or strainers associated w ith each individual display system.

The systems are sw itched by a series of automatic valves and bypasses located in the Oceans Edge Wing’s main mechanical room.

The main seaw ater systems, raw and f iltered, w ere originally installed w hen the Oceans Edge Wing w as built in 1984. The piping

and f ittings are f iberglass and the valves w ere cast iron. The f iberglass piping has held up w ell but the valves have been replaced

over the years because of failures due to the corrosive environment. The valves have been replaced w ith PVC butterf ly valves,

w hich w ere not available above 6" w hen the original aquarium w as built.

The main seaw ater intake system pulls direct raw seaw ater from the Monterey Bay w ith the intake grates as the only method of

screening the w ater before it reaches the sand f ilters. Some systems, such as the Sea Otter system, have basket strainers at the

filters. The interior of the raw seaw ater piping can get encrusted w ith plankton and other tiny sea life, like clams and mussels over

time.

The aquarium has developed an innovative w ay of dealing w ith this problem. The raw seaw ater piping is cleaned by using a

“pigging” procedure. This process is used in the oil industry to clean sludged piping. The pipes are cleaned by inserting a hard foam

“pig,” shaped like a large bullet, w hich is a slightly larger diameter than the pipe, into the raw seaw ater pipe, and forcing it through the

pipe w ith pumped w ater pressure. The sw irling w ater w ound the pig scours the pipe as it travels through the pipe. The pig is then

discharged out a cleanout at the end of the pipe at various locations in the system.

When the tw o 18" intake pipes, w hich extend out into the bay are pigged, the pig is forced from inside the aquarium mechanical room

out into the bay. The intake screens are removed and the foam pig discharges from the intake at the bottom of the bay then comes

bobbing to the surface w here the facilities crew is w aiting in a boat to retrieve it. Because the pig is made of foam and uses the

sw irling w ater to scour the pipe, it does not damage the pipe, although it does make quite a loud squealing noise (hence its name).

The Outer Bay Wing is supplied by the raw seaw ater system in the Oceans Edge Wing and has tw o larger systems and a number of

smaller systems. The larger systems are the Outer Bay Tank System and the Jellies System. The Jellies System’s w ater is also

sterilized w ith ultraviolet light and chilled w ith a small chiller. This ensures the correct w ater temperature and quality for the jellies

since the w ater can be altered by the buildings ambient temperature and equipment, such as pumps, as it travels through the

aquarium's piping to the exhibit. The smaller systems are the anchovies tank and a temporary sea horse exhibit. The Outer Bay

Wing's systems are schedule 80 PVC piping w ith PVC valves and has had minimal problems since it w as built.

Because the aquarium uses direct raw seaw ater for its exhibits, maintaining these systems is challenging and requires the use of

some unconventional materials.

The systems in the aquarium w hich have the larger f iltration systems, the Kelp Tank, the Monterey Bay Tank, the Sea Otter Tank, the

Outer Bay Tank, and the Jellies exhibit are equipped w ith back w ash systems. Through a series of valves and bypass pipes the main

pumps can be used to reverse the f low of w ater through the large sand f ilters backw ashing the f ilters and collecting it in large

storage reservoirs. The w ater is then discharged back into the bay. There is a desalination system fed from the discharged w ater

from the f ilters, supplying the aquariums toilets and urinals.

The building, being built out over the beach and shore, exposes the PVC drainage piping, w hich serves the f irst f loor, to the w eather,

pounding w aves, and high w inds. These elements can damage the piping and conventional pipe hangers. The aquarium's facilities

crew have installed rather clever nonconventional vinyl V hangers at close spacing, approximately 12 to 18 inches to support,

secure, and protect the piping. The vinyl w ill not corrode from the seaw ater or airborne salts, providing a longer service life than

metal hangers.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium does an excellent job of keeping up w ith regular maintenance, as the seaw ater, airborne salts, and the

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marine environment continue to take an ongoing toll on the plumbing systems and general facilities infrastructure. Ballinger's

assessment provided an organized method for identifying and categorizing such maintenance, repairs, and industry advancements

needed for the upkeep of the facility and to simply maintain the outstanding marine environment and visitor experience for w hich the

Aquarium is famous.

Matthew Schneider is an associate, senior technical plumbing/fire protection lead at Ballinger Architects and Engineers. For six

years he has served as the Plumbing/Fire Protection Department manager. Matt has 25 years of experience in the plumbing design

engineering field.

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