San Diego, CA
As the San Diego Zoo approached its centennial in 2016, they have planned the largest expansion in the organization’s history: Africa Rocks. This 8.5-acre exhibit complex transformed one of the oldest areas of the Zoo into an engaging adventure through many of Africa’s most extraordinary and diverse landscapes. A variety of different animals are featured within the exhibit, with Satchell Engineering & Associates having a special role in the design of a 200,000 gallon pool with 70-foot long underwater glass viewing of penguins, sharks, and fish, and a 65 foot tall waterfall.
Satchell Engineering & Associates designed the aquatic Life Support Systems for the water features within the Africa Rocks exhibit. We designed two distinct life support systems, one designated for the marine life exhibits and the other for the waterfall, which acts as a water recovery system for the zoo. These systems both use a fine filtration system that consists of vertical sand filters and pumps, vertical GAC filters and pumps, drum filters and pumps, backwash recovery, protein skimmers, deaeration towers, ozone disinfection, off-gas destruct, UV sterilization, and heat exchangers. See Photo Gallery
