El Paso, TX
El Paso Zoo, Chihuahuan Desert serves as home to animals from one of North America’s largest deserts. This exhibit within the zoo includes a Flash Flood features that is meant to simulate the flash floods that are common in the slot canyons and fill Arroyo’s, or gully’s.
Satchell Engineering & Associates designed the aquatic Life Support System for this feature. This 12,000-gallon freshwater waterfall includes an upper dump basin that releases the water down a 23ft cliffside into the basin below. From the lower basin, the water is pumped back up hill and run through chlorinators to ensure the filtration of the water. The flash flood effect is operated in 5-minute intervals to reveal the power and dangers of storms in nearby deserts. See Photo Gallery
