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PLUMBING ENGINEER - FEATURES: DECEMBER 2009: CHALLENGES MET AT THE

MONTEREY 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 aquariums 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, fittings, 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 floor 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 first 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 fish, 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 artificial 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 first
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 orlds 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 jellyfish exhibit featuring multiple kreisel tanks (tanks w ithout corners) providing a slow , circular
w ater flow w ithout physical interference.
Overall, the main seaw ater system draw s directly from Monterey Bay via tw o 16-inch fiberglass 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 fish and other large marine life into the pipes.

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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 buildings 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: filtered
seaw ater and raw seaw ater.
The filtered seaw ater is supplied to the displays during the day to provide clear w ater for view ing purposes. The filtered w ater
system consists of end suction corrosion resistant fiberglass reinforced, plastic composite pumps, pumping raw seaw ater through
large sand filters 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 filters. 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 filters 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 Wings main mechanical room.
The main seaw ater systems, raw and filtered, w ere originally installed w hen the Oceans Edge Wing w as built in 1984. The piping
and fittings are fiberglass and the valves w ere cast iron. The fiberglass 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 butterfly valves,
w hich w ere not available above 6" w hen the original aquarium w as built.

COLUMNISTS
Tim othy Allinson
Designer's Guide

Sam Dannaw ay
FPE Corner

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 filters. 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.

Ron George
Code Update

Winston Huff
Sustainable Design

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.

Bristol Stickney
Solar Solutions

Joseph Messina
Engineer's
Notebook

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 Systems 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.

Max Rohr
Alternative Energy

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

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The systems in the aquarium w hich have the larger filtration 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 flow of w ater through the large sand filters backw ashing the filters 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 filters, supplying the aquariums toilets and urinals.

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The building, being built out over the beach and shore, exposes the PVC drainage piping, w hich serves the first floor, 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.

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

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.

2015 TMB Publishing

Plumbing Engineer

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