Page 30 - GW_2020Winter

Quality Time continued

Where does the water come from? stage Andersen microbial impactor kit and DG-18 Agar plates to
collect and grow airborne mold spores. DG-18 is a type of agar
Our water comes from Lake Michigan and is supplied through our that is selective for specific types of molds, including Aspergillus.
primary main (Brookfield-North Riverside Water Commission) and
secondary main (Village of Brookfield). We pay for every gallon that After the plates are incubated at room temperature for seven
comes in, whether it’s for drinking water, irrigation, filling up exhibits, days, I count the number of fungal colonies on each plate and
or hosing down animal areas. calculate the number of colony-forming units (CFU) per cubic
meter of air. We typically find lower counts inside buildings than
The water is chlorinated, which makes it safe for us to drink. outside. If one or more of the indoor counts are higher than the
But chlorine can oxidize the soft tissues of aquatic animals. So one outdoor count, we change the filters, search for possible sources of
of the first things we do before we use it in our exhibits is get the mold, and repeat the testing.
chlorine out using activated carbon filters—think a scaled-up version
of a filter you might use on your faucet. How do you know if an animal is
too hot or cold?
How is the water in the exhibits kept clean?
I use a thermalneutral zone kit that includes a long-range infrared
Here in the Midwest, we use closed systems that recycle the water. thermometer. I walk around with log sheets and take temperature
The water from an exhibit is discharged through skimmers and readings of enclosures and animals, including the bison, bears,
bottom drains into a reservoir or sump. One or more pumps take giraffes, hoofstock, rhinos, goats, alpacas, and red panda.
water from there and sends it through a life support system—one or
more filters, heating/chilling equipment, and a disinfection system. When I get back to my office, I enter the data collected
Then the water is pumped back to the exhibit and recirculated. and each animal’s most recent body weight into an MS Excel
spreadsheet calculator from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
At a flow rate of 5,000 gallons per minute, the plant at SEVEN It calculates what percentage of an animal’s basal metabolic
SEAS treats the exhibit’s 1,250,000 gallons of water every four hours, rate (energy) is being used for thermoregulation. If an animal is
or six times per day. The plant at GREAT BEAR WILDERNESS spending more than 30 percent of its energy on thermoregulation,
treats about 2.9 million gallons a day. The water in that exhibit is it’s uncomfortable per the USDA and could be in danger. I have
recirculated about 9.5 times a day. the authority to go to the Animal Welfare Committee and
recommend putting up a shade structure, shifting the animal
Ozone is our primary disinfectant. A couple systems use in-line indoors, or giving it access to cold water to jump into.
UV [germicidal ultraviolet light] sterilizers. We follow the Illinois
Department of Public Health standards and regulations and use "Once Hudson the polar bear was sleeping poolside in the sun on an
chlorine in our water spray pads and in The Pavilions, which are 83-degree day when I came out to take readings. When I crunched the
operated and tested twice daily by our team of life support operators. data, he was spending less than 1 percent of his energy to thermoregulate.
He was an extremely comfortable polar bear. But he was also born here
What type of air-quality testing do you do? and is well-acclimated to our summer weather." —John Kanzia

Dolphins don’t have the benefit of sinuses like we do, so it’s
important that their air is as clean as we can make it. Our HVAC
systems are typically designed to filter 80 percent or more of
the particulates out of the air. Our HVAC team uses pretreated
antimicrobial pleated filters at SEVEN SEAS. The coating kills
microbes on contact, rendering them harmless if they manage to
make it through the filter.

I’m primarily testing for a microorganism called Aspergillus,
a naturally occurring mold. It’s one of the organisms that helps
decompose dead or dying plant material. Animals can get
aspergillosis, an infection, if the concentration of mold spores
inside a building is higher than the concentration outside.

I sample the air in several places within a building. I also take
a sample from outside the building near the air intake. I use a single-

30 GATEWAYS | QUALITY TIME