The challenge

Home to three adult California Sea Lions each over 6 feet long and averaging 320kgs, the outdoor Sea Lion pool, some 500m3 is above ground and presented many challenges. 

To enhance the Sea Lions’ wellbeing, the pool was to become a salt-water environment and it was thought that an in-line system requiring some 5-6 units would be the answer to ensuring water purity. However, the system, installation and ongoing maintenance would be costly and with ever tightening budgets, an alternative solution was needed.

Complete Water Treatment proposed the Hyprolyser®Compact 960. Not only was this a more expedient solution, but would bring additional benefits to the zoo and would be the first application of Hyprolyser® in an aquatic environment in Northern Ireland. 

The system and immediate benefits

Hyprolyser® systems use only harmless salt, water and electricity to generate <1% sodium hypochlorite solution for effective water purity in both fresh and salt-water situations. Using patented technology, the Hyprolyser® Compact 960 generates up to 23kg of sodium hypochlorite daily, providing sufficient chlorine for dosing exactly the right amount needed to keep the pool water clean. 

The reduction in transportation and storage needs makes the environment cleaner and reduces the hazards for the animals, staff and visitors alike is a tremendous advantage of on-site chlorine generation. 

Installation

At just over 1.2m wide x 700mm deep and 1.6m tall in a skid unit, the Hyprolyser® Compact 960 is surprisingly small and uses technology that means it is quick, easy and simple to install. On this project, Complete Water Treatment installed the innovative vacuum chlorine dosing system, Gaffey’s chemiDOS-MOTIVE, eliminating the need for conventional large pressurised mechanical dosing pumps, for the safe transfer of chlorine solution under negative pressure from tank to injection point.

The pool was officially handed back to Belfast Zoo in May 2021. And after a short training session, the Zoo staff soon knew how to maintain the system to ensure it continued clean water in the pool.”

Long term benefits

One year on and “It’s running perfectly”. The system is reliable and consistent and easy to maintain. The cost savings after one year are significant. This is directly attributed to the reduction in chemical usage, as a result of on-site Chlorine generation. The savings are reinvested back into the Zoo to ensure continued welfare of the animals.

The Sea Lions are happy and healthy in their new environment, and now, post Covid, the Zoo is open once again to the public who can enjoy their antics in the pool.

The future

With the success of Hyprolyser® in the Sea Lion pool, and as part of the continued refurbishment plan, Belfast City Council are now looking to upgrade Belfast Zoo’s Penguin Enclosure. Once the Penguin enclosure has been changed over, the risk of chlorine related incidents on site will be significantly reduced – as there will be a major reduction in chlorine chemicals being transported and stored on- site. A huge benefit to the Zoo and it’s visitors. We look forward to writing a little more about this in the near future.

To find out how much you could save with a Hyprolyser® system, contact our team today.