Scientists from CXI TUL collaborate on the construction of wetland at Zoo

The Liberec Zoo is fundamentally changing its water management. In cooperation with experts from the Institute for Nanomaterials, Advanced Technologies and Innovations of the Technical University of Liberec and the technology company Photon Water, a unique artificially constructed wetland is being created at the Liberec Zoo, which will serve as a vertical root filter. The circular system will allow the zoo to reuse water. The new feature will save almost 50% of the current water consumption.

Preparations for the construction started about a year ago, in September 2023. The first construction work began in a small ravine next to the leopard enclosure, where a 130 m² wetland with a storage volume of 108 m³ is being created. The system will treat up to 100 m³ of water per day. The zoo expects to save approximately 70 000 m³ of water in the first two and a half years of operation.

"The system will run nine months of the year and clean up to 100 cubic metres of water per day. According to our calculations, the new solution will help the garden save up to 70,000 cubic metres of water in just two and a half years. The garden will also stabilise the capacity of the local water resources and reduce its dependence on external sources," says Tomáš Lederer, project leader from the Department of Environmental Technology at the Technical University of Liberec.

From left: director of Zoo Liberec David Nejedlo, executive director of Photon Water Petr Kvapil and Tomáš Lederer, chief coordinator from Technical University of Liberec

Polluted water from the pools of animals in the upper part of the zoo, such as giraffes, tapirs, zebras and elephants, will be drained into the wetland. The water will undergo processes of coagulation filtration, biological treatment and subsequent ultrafiltration, with residual microbial contaminants removed by UV light.

Work on the project is being carried out with the utmost consideration for the well-being of the animals and visitors. "The builders have promised us to carry out the work in the enclosures as quickly as possible to ensure that the construction affects the well-being and lives of our animals as little as possible. At the same time, we don't want to significantly limit our visitors' comfort during the tour, so any noisy construction work will take place after the garden closes. We have also noticed that the excavator and other small working machines attract a lot of attention and interest from children and make their walk through the garden more interesting," says David Nejedlo, the zoo's director, with a smile.

The construction work at Zoo Liberec is carried out with the well-being of the animals and visitors in mind. If everything goes according to plan, the entire system should be completed by the end of October, with a trial run starting in November. The sustainable approach will not only significantly reduce water consumption, but will also bring the zoo considerable savings in operating costs. The new water management system will allow the use of the water from the animal enclosures on a reusable and the Zoo will no longer have to draw drinking water from the order for bathing the animals and for rinsing the cubicles,the vast majority of which ends up in the sewers without further use.