Filter Media Arrives at NMLC

Sea Turtle filter system and filter media at the NMLC

We are one step closer to getting the first two pools up and running in the Sea Turtle Ward. The 1,850 pounds of filter media needed to run our filtration system arrived at the new animal hospital yesterday. This filter media will be used to fill the two large sand filters which are a vital part of the turtle life support system. Each tank in the new hospital will have its own filtration system. This allows the water in each system to remain separate and maintain quarantine between pools. Each system will have a mechanical, biological, and chemical filtration component to clean the water. The sand filters provide the mechanical filtration component by removing particulate matter from the water. The sand filters for our first two pools each require 650lbs of silica sand and 275lbs of pea gravel to run properly.

Volunteer Matt Shaffer loads the donated pea gravel at Cape Cod Aggregates

We would like to send a big thank you out to Cape Cod Aggregates who donated the 550lbs of pea gravel for the system, and to the volunteers who helped get the filter media to the NMLC and up to the mezzanine level of the hospital where the filtration systems are located. Thank you to Wendy Wyman and Matthew Shaffer for the donation of their time and use of their vehicles to haul the media. We would also like to thank Josh Shubert, Tyler DeHay, and Kaitlyn Crowley for assisting with the heavy lifting upon arrival at the NMLC. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Volunteers Josh Shubert & Tyler DeHay haul filter media into the new marine animal hospital