The Cincinnati Zoo gave an update to their new elephant exhibit that will allow elephants to walk on water in their new elephant trek habitat.

“We started on this journey more than a decade ago when we installed 400,000-gallon capacity tanks under the Africa habitat,” said Cincinnati Zoo’s vice president of facilities and sustainability Mark Fisher.  “We collect rainwater, clean it, and use it for streams, waterfalls, pools, and other water elements in that part of the Zoo. We placed additional tanks under Roo Valley, which opened in 2020, that provide water for that habitat.”

The million-gallon capacity stormwater tanks are being installed underground where the elephants will be living. This is part of the zoo’s plan to be NetZero by 2025.

“We started on this journey more than a decade ago when we installed 400,000-gallon capacity tanks under the Africa habitat,” said Cincinnati Zoo’s vice president of facilities and sustainability Mark Fisher.  “We collect rainwater, clean it, and use it for streams, waterfalls, pools, and other water elements in that part of the Zoo. We placed additional tanks under Roo Valley, which opened in 2020, that provide water for that habitat.”

When the new tanks are up and running, 98% of the Zoo’s non-potable water needs will be met using collected rainwater. Storing and reusing rainwater has helped the Zoo save more than $10 million on its water bill over the years and has also kept water and sewer overflow out of neighbors’ basements. The Zoo has saved more than 2 BILLION gallons of water since it began efforts to reduce water use in 2006.