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Aquatic Demonstration Area

The Aquatic Demonstration Area in the Florida Botanical Gardens has undergone a makeover!

Fifteen new educational signs were installed, to enhance visitors’ experience of the area. The signs are located around a working stormwater pond, which contributes to the health of the McKay Creek Watershed. We encourage you to visit and explore this new site signage!

demonstration area sign locations on map

The Importance of Water

CW Bill Young Regional Reservoir — C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir

Tampa Bay Regional Surface Water Treatment Plant

Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination Plant — Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination

Water is one of the most important substances on earth. All plants and animals must have water to survive.

Tampa Bay Water, the region’s wholesale water supplier, combines three sources of water

Groundwater - From the Floridan Aquifer, an underground layer of limestone that stores billions of gallons of water that seeps down through the soil.

Surface water - Treated at Tampa Bay Water’s state-of-the-art surface water treatment and is stored in the 15.5-billion gallon C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir.

Seawater - Freshwater is separated from seawater using reverse osmosis, resulting in high-quality drinking water that supplies up to 10 percent of the region’s needs.

Protecting these sources from contamination protects your drinking water and the environment, and saves money and energy.

Learn More Tampa Bay Water Logo

Activities & Quizzes

Keep an eye out for new and exciting quizzes & scavenger hunts, as well as a special augmented reality game called Taleblazer™, all designed around the Aquatic Demonstration Area.

It is important for individuals, households, businesses and countries to ask “What is a water footprint?” as they do an assessment of water use patterns at different levels. Calculate your water footprint!

Looking at water, you might think that it's the most simple thing around. Pure water is practically colorless, odorless, and tasteless. But it's not at all simple and plain and it is vital for all life on Earth. Where there is water there is life, and where water is scarce, life has to struggle or just "throw in the towel."

Take the Water Properties Quiz!

Think you know everything there is to know about water? You can't be sure until you Test Your WaterSense!

Test your WaterSense!

a pond in a jar

Aquariums can be beautiful pieces of living art but they are also a lot of work. Wouldn’t it be great if we could bring beautiful natural environments indoors without the extra chores?

Create a Pond in a Jar!

Learn About Water

interactive learning of the water cycle for kids

The water cycle describes how Earth's water is not only always changing forms, between liquid (rain), solid (ice), and gas (vapor), but also moving on, above, and in the Earth. This process is always happening everywhere.

USGS Interactive Water Cycle

View sea level rise and potential coastal flooding impact areas and relative depth.

View the potential impact of sea level rise and coastal flooding on a vulnerable population.

View areas susceptible to high tide flooding, or "nuisance flooding," and the number of historical flood events that have occurred.

Sea Level Rise Viewer

Helping researchers, resource managers, and the general public better understand and appreciate Florida's water resources.

Pinellas County Water Atlas