A public aquarium in Cornwall has been saved after a maintenance team working at Fowey Quay repaired leaky pipework in their own time.
Things were looking bleak for Fowey Aquarium when a pipe that carries seawater to the tank sprang a leak last year. Despite the efforts of the local community to provide a temporary solution, the steel pipe was so badly corroded that it needed to be replaced.
Major repairs were being carried out to the pumping station at Fowey Quay by May Gurney and EA Grey under a contract from South West Water. The owner of Fowey Aquarium, Phil Croxton mentioned to the problem to works manager Simon Rickarby and his team and they worked in their own time to fix the leak, by feeding a plastic pipe into the original one to restore the supply to the aquarium.
"The pipe's the life support system of the aquarium and for eight months I've been trying to persuade the owners, Cornwall Council, to accept responsibility for repairing it, all to no avail," Mr. Croxton told the Cornish Guardian.
"If you want something doing, ask a busy man, as my dad used to say, and what a contrast when May Gurney heard about the problem.
"With the co-operation of SWW they immediately offered to help and with great skill and dexterity succeeded in passing a new pipe inside the old one, right into the aquarium. It was amazing and made me quite emotional."
Fowey Aquarium, which opened over 50 years ago, houses over 30 species of local sea life and is very popular with both visitors to the area and residents.
Mr. Rickarby said: "We're absolutely delighted to have helped. The aquarium is very important to Fowey – part of its heritage.
"To see the salt water going into the aquarium and to see the expression on Phil's face – that made it all for us."
Mr. Croxton hopes the aquarium will be open again soon.
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