Water Infrastructure

Reservoirs & Engineered Containment Structures

Identify and resolve your storage constraints before they limit operational performance

Reservoirs and lined ponds can become costly constraints when their role within the site water balance is not clearly defined. Inadequate coordination between stored water characteristics, operating volumes, ground conditions, and construction requirements can limit treatment, reuse, disposal, and mitigation options.

Our reservoir design services integrate containment with the wider water management strategy while carrying technical accountability into construction. Our integrated services are designed to help asset development and engineering teams overcome the following challenges:

Containment requirements are defined without a clear understanding of how water will move between source, storage, treatment, reuse, and disposal.
Operating volumes and water levels do not reflect seasonal variation, production changes, upset conditions, or future development.
Water chemistry, hydrogeology, and ground conditions are insufficiently integrated into the liner, seepage-control, and monitoring requirements.
Design and construction responsibilities are fragmented, slowing decisions when actual subsurface conditions differ from the design basis.

Carrying containment intent from water balance through construction

Containment design performs best when storage duty, water chemistry, site conditions, and downstream management pathways are established from one technical basis. This allows siting, capacity, embankments, liners, subdrains, and monitoring systems to be designed around how the containment asset will actually function within the wider site.

Our integrated performance approach connects water planning, treatment, geotechnical, hydrogeological, regulatory, and construction expertise. Carrying this intent into field delivery strengthens accountability and allows unexpected subsurface conditions to be addressed without separating construction decisions from the original containment strategy.

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service outcomes

Strengthen accountability and cost certainty

Integrated reservoir design converts site water requirements and ground conditions into containment infrastructure that can be permitted, constructed, operated, and adapted with clearer technical accountability.

Controlled site water balance

Containment capacity and operating ranges support defined treatment, reuse, disposal, freshwater supply, and mitigation pathways.

Containment matched to stored water

Liner, seepage control, leak detection, and monitoring requirements reflect water chemistry and the consequences of release.

Faster response to field conditions

Continuity between design and construction supports timely decisions when subsurface conditions differ from expectations.

Preserved future management options

Adaptable assets capable of accommodating variable water quality, production needs, treatment capacity, reuse priorities, or closure requirements.

integrated expertise

Coordinated containment decisions across design and construction teams

Construction and operational performance depends on how water management requirements are translated into ground-supported, constructable infrastructure. A shared technical basis allows design, regulatory, construction, and operating teams to respond consistently as project conditions develop.

The site water balance defines what the reservoir must receive, retain, release, or supply across normal, seasonal, and upset conditions. Water chemistry and intended downstream pathways determine whether streams can be combined and how storage may affect subsequent treatment, reuse, disposal, or mitigation.

Coordinating these requirements prevents containment volume from being treated as an isolated calculation. It also identifies where separate cells, equalization, controlled transfer, or future treatment connections provide practical value.

Foundation conditions, groundwater interaction, available construction materials, and downstream consequence influence siting, embankment geometry, liner selection, subdrain controls, and monitoring requirements.

Integrating these disciplines creates a defensible basis for regulatory applications and identifies site conditions that may materially affect constructability or containment performance before the design is fixed.

Containment construction frequently encounters ground conditions that differ from investigation results. Field verification, survey control, material tracking, and direct access to the design team allow these conditions to be assessed while the work is underway.

This continuity supports quicker technical decisions, clearer documentation, and stronger control over quantities, quality, and project cost.

sustained performance

Adaptive containment for evolving water management strategies

Reservoir duty can change as production, water chemistry, treatment capacity, reuse priorities, and regulatory obligations evolve. These changes may create new requirements for monitoring, treatment integration, operational support, expansion, remediation, or closure.

Our reservoir design services are supported by in-house site monitoring, water facility operations, compliance reporting, treatment upgrades, remediation, and closure planning teams. This continuity allows containment assets to be adapted or repurposed as part of the wider site water strategy rather than managed as isolated infrastructure.

Site Monitoring Closure & Reclamation Water Facility Operations

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Freshwater Reservoir Design & Construction Management

Stormwater Management Infrastructure Engineering Design

Freshwater Storage Reservoir Inspection & Change Detection Analysis

228,500 m³ Lined Freshwater Reservoir Design and Construction Management

Integrated Sustainability designed and managed construction of a 228,500 m³ freshwater reservoir, integrating geotechnical investigation, water management, quality control, and on-site delivery.

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3,000,000 m³ Freshwater Storage Feasibility Evaluation

Integrated Sustainability evaluated four municipal freshwater storage reservoirs up to 3,000,000 m³, covering site selection, conceptual design, dam classification, flood studies, and hydropower potential.

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153,600 m3 Freshwater Reservoir Construction Support

Integrated Sustainability supported construction of a 153,600 m³ unlined freshwater reservoir, integrating geotechnical design, dam safety classification, and commissioning documentation.

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Embankment Stability and Liner Integrity Assessment Using Drone Based Topographic Survey

Integrated Sustainability assessed a freshwater reservoir using visual inspection and drone-based change detection to evaluate embankment stability, liner integrity, and structural condition.

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Containment duty depends on the source, chemistry, variability, intended destination, and consequence of release. Produced water, tailings water, contact water, freshwater, and treated effluent may require different operating ranges, segregation, lining, monitoring, and transfer controls. The reservoir should be assessed as part of the wider water balance so storage supports defined treatment, reuse, disposal, or mitigation pathways rather than serving as an isolated volume allowance.

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Capacity should distinguish normal operating storage from equalization, contingency, sediment, extreme-event, and unavailable volumes. These requirements are tested against credible production, seasonal, treatment, and upset scenarios. Normal ranges, warning levels, intervention thresholds, and emergency levels should each be linked to clear operating actions. A single maximum water level does not provide an adequate basis for operation.

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Containment requirements are based on water chemistry, native soil permeability, hydrogeology, service life, groundwater interaction, and the consequence of seepage or release. These factors inform whether the asset requires natural containment, a compacted soil barrier, a clay cap, a geosynthetic liner, leak detection, or a composite system. Selection should respond to site evidence and operating duty rather than applying a standard liner specification to every reservoir.

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Unexpected materials, groundwater, or foundation conditions are assessed against the original design assumptions while the work is underway. Continuity between engineering, geomatics, construction, and quality teams allows the implications for excavation, subgrade preparation, liner support, drainage, and quantities to be evaluated quickly. This integrated accountability reduces delays caused by transferring field issues between separate designers, contractors, and owners before a technical decision can be made.

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Yes, but suitability must be assessed against the proposed duty rather than current performance alone. The review considers containment condition, water chemistry compatibility, available capacity, hydraulic connections, monitoring systems, embankment performance, and regulatory requirements. Repurposing may require compartmentalization, liner upgrades, modified transfer infrastructure, treatment integration, remediation, or revised operating controls before the asset can support the new pathway.

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Combine deep technical expertise with execution and operational experience

Complex and high-consequence industrial projects require a practical mindset to enable agile development and positive environmental outcomes.

Our vertically integrated water services platform combines science, engineering, equipment fabrication, and operations to provide fit-for-purpose assets that drive accountability and performance.

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