Engineering Services

Integrated Source Water Control Design

Integrate water balance modelling and site design to reduce treatment intensity

When clean water, contact water, seepage, and process sources are not controlled at source, downstream infrastructure is sized for avoidable volume and variability. Our water source control services define how water is separated, diverted, contained, or reused before those obligations become embedded in the site layout. Our integrated services help asset development and engineering teams overcome the following challenges:

Treatment and containment requirements are being driven by unmanaged runoff or water ingress rather than unavoidable contaminant sources.
Water sources and contact pathways are not sufficiently defined to support separation, reuse, or realistic influent assumptions.
Site grading and infrastructure layouts are advancing before diversion, containment, and clean-water protection measures are established.
Prevention responsibilities, monitoring requirements, and performance limits are unclear across design, operations, and regulatory teams.

Aligning site hydrology with downstream water obligations

Many water management challenges originate upstream of treatment or containment infrastructure. Effective source water control combines conveyance, storage, stormwater management, and hazardous material considerations to control water pathways before they drive treatment and containment requirements.

Rather than addressing water quality solely through downstream systems, our multidisciplinary teams embed the separation of clean and contact water into site layouts, grading, diversion works, covers, and containment strategies. This approach reduces uncertainty in water balances, allows treatment systems to be sized to actual contact water volumes, and supports regulatory expectations around clean water protection.

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service outcomes

Reduce downstream water exposure

Effective source control creates a more controlled site water balance and reduces the volume and variability transferred into treatment, storage, and discharge systems.

Protected clean-water pathways

Clean runoff and unaffected sources remain separated from activities that would create unnecessary contact-water obligations.

Reduced treatment and containment demand

Avoidable runoff, ingress, and contaminant generation no longer govern downstream infrastructure capacity.

More predictable influent conditions

Treatment and storage systems receive better-defined flows and loading conditions across normal and seasonal operation.

Clearer prevention accountability

Control measures have defined ownership, operating limits, and response requirements across project and site teams.

integrated expertise

Aligning control decisions across key site stakeholders

Source control affects the site water balance, infrastructure layout, treatment basis, operating procedures, and regulatory position. A shared prevention framework allows each team to work from the same understanding of where water originates, how contact occurs, and which controls must remain effective.

Water balances identify which sources are driving volume, variability, and contaminant loading across the site. Treatment teams then determine which conditions materially affect process capacity and performance.

Coordinating these disciplines distinguishes unavoidable treatment demand from water that can be prevented, separated, or redirected. This supports more realistic influent assumptions and avoids designing downstream systems around unmanaged source conditions.

Grading, covers, diversion works, drainage, seepage controls, and containment determine how water encounters site materials and operating areas. Groundwater behaviour and subsurface pathways may also create sources that cannot be managed through surface controls alone.

Integrated design allows these measures to function as one source-control system. Site layouts can utilize natural, on-site features to protect clean-water pathways while directing contact water into appropriate collection, storage, treatment, or mitigation infrastructure.

Source controls require defined inspection, maintenance, monitoring, and response responsibilities after construction. Operators need to understand which controls are critical and what conditions indicate declining performance.

Regulatory teams use the same framework to demonstrate how prevention has been considered before downstream treatment or discharge. This connects approval commitments with practical operating requirements rather than leaving prevention measures as design-stage assumptions.

sustained performance

Adaptive source control as site conditions evolve

Source conditions change as operating areas expand, materials are relocated, drainage patterns shift, and closure activities begin. These changes can introduce new water pathways or reduce the effectiveness of controls that performed under the original site configuration.

Our downstream services connect source control with site monitoring, stormwater management, treatment optimization, infrastructure upgrades, remediation, and closure planning. This allows new sources to be identified and controlled before they accumulate into larger treatment, containment, or compliance obligations.

Site Monitoring Closure & Reclamation Water Management Infrastructure Water Resource Assessments

Freshwater Reservoir Design & Construction Management

Stormwater Management Infrastructure Engineering Design

Freshwater Storage Reservoir Inspection & Change Detection Analysis

Mining Water Infrastructure Development and Equipment

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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Raw Water Reservoir Safety Assessment for a Municipality in British Columbia

Integrated Sustainability completed a Dam Consequence of Failure Classification for a proposed raw water reservoir, assessing downstream impacts to people, infrastructure, and environmental and cultural values.

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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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Tailings Facility Reclamation & Passive Closure with 61,000 m³ Dewatered

Integrated Sustainability delivered turnkey closure construction for a mine tailings facility, dewatering 61,000 m³ and completing backfill, cover placement, spillway construction, and toe berm expansion.

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Source control can change downstream scope when a meaningful portion of design flow or contaminant loading originates from preventable contact, unmanaged runoff, groundwater ingress, or operational practices. The potential reduction depends on whether those sources can be reliably separated or controlled under the required operating conditions. The assessment should compare the cost and operating obligations of prevention measures with the treatment, storage, and conveyance capacity they may displace. Source control has limited value where the principal loading is inherent to the process and cannot be avoided upstream.

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Priority sources are identified by assessing where water originates, which materials or operating areas it contacts, and how much flow or contaminant loading reaches the wider water system. Hydrologic modelling, site grading, water quality data, and operating knowledge help distinguish persistent sources from event-driven conditions. Controls are prioritized according to the volume or loading they can prevent, their influence on regulatory compliance, and their practicality within the site layout. The largest visible flow is not always the most consequential source.

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Subsurface sources may include groundwater inflow, seepage through waste or fill, preferential flow along disturbed ground, and water entering excavations or underground workings. Hydrogeological interpretation, monitoring data, water chemistry, and site observations help distinguish persistent groundwater pathways from seasonal or infrastructure-related inflows. Controls may include interception drains, cutoff systems, grouting, dewatering, covers, pressure relief, or changes to excavation and containment design. Each measure must be assessed against the wider groundwater regime so reducing inflow in one area does not redirect water or create instability elsewhere on site.

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Source control at an operating site begins by tracing current water pathways and identifying where infrastructure condition, operating practices, or site changes are creating avoidable flows or contaminant contact. Existing monitoring data should be combined with field inspections and operator knowledge because drawings alone may no longer represent actual site behavior. Implementation may involve localized drainage changes, repairs, covers, interception systems, operational controls, or staged infrastructure upgrades. Measures should be prioritized around achievable load reduction, construction access, operational disruption, and compatibility with existing treatment and containment systems.

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Performance criteria should define the flow, water quality, or contact condition the measure is intended to control. Baseline data, monitoring locations, inspection requirements, and response thresholds then provide evidence that the control is functioning as represented in the regulatory basis. The evaluation should also address seasonal variability, maintenance needs, and conditions under which the control may be exceeded. This connects source-control performance with contingency storage, treatment, and compliance response rather than relying on prevention assumptions alone.

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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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