• A reservoir is an artificial
structure designed to hold
back large quantities of fluids
like water, ensuring a
constant supply of water to
cities, households and for
• People build reservoirs because the amount of water in a river varies over
time. During very rainy times or when mountain snow is melting, the water in
a river rises and sometimes overflows its banks. By limiting the amount of
water allowed to continue downriver, reservoirs help control flooding.
COASTAL
• Coastal reservoirs are fresh water
storage reservoirs located on the
sea coast near the river mouth to
store the flood water of a river.
Bank-side
• Where water is pumped or siphoned from a
river of variable quality or size, bank-side
reservoirs may be built to store the water.
• Such reservoirs are usually formed partly
by excavation and partly by building a
complete encircling bund or embankment,
which may exceed 6 km (4 miles) in
circumference.
• The water stored in such reservoirs may
stay there for several months, during which
time normal biological processes may
substantially reduce many contaminants
and almost eliminate any turbidity.
• The use of bank-side reservoirs also
allows water abstraction to be stopped for
some time, when the river is unacceptably
polluted or when flow conditions are very
• Storage/Conservation Reservoir
A storage or a conservation reservoir can retain such excess
supplies during periods of peak flows and can release them
gradually during low flows as when the need arises.
• RETARDING RESERVOIR
A reservoir with uncontrolled and ungated outlets is known as a
retarding basin or retarding reservoirs
For a given reservoir design, each of the five (5) storage component listed b
:
• 1. Operational storage (OS)
• 2. Equalizing storage (ES)
• 3. Standby storage (SB)
• 4. Fire suppression storage (FSS)
• 5. Dead storage (DS)
Operational storage is the volume of the reservoir devoted to supplying the water
system while, under normal operating conditions, the source(s) of supply are in “off”
status. This volume will vary according to two main factors:
• (1) the sensitivity of the water level sensors controlling the source pumps
• (2) the configuration of the tank designed to provide the volume required to prevent
excessive cycling (starting and stopping) of the pump motor(s).
• When the source pumping capacity cannot meet the periodic daily
peak demands placed on the water system, Equalizing Storage
must be provided as a part of the total storage for the system and
must be available at 30 psi to all service connections. The volume
of ES depends upon several factors, including peak variations in
system demand, source production capacity, and the mode of
operation.