Reservoir
Reservoir
A reservoir artificial lake or impoundment from a dam is used to store water. Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.
The term reservoir may also be used to describe naturally-occurring underground reservoirs such as those beneath an oil or water well.
Bank-side reservoir
Where water is taken from a river of variable quality or quantity, bank-side reservoirs may be constructed to store the water pumped orsiphoned from the river. Such reservoirs are usually built partly by excavation and partly by the construction of a complete encircling bund or embankment which may exceed 6 km in circumference. Both the floor of the reservoir and the bund must have an impermeable lining or core, often made of puddled clay. The water stored in such reservoirs may have a residence time of several months during which time normal biological processes are able to substantially reduce many contaminants and almost eliminate any turbidity. The use of bank-side reservoirs also allows a water abstraction to be closed down for extended period at times when the river is unacceptably polluted or when flow conditions are very low due to drought. The London water supply system is one example of the use of bank-side storage for all the water taken from the River Thames and River Lee with many large reservoirs such as Queen Mary Reservoir visible along the approach toLondon Heathrow Airport.]