RESERVOIRS

Angat reservoir,
Bulacan

RESERVOIRS
Definition

A reservoir is a manmade lake or structure used to store

water. Is just one part of an overall water-resource project.

The main function of a reservoir is stabilize the flow of

water, either by regulating a varying supply in a natural
stream or by satisfying a varying demand by the ultimate
consumers.

Primary uses of reservoirs are:

1. Water Supply
2. Irrigation
3. Hydropower
4. Flood Control
5. Recreation

RESERVOIRS
Definition

Types of reservoirs according to function and source are:

1. Distribution Reservoir supplies water to varying
rates of demand for water to some cities.
- elevated tanks used in municipal water supply
- inflow to reservoir is completely controlled
- outflow is primarily dictated by consumers
2. Storage or Conservation Reservoir - retain excess
water from periods of high flow for use during periods
of drought.
-

created by damming a stream

uncontrolled inflow
largely controlled outflow
natural and environmental factors very important in
design and operation
- storage of floodwater

Figure 1.
Ambuklao,
Binga, and
San Roque
reservoirs

Figure 2. San Roque Reservoir

Figure 3. San Roque Dam and Reservoir

Figure 4. San Roque Dam Downstream

Figure 5. San Roque Spillway (Construction Stage)

Figure 6.
Angat
reservoir

Figure 6. Angat Reservoir at high water level

Figure 7.

Angat Reservoir at low water level

Figure 8. Angat Spillway

Figure 9. Municipal/Distribution Reservoir

Figure 10. Municipal/Distribution Reservoir (Maynilad)

Figure 11. Distribution Reservoir (Water Tank)

Physical Characteristics of Reservoir

1. Storage Capacity
- the volume of water that can be stored in a
particular reservoir
- capacity on natural sites is determined from
topographic surveys
2. Area-Elevation Curve
- determined by area enclosed within each contour in
the reservoir site.
3. Elevation-Storage or Capacity Curve
- integral of area-elevation curve

4. Normal Pool Level

- maximum elevation to which the reservoir surface
will rise during ordinary operating conditions.
- for most reservoirs, normal pool is determined by
the elevation of the spillway crest or top of spillway
gates.
5. Minimum Pool Level
- the lowest elevation to which the pool is to be drawn
under normal conditions.
- fixed by the elevation of the lowest outlet in the dam or
by conditions of operating efficiency for turbines in
the case of hydroelectric reservoirs.
6. Useful Storage
- volume between the minimum and normal pool levels
- in multipurpose reservoirs the useful storage may be
subdivided into: a) Conservation Storage and; b) Flood
Mitigation Storage

7. Surcharge Storage
- water level rise over normal pool level during floods
- normally uncontrolled that is it exists only while a
flood is occurring and cannot be retained for later use.

8. Bank Storage
-

amount of water stored in the reservoir banks wherein

water enters the soil when the reservoir fills and drains
out as the water level is lowered.

amount depends on the geologic conditions and may

amount to several percent of the reservoir volume.

9. Valley Storage
- water in a natural stream channel.

In relatively shallow and narrow reservoirs, the water surface at

high flows may depart considerably from the assumption of
horizontal water surface.

For short, deep reservoirs, we can assume a level water surface.

The wedgeshaped element of storage above a horizontal is

surcharge storage.

The computation of water-surface profile is important in reservoir

design since it provides info on water level at various points
from which the land requirements for the reservoir can be
determined.

Reservoir Yield

Yield is the amount of water that can be supplied from the

reservoir during a specified interval of time. It is
dependent on inflow and will vary from year to year.

Safe or firm yield is the maximum quantity of water that

can be guaranteed during a critical dry period.

The critical period is often taken as the period of lowest

natural flow on record for the stream.

The maximum possible yield during a given time interval

equals the mean inflow less evaporation and seepage
losses during that interval.

Since firm yield can never be determined with certainty, it

is better to treat yield in probabilistic terms (flow
duration curve). Firm yield is the flow magnitude that
is equaled or exceeded 100% of the time for a
historical sequence of flows

Given a target yield, selection of reservoir capacity is

dependent on the acceptable risk that the yield will
not always be realized.

Selection of DistributionDistribution-Reservoir Capacity

Project design often requires the determination of the

reservoir capacity required to meet a specific demand
like in municipal water supply or in irrigation.

The required yield is based on an estimate of the maximum

daily demand by the consumers.

The inflow rate is fixed by a uniform pumping rate.

The reservoir capacity must be sufficient to supply the

demand at times when the demand exceeds the
pumping rate.

Example 1:
(Fixed inflow rate)
The water supply for a city
is pumped from wells to a
distribution reservoir. The
estimated hourly water
requirements
for
the
maximum day are as
follows. If the pumps are
to operate at a uniform
rate,
what
distribution
reservoir
capacity
is
required?

Seatwork 1:
The table below shows the average water demand for each
hour of a common day in Marikina City. The proposed water
supply system is composed of a pump which takes water from
a well and delivers it to a reservoir from which the water is
supplied to the service area. Based on the demand data,
what pump capacity is needed and reservoir volume (in m3) is
required to operate continuously for the 24-hr period?
Time, hour

1 A.M.

10

11

12N

Q, m /min

3.0

3.0

3.4

3.8

4.5

5.4

7.2

8.3

7.6

6.0

6.1

6.4

Time, hour

1 P.M.

10

11

12M

5.7

4.9

5.3

6.1

6.8

8.7

6.8

5.7

4.5

0.4

3.4

3.0

Q, m /min

Selection of River Reservoir Capacity

The determination of required capacity for a river reservoir
is usually called an operation study.

Operation study is essentially a simulation of the reservoir

operation for a period of time in accord with an adopted set
of rules.

An operation study may analyze:

1)
the

Selected critical period of very low flow - define only

capacity required during the selected drought.

2) long synthetic record - it is possible to estimate the

reliability of reservoirs of various capacities.
Depending on the size of the reservoir, an operation study
may be performed with annual, monthly, or daily time
intervals.

Sequent--Peak Algorithm:
Sequent
Sequent-peak algorithm is commonly used when
lengthy synthetic data are to be analyzed.

Values of the cumulative sum of inflow minus

withdrawals (includes average evaporation and
seepage) are calculated.

The first peak (local maximum of cumulative net

inflow) and the sequent peak (next following peak that is
greater than the first peak) are identified.

The required storage for the interval is the

difference between the initial peak and the lowest
trough in the interval.

The process is repeated for all cases in the period

under study and the largest value of required storage
can be found.

Mass Curve Analysis:

Mass curve or Rippl diagram is a cumulative plotting of net
reservoir inflow.

The slope of the mass curve at any time is a measure of

the inflow at that time.

Demand curves representing a uniform rate of demand are

straight lines.

Demand lines drawn tangent to the high points of the mass

curve (A and B in Figure 7.6) represent rates of withdrawal
from the reservoir.

Assuming the reservoir to be full wherever a demand line

intersects the mass curve, the maximum departure between
the demand line and the mass curve represents the reservoir
capacity required to satisfy the demand.

The vertical distance between successive

represents water wasted over the spillway.

tangents

If the demand is not uniform, the demand line becomes

curve but the analysis is the same.

Example 2:
(Given the yield
or demand,
determine
capacity)
Determine
the
reservoir capacity
required to assure
a yield of 75,000
acre-ft/yr for the
inflows shown in
Figure 7.6.

Solution Notes to Example 2:

Tangents to the mass curve at A and B have slopes equal
to the demand of 75,000 acre-ft/yr.

The maximum departure occurs at C and is 56,000 acreft. This is the required capacity.

Such a reservoir would be full at A, depleted to 34,000

acre-ft of storage at D and full again at E.

Between E and B, the reservoir would remain full and all

inflow in excess of the demand would be wasted
downstream.

At C the reservoir would be empty and at F it would be

full again.

In this example, the storage must carry over 2 years.

Choose maximum departure

Mass curves may also be used to determine the yield that may be
expected with a given reservoir capacity.

In this case, tangents are drawn to the high points of the mass
curve (A and B in Figure 7.7) in such a manner that their maximum
departure from the mass curve does not exceed the specified
reservoir capacity.

The slopes of the resulting lines indicate the yields that can be
attained in each year with a specified storage capacity.

The slope of each demand line is the yield for the period.

A demand line must intersect the mass curve when extended

forward. If it does not, the reservoir will not refill.

Example 3: (Given the capacity, determine the safe yield )

Determine the yield that would be available if a reservoir of 30,000
acre-ft capacity is provided at the site which the mass curve of
Figure 7.7 applies.
Solution Notes to Example 3:
Tangents to the mass curve are drawn so that their
maximum departure from the mass curve is 30,000 acre-ft.

The tangent from B has the least slope, 60,000 acre-ft/yr,

and this is the minimum yield.

The tangent at A indicates possible yield of 95,000 acreft/yr in that year, but this demand could not be satisfied
between points B and C.

Choose minimum slope.

Example no 2:
Given the following inflows (m3/s). Calculate the minimum
storage required to maintain a demand rate of 40 m3/s.
January

60

July

50

February

45

August

80

March

35

September

105

April

25

October

90

May

15

November

80

June

22

December

70

Solution no 3:
Prepare Mass
Curve for Flow
Locate reservoir
full condition
Add storage at
the dip
Prepare the
demand line
Get the demand
discharge

Seatwork:
For a proposed reservoir in upstream Marikina River, Antipolo
Rizal, the following data were calculated. DENR water rights
required the release of 5 m3/s for conservation purposes
downstream. Assuming an average reservoir area of 20 km2,
estimate the storage required to meet these demands.
Month
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

Inflow (m3 /s) Demand (m3/s) Evaporation (mm) Rainfall (mm)

25
20
15
10
4
9
100
108
80
40
30
30

22
23
24
26
26
26
16
16
16
16
16
22

12
13
17
18
20
16
12
12
12
12
11
17

2
2
1
1
1
13
24
19
19
1
6
2