Water intake from the Huangpu River, Shanghai, China
Water can be obtained from various sources. It can be abstracted from rivers, the sea and from the ground. It can also be obtained from surface runoff / rainfall. The abstraction of water is a highly sensitive issue with often conflicting demands on the water.



Environmental issues are also of great importance when sourcing water.

Any water resources development has to be examined in the light of the environment, the quantity and quality of the water to be extracted and the use to which it is to be put. A large number of specialist disciplines can be involved in determining if a development is feasible and sustainable. These can include environmentalists, hydrologists, hydrogeologists, economists and water quality specialists. Modelling is often required of complex water basins to ensure that abstraction of water at one point will not impact greatly on other areas.

Mott MacDonald has the specialist experience necessary to undertake these complex studies and the resulting designs, construction supervision and implementation. We have been responsible for the development of intake works from rivers and sea water (for water to undergo desalination prior to use), as well as from groundwater. We have also developed storage facilities for water including reservoirs formed by dams or by specially constructed concrete storage reservoirs.

The Mott MacDonald Group is an internationally recognised centre of expertise in groundwater development and management, and has been responsible for some of the largest groundwater projects in the world. Mott MacDonald’s expertise covers five main areas of groundwater-related work:

• Investigation of groundwater systems, including exploratory geophysics and drilling, detailed geological, hydrological and hydrogeological assessments
• Modelling of groundwater systems
• Engineering of groundwater abstraction systems
• Investigation, assessment and design of remediation measures for groundwater quality issues
• Advice, institutional development and training in the operation, management and monitoring of groundwater systems.

We employ specialist geologists, hydrogeologists, geophysicists, groundwater engineers, hydrologists, chemists, environmentalists, economists and water supply engineers who work on a large portfolio of groundwater assignments throughout the world.

We have been involved in the design and construction of a large number of drawoff works at reservoirs. These have covered intake towers with multiple drawoff levels for water supply and single offtake structures for hydropower generation and irrigation. The latter have ranged from large gated head regulators for canal offtakes to underwater chambers accessed by culvert or tunnel for piped irrigation supplies.

Draw-off tower, Kafrein Dam, JordanDrawoff works for water supply have generally involved intake towers up to 60m high, an example being Sg Kelinchi Dam in Malaysia. Many of the dams undertaken by Mott MacDonald have been located in highly seismic areas and the design of the intake towers has included comprehensive analyses to establish the stability and anchorage requirements into the foundation under seismic loadings.

Some projects have required unusual solutions for the drawoff works. An example is the provision of a tunnel to 40m depth into the existing Nagarjunasagar reservoir, with final breach into the lake by controlled blasting, for the future water supply of Hyderabad in India.