INTRODUCTION

The function of a water supply intake is to extract and deliver water to the users. Therefore,
the design of water supply intakes requires a series of design considerations in order to arrive
at a desirable concept that can obtain and deliver the water economically with an acceptably
low impact on the environment. Due to variability of site conditions, the environmental
hydraulic engineer is faced with the challenges when assessing water supply availability. The
major factors that can affect the selection and design of an intake are site hydrologic
conditions, site access, ease of construction, and operation and maintenance.

Without a careful and responsible evaluation of various design factors, an intake may be
designed and constructed but may not be operable due to lack of adequate water supply or
may be adversely impacted due to degraded environment.

DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
The following factors are considered of primary importance in siting and designing an
intake:

 Water Availability
 Bathymetry
 Sediment Transport
 Environmental Regulation
 Climatic Conditions
 Constructability
 Initial and Maintenance Dredging
 Operation and Maintenance

Water Availability

By far the most important of these factors is availability of water to meet the required demand
without creating an environmentally and physically adverse effect on the water body. This is
particularly important for fresh water supply.

Therefore, detailed hydrologic studies including analysis of historic data must be performed.
In areas where no historic data on stream flow are available, rainfall data should be analyzed
to determine rainfall frequency. Hydrologic modeling can be used to estimate the runoff.

Bathymetry

Bathymetry is the study of underwater depth of lake or ocean floors. In other

words, bathymetry is the underwater equivalent to hypsometry or topography. Locating and
selecting the specific type of intake requires adequate knowledge of the bathymetric
condition of the river, estuary or sea bottom in the vicinity of the intake.

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Without this information, no specific intake concept can be selected. Making assumptions
could lead to erroneous cost and schedule estimates for the project.

Sediment transport

The type of sediment can be either bed load or suspended load in a river, and littoral
drift in a coastal environment. The existence of sediment affects the design concept
and the suitability of the site for locating an intake.

Environmental considerations
Other important factors to consider are any water withdrawal limitations as well as the
feasibility of dredging and disposal of dredge spoil. In some situations, water may be
physically available, however, because of water rights, water required for aquatic habitats or
waste assimilation may not be legally available. In addition, dredging and disposal in areas
where there are endangered species or contaminated soil, could be harmful to the
environment. These factors and others could affect the selection of a desired intake site and
may affect the feasibility of a project.

Climatic conditions
Climatic conditions such as severe winter weather can affect the concept and details of the
pump intake structure. A region with below freezing air temperature requires protection for
traveling screens and trash racks against the formation of anchor and/or frazil ice. Such
protection will affect the design concept and should be considered in the planning phase. For
power plant intakes warm water recirculation into the intake is commonly used. However, if
the intake is remote from the power plant or if the intake is for water supply, electrical
heating elements will be required which will increase the power demand. Alternatively the
design could be made to encapsulate the intake and prevent air circulation. However, this
concept can not eliminate the need for protection against frazil ice.

Construction and maintenance

Construction, maintenance and access are also important factors to be considered in selecting
the intake location. Availability of access road, potential for local and riverine flooding and
access to the intake equipment all year round should be considered.

DESIGN CONCEPTS OF INTAKE STRUCTURES

i. GENERAL:
Experience in the design and operation of various water supply intakes indicates that no
single design concept is suitable for all locations. Therefore, any intake design must be based
on site specific information. This may not be possible at the planning phase of the project due
to the absence of specific site data. Therefore, the hydraulic engineer must develop design

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parameters from the limited data that may be available, and develop programs for the field
data collection and analysis for use in detailed design.
Lack of site specific information generally occurs in remote areas of the world where no
historic data, studies or maps are available to help in the planning and design. The most
practical approach for work under these conditions is to make a site visit and obtain aerial
photographs. An important aspect of this effort is the identification of river banks and
shoreline conditions and the presence of erosion and deposition.
Aerial photos can best be utilized in assessing the presence of shoreline changes
and of river meanders.

ii. CASE STUDIES:

The following section addresses the approach utilized in selecting types of intakes at
various locations and with differing hydrologic conditions.

INTAKES ON RIVERS WITH HIGH WATER LEVEL FLUCTUATION:

This type of river can be found in regions where rainfall and runoff occur in a short duration
during the year such as the monsoon season. Designing a conventional intake in this type of
environment may not be technically or economically feasible. To overcome this condition, an
intake structure was designed as a super structure with an access pier connecting the intake to
the shoreline as shown on Figure -1. This structure was also used in a lake with large water
level variation and can be used in a coastal area where an offshore intake with a buried pipe is
not practical.

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Figure -1 : Hydraulic design of a river water intake with high water level fluctuations

Fish protection is accomplished by installing wedge wire screens with air back wash systems.
The design of the intake and the supporting piles for the pier must be based on geologic and
geotechnical considerations.

INTAKES ON TIDAL RIVER:

Locating an intake in a tidal river requires extensive evaluation of the method of installation
and dredging. In a river with a wide tidal flat, dredging and disposal of sediment could be the
most controlling factor since it could create disturbance to tidal habitats, increase river
turbidity and cause contamination of the river if the soil is contaminated. In certain rivers, the
tidal flat can be very wide and dredging can be very costly if not impossible to achieve. This
situation was encountered in a tidal river in the United States. The tidal flat extend
approximately 500 m from the shore line and the range of the normal tidal water level
fluctuation is 1.75 m. Because of the environmental concerns about dredging and disturbance
of aquatic and birds habitats an innovative design technique was required. Extensive visits to
the site and meetings with regulators were made. Several alternatives were evaluated and the
concept that was finally selected included a pier supported jetty and locating the pump intake
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at its end. The pump motor, control and the pier deck were set above the 100-year flood level.
To protect the pumps from floating debris and to provide mechanism for screening the water,
a caisson was installed to house the pumps. Wedge wire screens were used with air back
wash. This intake concept is shown on
Figure -2.

Figure -2 : Hydraulic design of an intake on a tidal river

INTAKES IN MOUNTAINOUS STREAMS:

Intakes on mountainous streams require special designs to exclude or to separate the heavy
sediment load that can be carried by the flow which occurs as a flash flood. Sand can form
bars during the flood and cause extensive deposits which can block the flow path. During the
low flow season these streams carry generally low flow which can affect water availability at
the intake. Therefore an intake must be designed to abstract water under all conditions
without excessive sediment load. In most cases, particularly when water is pumped, sand
exclusion must be made before reaching the pumps.
The approach consisted of estimating the low flow and 100 –year flood flows and water
levels. Sediment samples from the river beds were collected and analyzed for gradation.
Based on these information and considering space availability at the various sites, some
intakes were designed with settling basins, some with sediment exclusion and by-passing.
The intake presented in this paper is located in a very narrow river channel and the river has a
very low flow during the drought season.
Therefore, the design is based on abstracting all the river low flow and by-passing the extra
flow with the sediment. The intake consists of a diversion dam across the stream with inlet
grating. Sand is by passed through a sluicing pipe to the stream.
The de-sanded water flows over a weir, through a pipe before reaching the pump forebay.
This concept is shown on Figure -3.

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Figure -3 : Hydraulic design of a water intake on a mountainous streams

OFFSHORE INTAKES:
Offshore intake is a submerged structure for withdrawal of water by gravity from the sea,
lakes and in some situations from rivers to a shoreline pump intake. This type of intake
consists of a velocity cap connected to an offshore buried pipe that conveys the flow to the on
shore pump intake structure. This type of intake is used in regions with shallow water depths,
with considerable littoral drift, drift ice and where fish protection is of concerns. The velocity
cap creates a horizontal flow path which was developed through experimental work to
preclude fish entrapment( Reference-1). The general velocity of approach is in the range of
0.30 m/s to 0.45 m/s. In thermal power plants it has the advantage of creating a selective
withdrawal and therefore minimizes warm water recirculation from the discharge into the
intake. An important factor that must be considered in the design is wave induced forces on
the structure.
Various wave theories must be examined to determine the applicable condition for
determining the forces. Buried offshore pipes must be protected against movement by waves
and currents action. This protection is in the form of granular backfill covered with riprap.
Riprap sizing is based on consideration for the wave induced currents in addition to the
ambient current. This concept was used to supply cooling water to a thermal power plant in
the Mediterranean Sea, as shown on Figure - 4. Three conditions were encountered, namely :
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littoral drift, flat bathymetry, and severe wave conditions. From the hydrographical and
bathymetric survey it was concluded that a shoreline intake with a dredged channel will not
be technically feasible. Waves are very active and range in a height of 2 to 3 m. An offshore
intake with buried pipe were designed. The design considered all wave and current loading as
well as other applicable loads.

Figure -4 : Hydraulic design of a offshore intake

HYDRAULIC DESIGN OF PUMP PIT

In all the cases discussed here as well as any other intake, the selected design concept must
not affect the performance of the pumps. Uniform approach flow conditions, adequate pump
submergence, and flow free from surface and sub-surface vortices must all be considered in
selecting the pit geometry. The design criteria and dimension of an intake for a given flow
can be found in various publications such as IAHR( Reference-3), BHRA (Reference-4) and
others.

SUMMARY
1. Locating and designing a water supply intake requires careful consideration of
hydrologic , environmental, geotechnical and economic factors.
2. Several types of intakes should be considered to meet various site conditions and
operational requirements.
3. Long term hydrologic data should be collected and analyzed to arrive at the most
suitable and reliable concept.
4. Hydraulic analysis must be performed as an integral part of the intake design to
provide flow free from objectionable conditions at the pumps.