Domestic Water Separation Project

Project Highlights

KWL developed a comprehensive design for a dedicated domestic water system at a large mining operation to improve water quality, system reliability, and regulatory compliance. The site’s water supply was sourced from a shallow groundwater system adjacent to a river, with extracted water used for both domestic needs and mine processing. A key project driver was to reduce reliance on this groundwater source for processing by transitioning to stored pit water.

Given the highly interconnected nature of the existing water infrastructure, KWL’s approach was to design and implement a new standalone domestic water system. This enabled full separation of potable water from process and fire water systems, allowing the existing system to be repurposed for operational use while ensuring a safe and consistent domestic water supply for site facilities.

Challenges

The existing water distribution system was interconnected, with domestic, process, and fire water systems cross-linked across the site. This created risks related to water quality, cross-contamination, and operational inefficiencies. In addition, accurately estimating domestic demand was complicated by historically combined water use data, requiring careful analysis to define system requirements.

Approach

KWL completed detailed site investigations, building assessments, and system reviews to understand existing infrastructure and water use patterns. Hydrologic demand analysis was undertaken to estimate peak domestic water requirements, accounting for operational factors such as shift changes and facility usage.

The design incorporated applicable plumbing codes and fire protection standards, ensuring the system met both domestic use and fire suppression requirements. Future system flexibility was also considered, including integration with potential water treatment upgrades.

Solution

KWL designed a standalone domestic water system consisting of a new storage tank, dedicated distribution piping network, and controlled system connections. The system includes:

• A separate storage reservoir to buffer peak demand and provide fire protection supply
• A dedicated distribution network delivering domestic water to key site buildings
• Plumbing reconfiguration to physically separate domestic water from process and fire systems
• Monitoring and control infrastructure to manage flows and maintain system performance

Outcome

The project establishes a reliable and compliant domestic water system that improves water quality and operational control across the site. By separating water uses and modernizing infrastructure, the solution reduces cross-contamination risk, supports regulatory requirements, and provides a scalable foundation for future system upgrades, including potential water treatment integration.