No.

5/2003

Treatment of leaky dams

Neil Coles, Senior Research Officer, South Perth

Treatment of leaking dams can sometimes be as expensive as buidling a new dam, without guarantee of
success. One method is to dig out the base of the leaking dam and replace it with a compacted blanket
containing clay such as bentonite.

Leakage from farm dams is a significant problem in some

areas of Western Australia, and many different sealing
treatments are available. This Farmnote describes the
most practical and effective methods. Small earth dams
that lose water by seepage at more than 2 millimetres
per day benefit most from these treatments.

Adding sealants to the water in a dam rather than directly

to the underlying soil appears simple and relatively
inexpensive, however the resulting application rates are
uncontrolled. The treated layer, which remains at or near
the soil surface, is not compacted, and may be easily
disturbed and damaged.

Successful treatments are often costly, and if another

dam site is available, constructing a new dam may be the
cheapest option. Sealant treatments normally require
that the dam is empty to increase the likelihood of
success.

Steep batter slopes in dams create specific safety

hazards for operators of earth-moving equipment and
field assistants. Trained experienced personnel should
supervise all maintenance undertaken.

Important Disclaimer
The Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Agriculture and the State of Western Australia accept no liability whatsoever
by reason of negligence or otherwise arising from the use or release of this information or any part of it.

For more information visit our web site www.agric.wa.gov.au

Site preparation for dam sealing

Preparing the foundation is essential prior to any damsealing treatment:

All water should be pumped from the dam; silt and

organic matter removed down to the level of the original
dam floor; and rills and gullies smoothed.

If a lining layer is to be installed, any fresh soil-fill in the

gullies must be compacted.

Allow for inflow to enter the lined dam via a stable inlet
(generally requiring an embankment or silt trap across
the open front of the dam to direct inflow to the inlet
structure).

Temporary diversion of inflow will also be required

during installation of the dam liner and the inlet
structure.

Practical treatments include:

Membrane liners;

Compaction, soil blending, or adding clay (including

bentonite); and

Gypsum treatment of piping or tunnelling failure.

Membrane liners

For a 3000 cubic metre dam, the estimated cost of

treatment (including foundation preparation, inlet works,
supply and installation of either 1 mm polypropylene or
1.5 mm HDPE), is about $8.50 to $10.00 per square
metre of wetted surface, or $15,000 in total (based on
June 2002 price estimates).

Compaction, soil blending and

adding clay (including bentonite)
Treatments such as compaction, soil blending and
adding clay, have lower success rates than flexible
membrane liners due to the inherent variability of the soil
materials, the difficulty of achieving uniform depth of
treatment and inadequate compaction. Increased depth
of the sealing layer, use of high quality soil material and
adequate compaction in the sealing layer will increase
the chances of success.
A piped inlet and temporary storage basin or silt trap in
front of the dam can prevent damage to erodible earth
liners. Rilling of treated soil on batter slopes can be
minimised by applying a protective layer of nondispersive material such as topsoil or gravel (minimum
depth 150 mm).

Compaction

The best available membrane lining materials are

polypropylene and high-density polyethylene (HDPE).
Both are suitable for storage of potable water, and both
materials can be stabilised to withstand the effects of
ultra-violet radiation, and therefore do not require a
protective soil covering.

To achieve optimum compaction, soil moisture content

should be at or near to the optimum, and the maximum
soil layer thickness should be 200 mm. At the optimum,
it should be possible to roll the soil between the palms
of the hands to form a pencil-thick bolus without
breaking. If the pencil of soil breaks, the soil is too dry,
and water should be added to make the soil more plastic.

The manufacturers indicate that when installed to

specification, an exposed liner of polypropylene 1 mm
thick has a life expectancy of at least 17 years, and an
exposed liner of 1.5 mm HDPE has a life of 20 years.
HDPE is comparatively inflexible; requires a very stable
and smooth foundation; and is fabricated in-situ.

Compaction is best done with a roller of adequate weight

and power (e.g. a self-propelled pad-foot roller).
Although track rolling with a dozer is unlikely to achieve
similar soil densities to those obtainable with the correct
machinery, it is still valuable.

Polypropylene is more flexible, can often be

prefabricated, and is suited to sites where some
foundation movement may occur, and where a smooth
surface cannot be guaranteed.
Supply and installation of 1 mm polypropylene costs
approximately 25 per cent more than 1.5 mm HDPE.
This may vary with the supplier and distance from Perth.
Because polypropylene is manufactured in Australia and
HDPE is imported, the price differential between the two
materials is not constant.
The price differential per square metre is largely offset
by the cheaper foundation preparation for polypropylene.
The two membrane materials are therefore regarded as
equivalent-priced options, and the choice depends on
site conditions. The success rates are greater than
90 per cent.

Livestock, particularly sheep, can apply significant

compaction at the water line when drinking from a dam.
As the water level drops over weeks to months
(depending on season), sheep traffic can destroy soil
structural units and may help to reduce seepage loss.

Soil blending and compaction

In the agricultural areas of Western Australia the soils in
the floor and lower walls of excavated earth dams often
exhibit structures similar to the fabric of the parent rock
from which the soil has formed. The subsoil may consist
largely of massive, dense clay blocks, which are
occasionally separated by quartz-rich veins and fracture
lines through which water may move rapidly.

Blending of these soil materials by ripping, mixing,

stockpiling, replacing in layers, and compacting, can
sometimes solve a leakage problem. The estimated cost
of blending and compacting the floor and lower walls of
a dam ranges from one-third to two-thirds of the cost of
a replacement dam, and normally has a 50 per cent
chance of success.

Local clay blanket

When a source of suitable clay is available near a leaking
dam, placing that material as a compacted soil blanket
can seal a dam successfully and economically.
Basic soil suitability criteria for a clay blanket are:

20-40 per cent clay content;

Uniform particle size distribution i.e. well graded soil;

Slight to moderate soil dispersion;

Low to moderate linear shrinkage;

Kaolinite-dominant clay mineralogy.

Strict specification of the soil materials used, the level of

compaction, the thickness of the sealing layer, and a
protective soil layer on all batter slopes, result in this
method being as expensive as a flexible membrane liner.
A 1 metre thick compacted soil blanket is recommended
to reduce seepage to a maximum of 2 millimetres per
day.
Such a blanket occupies a significant volume in a small
farm dam, and prior to placement, excavation to
compensate for the loss of capacity will be an extra cost.
The estimated cost of placing a 1 metre thick compacted
clay blanket with a minimum 92 per cent of maximum dry
density is one and a half to three times the cost of a
replacement dam. The likelihood of success is estimated
to be 80 per cent.

All sodium bentonite available commercially in WA is

imported from the Eastern States or overseas.
Laboratory comparison of a high grade sodium bentonite
and the Watheroo calcium bentonite has shown that the
sodium bentonite has significantly lower capacity to
transmit water.
Bentonite can be applied either as a mixed blanket or a
pure blanket. A pure blanket is recommended if thorough
mixing with the underlying soil cannot be achieved. Less
bentonite is required in a well-mixed blanket than in a
pure blanket, to provide a sealing layer of a given
thickness (e.g. 10 centimetres). Laboratory tests indicate
that equal thicknesses of a 50:50 mix of bentonite and
soil and pure bentonite have similar hydraulic
conductivities or ability to stop seepage.
In a mixed blanket, bentonite is spread on the soil
surface then mixed thoroughly into the top 10 cm of soil
using a rotary hoe, followed by compaction of the moist
bentonite-soil mixture. A protective layer of non-erodible
soil should also be applied and compacted.
As a pure blanket, bentonite is spread uniformly over the
soil surface to form a continuous sealing layer that is
covered by a protective layer of non-erodible soil. The
protective layer should be compacted.
The required thickness of the sealing layer will depend
largely on:

type of bentonite;

ratio of bentonite to soil; and

uniformity of bentonite application.

Due to the variability of interactions it is not possible to

recommend precise application rates. However, the
following rates are suggested:

high grade sodium bentonite 15 kilograms per

square metre;

Watheroo calcium bentonite 60 kilograms per

square metre.

Bentonite blankets
Bentonite clay expands to several times its dry volume
on wetting, and is therefore suitable to reduce the rate
of water movement through porous soil. The highest
grade (with the greatest swelling characteristics) is
sodium bentonite. Calcium bentonite swells less than
sodium, and is potentially less effective for dam sealing.
Impurities such as calcium and magnesium carbonates
and quartz reduce effectiveness, and the fineness of
grinding and screening affects the ease of mixing with
other materials. Watheroo calcium bentonite is
commercially available at several centres in the
agricultural areas of Western Australia. The product is
sold unscreened in bulk, and screened in bags.

Based on these rates it is estimated that the cost of

installing a mixed blanket of calcium bentonite in an
average-sized farm dam is approximately two to three
times the cost of dam replacement. The likelihood of
reducing seepage to less than 2 millimetres per day is
estimated to be 50 per cent. Sodium bentonite is also
available as a prefabricated liner consisting of high grade
bentonite impregnated into a fibre mat. Due to the need
for specialised installation equipment and high cost of the
mats, they are not generally suitable for farm dams.

continued overleaf...

Gypsum treatment for piping or

tunnelling failure
Piping or tunnelling through a dam wall or embankment
occurs when water seeping along a line of weakness
creates a pipe or tunnel. This can result in rapid loss of
water stored above the pipe.
Soils that are dispersive, high in clay and exhibit severe
cracking on drying are prone to piping. If an embankment
dam fills rapidly, water may leak along crack lines in the
relatively dry embankment, and the crack lines can
develop into pipes or tunnels as the dispersed soil is
carried away by water flowing through the rapidly
enlarging cracks. Piping failure can often be treated
successfully with gypsum.
Reconstruction of the embankment should be
accompanied by the addition of finely-ground gypsum at
one per cent by weight, or 4 kilograms per square metre
per 200 millimetre layer of soil. The likelihood of
successful treatment is about 80 per cent.
Alternatively, gypsum can be added to the dam water at
1 kilogram per 10 cubic metres, to reduce piping failure
hazard. The likelihood of successful treatment is
estimated to be about 50 per cent, and repeat
applications will be required every two or three years
depending on water quality.

Other options
Other less practical, higher risk or more expensive damsealing options include:

Sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP);

Bitumen reinforced with fibreglass; and

Concrete reinforced with wire netting or steel mesh.

STPP is a powerful dispersing agent which is a common

ingredient in washing powders. At recommended rates
and methods of application STPP has successfully
reduced the seepage rate from leaking farm dams in
mottled zone and pallid zone soils.
Reduced seepage results from the collapse of the soil
structural units and subsequent blocking of soil pores
due to increased mobility of soil particles. However, in
20 per cent of treated dams, the supervised application
of STPP at recommended rates may lead to greatly
increased seepage due to induced piping failure.
Use of STPP in leaking dams is regarded as too risky
unless experts are available to specify, design and
supervise the project.
The last two methods employ materials used widely in
the construction industry. Although the methods and
materials are highly dependable, successful application
requires strict adherence to engineering construction
specifications.

Further information
Drainwise website at www.agric.wa.gov.au/drains

00936/3/03-1500-inhouse

ISSN 0726-934X

Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Agriculture 2003. This material may be reprinted provided that the article and the author(s)
are acknowledged. Published by the Department of Agriculture Western Australia, Locked Bag No.4, Bentley Delivery Centre, WA 6983