To review environmental engineering concrete structures against ACI 350, confirm which edition the project invokes, then trace each tank, basin, and channel through the structural drawings, process drawings, and specifications. Each liquid-containing structure should have one exposure basis, one set of joint types and waterstops, penetrations and embedments that match the process drawings, a tightness test named once with its criteria source, and coatings or liners that agree with the concrete and joint details. AI can flag conflicts; the engineer of record decides compliance.
What does ACI 350 cover?
ACI’s store page for ACI CODE-350-20, Code Requirements for Environmental Engineering Concrete Structures (ACI 350-20) and Commentary (ACI 350R-20), says the Code covers the structural design, materials selection, and construction of environmental engineering concrete structures, used for conveying, storing, or treating water and wastewater, other liquids, and solid waste, and also covers the evaluation of existing ones. ACI describes loadings that include hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads, exposures that include concentrated chemicals, alternate wetting and drying, high-velocity flowing liquids, and freezing and thawing of saturated concrete, and serviceability requirements of liquid-tightness, gas-tightness, and durability. The page says the Code presents additional material and modified portions of the ACI 318-05, 318-08, and 318-11 building codes, and points to ACI 350.1 for tightness testing criteria. Its table of contents includes a contract documents section (1.2), durability requirements with exposure categories and classes, protection systems, tightness testing, and joints (4.2, 4.10 to 4.12), a joints chapter (Chapter 7), embedments (6.3), liquid-containing ground-supported slabs (Chapter 21), and strength evaluation and condition assessment (Chapter 22). Where the ACI 318 guide follows building concrete, this page follows containment structures.
The ACI store lists ACI CODE-350-20 with a publication year of 2021, in print and as a protected PDF, and its related products include ACI SPEC-350.1-22, Tightness Testing of Environmental Engineering Concrete Structures, and ACI CODE-350.3-20 for seismic analysis and design of liquid-containing concrete structures. ACI’s upcoming standards page listed no draft for public discussion. Checked October 27, 2026. ACI 350 enters a project through the project specifications, an owner or agency design standard, or a code reference the jurisdiction adopts, and each may name its own edition; record the edition the governing documents name rather than assuming the newest one applies.
The construction side has its own reference specification: the store sells ACI SPEC-350.5-12, Specifications for Environmental Concrete Structures, which ACI describes as a reference specification the engineer makes applicable by citing it in the project specifications. ACI 350.1-22 covers hydrostatic, surcharged hydrostatic, pneumatic, and combination tightness tests, and ACI 350.3-20 says it addresses the loading side of seismic design to complement Section 1.1.9 and Chapter 13 of ACI 350-20. Loads come from the building code and ASCE 7; see the ASCE 7 guide. A project specification that cites ACI 301 for general concrete is covered in the ACI 301 guide.
Gather every document that describes the containment structures
Collect the structural general notes and design criteria, tank, basin, and channel plans and sections, wall and slab reinforcing, joint layout plans with construction, crack-inducing, and movement joints, waterstop and joint details, pipe penetration and wall sleeve details, the process and mechanical plans and sections with liquid levels, weirs, gates, and equipment pads, the cast-in-place concrete, waterstop, joint sealant, and protective coating or lining specifications, the leakage testing article, and the geotechnical report sections on groundwater and uplift.
Add the ACI 350, 350.1, 350.3, and 350.5 editions the specifications cite, from copies you are licensed to upload, and the owner’s design standard if it sets project exposure or testing requirements.
Trace each tank and basin from the process drawings to the leak test
| Review question | Sources to compare | Decision to record |
|---|---|---|
| Editions and invocation | Structural general notes, concrete and testing specifications, owner design standard | Record the ACI 350, 350.1, 350.3, and 350.5 editions each document cites and flag a document that cites ACI 318 or ACI 301 alone for a liquid-containing structure. |
| Exposure basis | Design criteria, concrete specification and mixture schedule, process liquid descriptions | Confirm each structure has one exposure designation, and that chemical, sulfate, freezing, and wetting-and-drying conditions the process drawings imply appear in the concrete requirements. |
| Liquid levels and loads | Process sections, structural sections, design criteria | Check that maximum and test liquid levels, freeboard, and groundwater or uplift assumptions shown on the process and structural drawings agree. |
| Joints and waterstops | Joint layout plans, joint details, waterstop and sealant specifications | Confirm every joint shown on the layout has a defined type and detail, that waterstop material and type match between details and specification, and that waterstops are continuous through corners and intersections. |
| Penetrations and embedments | Process piping plans, wall sleeve details, structural plans, specification | Match each pipe penetration, sleeve, gate frame, and embedded item on the process drawings to a structural detail and opening reinforcement, and flag items shown on one set only. |
| Tightness testing | Testing article, concrete specification, general notes, sequence notes | Confirm one test method and criteria source are named for each structure, and that the timing relative to backfill and coating is stated the same way everywhere. |
| Coatings and liners | Protective coating specification, finish schedule, joint details, concrete specification | Check that coated or lined surfaces are identified for each structure, that surface preparation and curing requirements do not conflict, and that coating terminations at joints and penetrations are detailed. |
Reinforcement and bar placement continue in the concrete reinforcement checklist, the concrete sections in the concrete specifications guide, joint sealants in the joint sealant guide, coatings in the painting specifications guide, structural calculations in the structural calculations checklist, and inspections in the special inspections corrections guide.
Example: a clarifier that the process and structural drawings describe differently
Hypothetical example. A wastewater treatment plant expansion adds two rectangular aeration basins and a circular clarifier. The process sections show a higher maximum water surface in the clarifier than the structural design criteria, the process piping plan adds an influent pipe penetration that has no wall sleeve detail, the waterstop specification calls for one waterstop material while the joint details label another, and the leakage testing article cites ACI 350.1 while the structural notes describe a different test sequence relative to the protective coating.
The clarifier maximum water surface differs between the process sections and the structural design criteria, a new influent penetration has no sleeve detail, the waterstop material differs between the specification and the joint details, and the test sequence relative to coating differs between the testing article and the structural notes. Confirm the design liquid level, penetration, waterstop, and test sequence, and coordinate the process drawings, structural drawings, and specifications.
The engineer of record confirms the liquid level used in design, adds the penetration detail, selects the waterstop, and aligns the test and coating sequence. The finding is a conflict between documents, not a judgment of the structural design or its liquid-tightness.
Review environmental concrete structures with Groundbook
Upload the current drawings and specifications to Groundbook, and state the edition, amendments, and review scope in your instructions. Add the ACI 350, 350.1, 350.3, and 350.5 editions the project cites, from copies you are licensed to use where the license permits uploading them, along with the owner’s design standard and the adopted code and amendments. See how Groundbook works with local and licensed codes.
Compare the structural general notes and design criteria, tank, basin, and channel plans and sections, joint layout and waterstop details, pipe penetration and sleeve details, the process and mechanical plans and sections, and the concrete, waterstop, joint sealant, protective coating, and leakage testing specifications. Flag ACI 350, 350.1, 350.3, or 350.5 editions that differ between documents, structures with no exposure basis or conflicting ones, liquid levels that differ between process and structural drawings, joints with no type or detail, waterstop materials that differ, process penetrations with no structural detail, tightness tests named differently or with conflicting timing, and coating terminations not detailed. Use the supplied ACI 350 documents and cite both sources.
Groundbook links each potential finding to the sheets, details, and specification articles involved. It does not calculate crack widths, hydrostatic or seismic loads, or leakage allowances.
Document review does not certify liquid-tightness or compliance, and it does not replace the engineer of record, the testing agency, or the owner’s acceptance of the leak test.