The dam wall has a total length of 4,270 metres (14,010 ft) The reservoir is very shallow,[clarification needed] and therefore needs a large area to mean anything for water storage.

On the North West Province side lies the Bloemhof Dam Nature Reserve, on the Free State side is the Sandveld Nature Reserve.

The town of Bloemhof lies on the North West side of the Vaal River.

The dam was commissioned in 1970, has a capacity of 1,269,000,000 cubic metres (4.48×1010 cu ft),[1] and has an area of 223 square kilometres (86 sq mi);[1] the wall is 33 metres (108 ft) high.

It is fed with the outflow from the Vaal Dam (located upstream in Gauteng) as well as rain collected in the Vaal, Vet, Vals and Sand River catchment areas.