Engineering ToolBox - Resources, Tools and Basic Information for Engineering and Design of Technical Applications!

Pumping Water - Required Horsepower

Horsepower required to pump water.

Sponsored Links

Energy imparted to water by the pump is called water horsepower - and can be calculated as

Pwhp = q h SG / (3960 μ)                            (1)

where

Pwhp = water horsepower (hp)

q = flow (gal/min)

h = head (ft)

SG = 1 for water Specific Gravity

μ = pump efficiency (decimal value)

Horsepower can also be calculated as:

Pwhp = q dp / (1715 μ)                   (2)

where

Pwhp = water horsepower (hp)

dp = delivered pressure (psi)

Example -  Horsepower Required to Pump Water

20 gallons of water per minute is elevated 20 ft. The horsepower required (ex. friction loss in piping and efficiency = 1.0) can be calculated as

Pwhp = (20 gpm) (20 ft) (1) / (3960 (1.0))  

        = 0.10 hp 

Power required to pump water at 60oF with ideal pump efficiency 1.0:

Power Required to Pump Water (hp)
Volume Flow
(gpm)
Height (ft)
51015202530354050
5 0.00631 0.0126 0.0189 0.0253 0.0316 0.0379 0.0442 0.0505 0.0631
10 0.0126 0.0253 0.0379 0.0505 0.0631 0.0758 0.0884 0.101 0.126
15 0.0189 0.0379 0.0568 0.0758 0.0947 0.114 0.133 0.152 0.189
20 0.0253 0.0505 0.0758 0.101 0.126 0.152 0.177 0.202 0.253
25 0.0316 0.0631 0.0947 0.126 0.158 0.189 0.221 0.253 0.316
30 0.0379 0.0758 0.114 0.152 0.189 0.227 0.265 0.303 0.379
35 0.0442 0.0884 0.133 0.177 0.221 0.265 0.309 0.354 0.442
40 0.0505 0.101 0.152 0.202 0.253 0.303 0.354 0.404 0.505
45 0.0568 0.114 0.170 0.227 0.284 0.341 0.398 0.455 0.568
50 0.0631 0.126 0.189 0.253 0.316 0.379 0.442 0.505 0.631
60 0.0758 0.152 0.227 0.303 0.379 0.455 0.530 0.606 0.758
70 0.0884 0.177 0.265 0.354 0.442 0.530 0.619 0.707 0.884
80 0.101 0.202 0.303 0.404 0.505 0.606 0.707 0.808 1.01
90 0.114 0.227 0.341 0.455 0.568 0.682 0.795 0.909 1.14
100 0.126 0.253 0.379 0.505 0.631 0.758 0.884 1.01 1.26

Note! Individual pump curves should always be used for exact calculations.

horsepower required to pump water to various heights

Power Consumption in Metric Units

The power consumption for pumping water can be expressed in metric units as

P = q h ρ / (6116 103 μ)                            (3)

where

P = power (kW)

q = flow (liter/min)

h = head (m)

ρ = density (kg/m3) (water 1000 kg/m3)

μ = pump efficiency (decimal value)

Example - Power Required to Pump Water

The power required to pump 100 l/min water an elevation of 10 m (ex. friction loss in piping and efficiency = 1.0) can be calculated as

  P = (100 liter/min) (10 m) (1000 kg/m3) / (6116 103 (1.0))

     = 0.16 kW

power required to pump water to various heights - kW, liter per. min, meter

Sponsored Links

Related Topics

• Pumps

Piping systems and pumps - centrifugal pumps, displacement pumps - cavitation, viscosity, head and pressure, power consumption and more.

Related Documents

Centrifugal Pumps

An introduction to Centrifugal Pumps.

Sponsored Links

Engineering ToolBox - SketchUp Extension - Online 3D modeling!

3D Engineering ToolBox Extension to SketchUp - add parametric components to your SketchUp model

Add standard and customized parametric components - like flange beams, lumbers, piping, stairs and more - to your Sketchup model with the Engineering ToolBox - SketchUp Extension - enabled for use with the amazing, fun and free SketchUp Make and SketchUp Pro . Add the Engineering ToolBox extension to your SketchUp from the SketchUp Pro Sketchup Extension Warehouse!

Translate
About the Engineering ToolBox!

Privacy

We don't collect information from our users. Only emails and answers are saved in our archive. Cookies are only used in the browser to improve user experience.

Some of our calculators and applications let you save application data to your local computer. These applications will - due to browser restrictions - send data between your browser and our server. We don't save this data.

Google use cookies for serving our ads and handling visitor statistics. Please read Google Privacy & Terms for more information about how you can control adserving and the information collected.

AddThis use cookies for handling links to social media. Please read AddThis Privacy for more information.

Citation

This page can be cited as

  • The Engineering ToolBox (2004). Pumping Water - Required Horsepower. [online] Available at: https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/pumping-water-horsepower-d_753.html [Accessed Day Month Year].

Modify access date.

. .

close

3D Engineering ToolBox - draw and model technical applications! 2D Engineering ToolBox - create and share online diagram drawing templates! Engineering ToolBox Apps - mobile online and offline engineering applications!

6 6

Sponsored Links
.