Calculate Pump Head Pressure | Reliable Pump Head Calculator

Your plumbing

Vertical head (water surface to outlet)

Tubing length

Fitting length (Chart 1)

Count your fittings instead

Fitting size

Std elbow, 90°0

Std elbow, 45°0

Male / female adapter0

Tee (straight through)0

Tee (through branch)0

Swing check valve0

Friction loss per foot (Chart 2)

ft / ft

Look it up from flow and tubing size

Pump flow

Tubing size

The highlighted line shows what each box measures. Your numbers appear on the drawing.

Your results

Enter your vertical head, tubing, fittings and friction loss to see the total dynamic head.

(833) 779 2837

How we calculate this

Equivalent pipe length = fitting length (Chart 1) + tubing length.
Friction head = equivalent pipe length × friction loss per foot (Chart 2).
Total dynamic head (TDH) = vertical head + friction head. Vertical head is the height from the pond's water surface to the highest point the water is pumped to.

Use the above Total Dynamic Head (TDH) value to select the best pump for your project. Pump listings on Midwestponds all have TDH charts. See where your number lies on graph 3 to select the best pump for your waterfall.

Now that you have your TDH, go to our Submersible Pump / Exterior Pump listings and select your pump!

Chart 1: fitting length in feetAdd up the equivalent length of every fitting. Example: 8.5 (90°) + 4.5 (M/FA) + 19.0 (check valve) = 32 ft.
PVC fitting	0.5"	1"	1.25"	1.5"	2"	3"
Std elbow, 90°	4.50	5.50	7.00	7.50	8.50	11.00
Std elbow, 45°	1.00	1.50	2.00	2.50	3.00	4.00
Male / female adapter	1.50	2.00	3.00	3.50	4.50	6.50
Tee (straight through)	2.50	3.00	5.00	6.00	8.00	12.00
Tee (through branch)	5.50	7.00	9.00	10.00	12.00	17.00
Swing check valve	9.00	11.00	13.00	15.00	19.00	27.00