PVC Pipes - Friction Loss and Flow Velocity - Schedule 40

Water flow in thermoplastic PVC and CPVC pipes Schedule 40 - friction loss and flow velocities at dimensions from 1/2 inch to 16 inches

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Friction loss and flow velocity in PVC and CPVC pipes Schedule 40 with water can be found in the table below. The table may be also be used for pipes in other thermoplastic materials where the inner diameter corresponds to PVC Schedule 40.

1 ft (foot) = 0.3048 m
1 ft/s = 0.3048 m/s
1 gal (US)/min =6.30888x10^-5 m³/s = 0.0227 m³/h = 0.0631 dm³(liter)/s = 2.228x10^-3 ft³/s = 0.1337 ft³/min

Note! Velocity should not exceed 5 feet per second.

The values can be used to calculate pressure loss with the Equivalent Pipe Length Method.

1/2 inches
Volume Flow (gal/min)	Volume Flow (gal/hr)	Velocity (ft/sec)	Friction Head (ft/100 ft)	Friction Loss (lb/in², psi)
1	60	1.1	2.1	0.9
2	120	2.3	4.2	1.8
5	300	5.6	23.4	10.5
7	420	7.9	43.1	18.6
10	600	11.3	82.0	35.5

3/4 inches
Volume Flow (gal/min)	Volume Flow (gal/hr)	Velocity (ft/sec)	Friction Head (ft/100 ft)	Friction Loss (lb/in², psi)
1	60	0.6	0.5	0.2
2	120	0.3	1.0	0.4
5	300	3.2	5.7	2.5
7	420	4.4	10.5	4.6
10	600	6.3	20.0	8.7
15	900	9.5	42.5	18.4
20	1200	12.7	72.3	31.3

1 inches
Volume Flow (gal/min)	Volume Flow (gal/hr)	Velocity (ft/sec)	Friction Head (ft/100 ft)	Friction Loss (lb/in², psi)
2	120	0.8	0.6	0.2
5	300	1.9	1.7	0.8
7	420	2.7	3.2	1.4
10	600	3.9	6.0	2.6
15	900	5.8	12.8	5.5
20	1200	7.7	21.8	9.4
25	1500	9.7	32.9	14.2
30	1800	11.6	46.1	20.0

1 1/4 inches
Volume Flow (gal/min)	Volume Flow (gal/hr)	Velocity (ft/sec)	Friction Head (ft/100 ft)	Friction Loss (lb/in², psi)
2	120	0.4	0.1	0.1
5	300	1.1	0.4	0.2
7	420	1.6	0.8	0.4
10	600	2.2	1.6	0.7
15	900	3.3	3.3	1.4
20	1200	4.4	5.6	2.4
25	1500	5.5	8.5	3.7
30	1800	6.6	11.9	5.1
35	2100	7.7	15.8	6.8
40	2400	8.8	20.2	8.7
45	2700	9.9	25.1	10.9
50	3000	11.1	30.5	13.2

1 1/2 inches
Volume Flow (gal/min)	Volume Flow (gal/hr)	Velocity (ft/sec)	Friction Head (ft/100 ft)	Friction Loss (lb/in², psi)
2	120	0.3	0.1	0.03
5	300	0.8	0.2	0.1
7	420	1.1	0.4	0.2
10	600	1.6	0.7	0.3
15	900	2.4	1.5	0.7
20	1200	3.2	2.6	1.1
25	1500	4.0	4.0	1.7
30	1800	4.9	5.5	2.4
35	2100	5.7	7.4	3.2
40	2400	6.5	9.4	4.1
45	2700	7.3	11.7	5.1
50	3000	8.1	14.3	6.2
60	3600	9.7	20.0	8.7

2 inches
Volume Flow (gal/min)	Volume Flow (gal/hr)	Velocity (ft/sec)	Friction Head (ft/100 ft)	Friction Loss (lb/in², psi)
5	300	0.5	0.07	0.03
7	420	0.7	0.1	0.05
10	600	1.0	0.2	0.09
15	900	1.5	0.5	0.2
20	1200	2.0	0.8	0.3
25	1500	2.4	1.2	0.5
30	1800	2.9	1.6	0.7
35	2100	3.4	2.2	0.9
40	2400	3.9	2.8	1.2
45	2700	4.4	3.4	1.5
50	3000	4.9	4.2	1.8
60	3600	5.9	5.8	2.5
70	4200	6.8	7.8	3.4
75	4500	7.3	8.8	3.8
80	4800	7.8	9.9	4.3
90	5400	8.8	12.4	5.4
100	6000	9.8	15.0	6.5

2 1/2 inches
Volume Flow (gal/min)	Volume Flow (gal/hr)	Velocity (ft/sec)	Friction Head (ft/100 ft)	Friction Loss (lb/in², psi)
5	300	0.3	0.04	0.02
7	420	0.5	0.05	0.02
10	600	0.7	0.1	0.04
15	900	1.0	0.2	0.08
20	1200	1.4	0.3	0.1
25	1500	1.7	0.5	0.2
30	1800	2.1	0.7	0.3
35	2100	2.4	0.9	0.4
40	2400	2.7	1.2	0.5
45	2700	3.1	1.4	0.6
50	3000	3.4	1.8	0.8
60	3600	4.1	2.5	1.1
70	4200	4.8	3.3	1.4
75	4500	5.1	3.7	1.6
80	4800	5.5	4.2	1.8
90	5400	6.2	5.2	2.3
100	6000	6.8	6.3	2.7
125	7500	8.6	9.6	4.2
150	9000	10.3	13.4	5.8

3 inches
Volume Flow (gal/min)	Volume Flow (gal/hr)	Velocity (ft/sec)	Friction Head (ft/100 ft)	Friction Loss (lb/in², psi)
5	300	0.2	0.02	0.01
7	420	0.3	0.02	0.01
10	600	0.4	0.03	0.01
15	900	0.7	0.07	0.03
20	1200	0.9	0.1	0.05
25	1500	1.1	0.2	0.07
30	1800	1.3	0.2	0.1
35	2100	1.6	0.3	0.1
40	2400	1.8	0.4	0.2
45	2700	2.0	0.5	0.2
50	3000	2.2	0.6	0.3
60	3600	2.7	0.9	0.4
70	4200	3.1	1.1	0.5
75	4500	3.3	1.3	0.6
80	4800	3.5	1.4	0.6
90	5400	4.0	1.8	0.8
100	6000	4.4	2.2	0.9
125	7500	5.5	3.3	1.4
150	9000	6.6	4.6	2.0
175	10500	7.7	6.2	2.7
200	12000	8.8	7.9	3.4
250	15000	11.0	11.9	5.2

4 inches
Volume Flow (gal/min)	Volume Flow (gal/hr)	Velocity (ft/sec)	Friction Head (ft/100 ft)	Friction Loss (lb/in², psi)
20	1200	0.5	0.03	0.01
25	1500	0.6	0.04	0.02
30	1800	0.8	0.06	0.03
35	2100	0.9	0.08	0.04
40	2400	1.0	0.1	0.05
45	2700	1.2	0.1	0.06
50	3000	1.3	0.2	0.07
60	3600	1.5	0.2	0.1
70	4200	1.8	0.3	0.1
75	4500	1.9	0.3	0.2
80	4800	2.1	0.4	0.2
90	5400	2.3	0.5	0.2
100	6000	2.6	0.6	0.3
125	7500	3.2	0.9	0.4
150	9000	3.8	1.2	0.5
175	10500	4.5	1.6	0.7
200	12000	5.1	2.1	0.9
250	15000	6.4	3.2	1.4
300	18000	7.7	4.4	1.9
350	21000	9.0	5.9	2.6
400	24000	10.2	7.5	3.3

5 inches
Volume Flow (gal/min)	Volume Flow (gal/hr)	Velocity (ft/sec)	Friction Head (ft/100 ft)	Friction Loss (lb/in², psi)
30	1800	0.5	0.02	0.01
35	2100	0.6	0.03	0.01
40	2400	0.7	0.03	0.01
45	2700	0.7	0.04	0.02
50	3000	0.8	0.05	0.02
60	3600	1.0	0.07	0.03
70	4200	1.1	0.1	0.04
75	4500	1.2	0.1	0.05
80	4800	1.3	0.1	0.06
90	5400	1.5	0.2	0.07
100	6000	1.6	0.2	0.08
125	7500	2.0	0.3	0.1
150	9000	2.4	0.4	0.2
175	10500	2.8	0.5	0.2
200	12000	3.3	0.7	0.3
250	15000	4.1	1.1	0.5
300	18000	4.9	1.5	0.6
350	21000	5.7	2.0	0.9
400	24000	6.5	2.5	1.1
450	27000	7.3	3.1	1.3
500	30000	8.1	3.7	1.6

6 inches
Volume Flow (gal/min)	Volume Flow (gal/hr)	Velocity (ft/sec)	Friction Head (ft/100 ft)	Friction Loss (lb/in², psi)
50	3000	0.6	0.02	0.01
60	3600	0.7	0.03	0.01
70	4200	0.8	0.04	0.02
75	4500	0.8	0.05	0.02
80	4800	0.9	0.05	0.02
90	5400	1.0	0.06	0.03
100	6000	1.1	0.08	0.04
125	7500	1.4	0.1	0.05
150	9000	1.7	0.2	0.07
175	10500	2.0	0.2	0.1
200	12000	2.3	0.3	0.1
250	15000	2.8	0.4	0.2
300	18000	3.4	0.6	0.3
350	21000	3.9	0.8	0.3
400	24000	4.5	1.0	0.4
450	27000	5.1	1.3	0.6
500	30000	5.6	1.5	0.7
750	45000	8.4	3.3	1.4
1000	60000	11.2	5.5	2.4

8 inches
Volume Flow (gal/min)	Volume Flow (gal/hr)	Velocity (ft/sec)	Friction Head (ft/100 ft)	Friction Loss (lb/in², psi)
125	7500	0.7	0.03	0.01
150	9000	0.8	0.04	0.02
175	10500	1.0	0.04	0.02
200	12000	1.1	0.06	0.02
250	15000	1.3	0.07	0.03
300	18000	1.6	0.1	0.05
350	21000	1.9	0.2	0.07
400	24000	2.3	0.2	0.09
450	27000	2.6	0.3	0.1
500	30000	2.9	0.3	0.1
750	45000	3.2	0.4	0.2
1000	60000	4.9	0.9	0.4
1250	75000	6.5	1.5	0.6
1500	90000	8.1	2.2	1.0
2000	120000	9.7	3.1	1.3

10 inches
Volume Flow (gal/min)	Volume Flow (gal/hr)	Velocity (ft/sec)	Friction Head (ft/100 ft)	Friction Loss (lb/in², psi)
200	12000	0.8	0.03	0.01
250	15000	1.0	0.04	0.02
300	18000	1.2	0.05	0.02
350	21000	1.4	0.07	0.03
400	24000	1.6	0.09	0.04
450	27000	1.9	0.1	0.05
500	30000	2.1	0.1	0.06
750	45000	3.1	0.3	0.1
1000	60000	4.1	0.5	0.2
1250	75000	5.1	0.7	0.3
1500	90000	6.2	1.0	0.4
2000	120000	8.2	1.7	0.7
2500	150000	10.3	2.6	1.1

12 inches
Volume Flow (gal/min)	Volume Flow (gal/hr)	Velocity (ft/sec)	Friction Head (ft/100 ft)	Friction Loss (lb/in², psi)
350	21000	1	0.03	0.01
400	24000	1.2	0.04	0.02
450	27000	1.3	0.05	0.02
500	30000	1.5	0.06	0.03
750	45000	2.2	0.1	0.05
1000	60000	2.9	0.2	0.09
1250	75000	3.6	0.3	0.1
1500	90000	4.3	0.4	0.2
2000	120000	5.8	0.7	0.3
2500	150000	7.2	1.1	0.5
3000	180000	8.7	1.6	0.7
3500	210000	10.1	2.1	0.9
4000	240000	11.1	2.7	1.2

14 inches
Volume Flow (gal/min)	Volume Flow (gal/hr)	Velocity (ft/sec)	Friction Head (ft/100 ft)	Friction Loss (lb/in², psi)
500	30000	1.2	0.03	0.01
750	45000	1.8	0.07	0.03
1000	60000	2.4	0.1	0.05
1250	75000	3.0	0.2	0.08
1500	90000	3.6	0.3	0.1
2000	120000	4.7	0.5	0.2
2500	150000	5.9	0.7	0.3
3000	180000	7.1	1.0	0.4
3500	210000	8.3	1.3	0.6
4000	240000	9.5	1.7	0.7
4500	270000	10.7	2.1	0.9
5000	300000	11.9	2.5	1.1
5500	330000	13.1	3.0	1.3
6000	360000	14.2	3.6	1.5
6500	390000	15.4	4.1	1.8
7000	420000	16.6	4.7	2.0
7500	450000	17.8	5.4	2.3

16 inches
Volume Flow (gal/min)	Volume Flow (gal/hr)	Velocity (ft/sec)	Friction Head (ft/100 ft)	Friction Loss (lb/in², psi)
500	30000	0.9	0.02	0.01
750	45000	1.4	0.04	0.02
1000	60000	1.8	0.07	0.03
1250	75000	2.3	0.1	0.04
1500	90000	2.7	0.1	0.06
2000	120000	3.6	0.2	0.1
2500	150000	4.5	0.4	0.2
3000	180000	5.5	0.5	0.2
3500	210000	6.4	0.7	0.3
4000	240000	7.3	0.9	0.4
4500	270000	8.2	1.1	0.5
5000	300000	9.1	1.3	0.6
5500	330000	10.0	1.6	0.7
6000	360000	10.9	1.9	0.8
6500	390000	11.8	2.2	0.9
7000	420000	12.7	2.5	1.1
7500	450000	13.6	2.8	1.2
8000	480000	14.5	3.2	1.4
8500	510000	14.4	3.5	1.5
9000	540000	16.5	3.9	1.7
9500	570000	17.3	4.3	1.9
10000	600000	18.2	4.8	2.1

Pressure loss values can be calculated with the Hazen-Williams Equation or the Darcy-Weisbach Formula.

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