Lesson 3:

Hydraulics (Pumping Energy)

Objective
In this lesson we will discuss some of the issues involved with hydraulics, such as, pressure, velocity, and flow. We will discuss the relationships
between these and how they work together to move water and wastewater.


Reading Assignment
Read the online lecture, Chapter 22 in the text Water Distribution Operator Training Manual, Third Edition.


Lecture
Introduction
Hydraulics is the study of fluids in motion or at rest or under pressure. Since pumps use energy to keep wastewater or water flowing, there are several
aspects of hydraulics that need to be examined. An understanding of hydraulics is important for the proper operation of a water or wastewater system.
This lesson will be confined to the behavior of water or wastewater in a supply system. If hydraulics is used to transfer energy, approximately 60% will
get the job done, while approximately 40% of the energy is lost in the process. On the average, water pumps are about 60% efficient and sewer
pumps are approximately 40% efficient.
As stated above, hydraulics is the act of operating, moving or transferring water or other liquids in motion or under pressure. Pressure is created by
forcing liquids through a narrow pipe or orifice. Pressure is a force per unit area and is usually measured in pounds per square inch (PSI). There are
two components of pressure. Static pressure is pressure applied by nonmoving water and is potential energy. Gravitational fields are responsible for
generating static pressure. This same static pressure will cause water "to seek its own level." Differential pressure meters measure flow by the
differences in pressure between two points by using the resistance of the lines involved.
The speed at which water moves is called velocity, which is usually measured in mph or feet per second (fps). The velocity of 1 mph = 1.46 fps or 1
fps = 0.683 mph. Also, 1 cfs = 7.48 gals/sec. and 7.48 gallons = 1 cubic foot.
Flow is different from pressure in that flow is a given volume in a given period of time. Flow is measured in gallons per minute (gpm), cubic feet per
second (cfs) or million gallons per day (MGD). Flow can be easily measured by filling a known container in a specific amount of time. In treating water
or wastewater, flow affects detention time. Flow, volume, and time are related by this equation.

OR
Example:
A flow of 1 MGD entering a treatment facility with a volume of 100,000 gallons fills the tank in 2.4 hours.

This is used to calculate detention time which is also contact time for the chlorine to react in the sedimentation basin, as well as other chemicals.
Detention time refers to the amount of time a particular volume of water is held for treatment, usually in a sedimentation basin. The equation for the
detention time is the container volume divided by fill time, or the volume of the basin (gallons) divided by the flow rate (gpm).
The basin volume in gallons is found by multiplying the cubic dimension in feet (length width height) times 7.48 gallons per cubic foot. For example:
A tank (sedimentation basin) holding 100,000 gals, with a flow of 1000 gallons per minute and fills in 2.4 hours, would have a detention time of 10
minutes, which by the way, is not a very good detention time - way too short.
Hydraulics must also be concerned with the transfer of energy within a particular system. For example, when closing a valve very quickly, this causes
the water to release energy violently, partly due to the fact that water is non-compressible. It takes the shape of its container. When a valve is slammed
closed, or rapidly closed, "water hammer is created. This is waves created by the water moving back and forth when the valve is closed. If this
happens very close to the water or wastewater plant, the "water hammer" is usually absorbed by a device called a "surge tank." This device is full of air
and water to give the waves of water somewhere to go, to stop, rather than slamming back into a pump, causing damage to the workings of the pump.
This can also cause pipes to break or heave out of the ground when valves in the distribution system are rapidly closed or opened. Another way to
illustrate this is to consider an automobile traveling at the rate of sixty miles per hour. If the car is stopped "on a dime," damage will result to both the
car and the driver. But, if the brakes are applied slowly over a period of time the energy is dissipated slowly, causing little or no damage to the car or
driver.
Water flows by gravity or when it is under a force to make it move, called pressure, and often referred to as the force on a unit area of water. There
are two types of pressure: static and dynamic pressure. Static pressure exists when water is not flowing; or dynamic pressure exists when water is
moving. As stated in Lesson 1, pressure is a measure of the height to which water will rise in a standpipe open at the top. The pressure at the bottom
of the water column depends directly on the height of the column. (O.43lbs/sq. inch.) Thus a 1 sq. ft. column 1 ft. high, with a total weight of 62 .4lbs.
exerts a hydrostatic pressure of 0.43 psi, or, in a 10sq. ft. column, 4.3 psi. The function of a pump is to add energy to a system, thus increasing
hydrostatic and/or dynamic pressure. The pressure (PSI) is equal to 0.433 times feet of head. This can be measured with pressure gauges - some of
which read in psi, while others read in feet of head, depending upon the use.
There are many methods of measuring flow in addition to container type equations. Flow measurements can be obtained by calculations for chemical
feeders, channels, weirs, troughs, pressure drops, filter drops, flumes, and gravity systems. Not only do various pipe materials have different pressure
ratings, but pipes also have different resistant factors, called friction loss, which affects pressure and flow in a system. The resistance of pipe is due to
the roughness of the internal surface area of the pipe. Friction losses in a pipeline depend upon the velocity or rate of flow, the size of the pipe (that is
the diameter), its length, and the apparent roughness of the surface in contact with the water. The degree of pipe roughness is commonly called in the
water industry the C factor, which is a coefficient in the Hazen - Williams formula for determining flow. Conversely, flow rate (quantity) varies with
the friction. For most pipe materials, the C factor ranges from 90 to 140. High C values imply less friction. There is a chart for C factors of various
sizes of pipe in most water manuals, based on 100 ft. lengths of pipe, based on the Hazen-Williams formula for C = 100.


Glossary of terms (to help understand the material)
Head - a measure of the pressure or force exerted by a fluid.
Capacity - the rate of liquid flow that can be carried.
Motor efficiency - a measure fo how effectively a motor turns electrical energy into mechanical energy, It is the ratio of power input to power output.
Motor horsepower INPUT (EHp) - the power input to the motor expressed in horsepower Hp.
Brake Horsepower (Bhp) - the power delivered to the pump shaft expressed in horsepower.
Hydraulic horsepower (Whp ) the pump output, or the liquid horsepower delivered by the pump.
Total efficiency - the ratio of the energy delivered by the pump to the energy supplied to the input side of the motor. Sometimes referred to as the
"wire to water efficiency."
Pump efficiency - the ratio of the energy delivered by the pump to the energy supplied to the pump shaft.
Motor input horsepower Ehp = power input (kW) 1.341
Brake horsepower Bhp = (2) Motor efficiency Ehp
Hydraulic horsepower Whp = { Head (feet) Capacity (GPM) / 3960
Total Efficiency = (Whp / Ehp) 100%
Pump Efficiency = (Whp / Bhp) 100%
There are pump curves and efficiency tables that can be acquired from most manufacturers for both water and wastewater pumps for comparison of
the types of pumps.
In the next lesson we will discuss the above mentioned Hazen - Williams formula and dynamic pressure in much more detail.


Review
In this lesson, we discussed the issues involved with hydraulics, such as pressure, velocity, and flow. These are the main components of hydraulics. We
will keep our studies to show how the information relates to water or wastewater, not the physics part of hydraulics. We learned that velocity is usually
measured in mph or fps., that velocity of 1mph = 1.46 fps or 1 fps = 0.683 mph, that 1 cfs = 7.48 gals/sec., and that 7.48 gallons = 1 cu. ft. These
ratios are very important to know when calculating various water rates, for example, detention time, which is the time that water spends in the
sedimentation basins before it goes into the filters. We discussed the concept of water hammer, which is caused by closing valves in the system too
fast, which then sends out waves of water or energy, which can break lines and damage pumps. We learned that pressure is the force which makes
water or wastewater move in the system. There are two basic types of pressure that we discussed; these are static pressure (at a stand still), and
dynamic pressure, which is when the water is moving. Flow is also an important component of hydraulics. Flow can vary in pipes for a lot of different
reasons. We discuss the roughness on the interior of the pipes, called the C- factor, which can definitely have an effect on the flow of the water on the
inside of the pipe.


Sources
Operators Companion - USA BlueBook
Zoeller On Line - Jason Fletcher
Operator Study Guide - AWWA
Water Distribution Operator Training Handbook - AWWA


Assignments
Answer the following questions and either mail or fax to the instructor.

1. Head loss in a water distribution main depends upon ______________.
2. In a water distribution system, velocity is usually measured in _______________.
3. _______________ is a hydraulic condition existing in parts of a tank, basin or reservoir where the time of travel is less than the normal rate of
flow.
4. Two identical pressure gauges at the foot of two storage tanks that are at the same elevation, the water levels in the tanks are the same, one
tank holds 1,000,000 gallons, the other holds 1000 gallons. Will the readings on the two psi gauges be different or the same?
5. If a valve in a pipeline is closed too rapidly it will cause the water in the pipeline to come to a sudden stop, thus causing waves of high pressure
that oscillate back and forth in the pipeline. This reaction is called _______________.



Quiz
Answer the questions in Quiz 3 . When you have completed the quiz, print it out and either mail or fax to the instructor, Harriett Long. You may also
take the quiz online and directly submit it into the database for a grade.