🚧headlosscalculator.com is under construction.
Free for engineers — calculator, catalog, and articles all work today.
Pump manufacturer? Get listed free.
Free · No card · No salesperson
Headloss + pump selection, in one place.
Run your hydraulics, see overlaid pump curves across every manufacturer,
then request a quote in one click. Free for engineers — manufacturers pay per qualified lead.
Static head (elevation lift) vs. friction vs. fitting losses as percentages of TDH. Bigger static slice = VFD-friendly; bigger friction = pipe-upsize candidate.
At a glance: what fraction of each pump stroke lifts water vs. fights friction vs. fights fittings.
Energy Flow Diagram
End-to-end power flow — every loss visualized as a proportional band from electrical input down to useful static lift.
Green = useful lift. Orange/yellow = friction/fitting losses. Red = motor & pump inefficiency. The thin final green band is your wire-to-water efficiency.
Pipe Velocity Assessment
Max velocity vs. the 2–8 ft/s (0.6–2.4 m/s) design window. Low = sediment risk · High = erosion & surge risk.
Branch Comparison Radar
Each branch plotted on 5 dimensions (velocity, friction, length, diameter, Re). Larger polygon = more of that quantity relative to the worst branch. ⚡ = critical branch (highest friction loss).
System Schematic
What-If Explorer
Interactively stress-test your design — explore off-design flow, pipe aging, and alternate pipe sizes without recomputing.
Drag sliders to instantly see how parameter changes affect TDH, velocity, and power.
Design Checklist
Automated sanity checks on your design — each item is a pass/warning/fail flag against industry best practices (HI, ANSI, AWWA).
Branch Results
Per-branch breakdown: velocity, Reynolds, major + minor loss, share of total TDH. Critical branch is flagged.
Pipe branch headloss details will appear here after computing a scenario.
NPSH and Operating Points
Suction-side cavitation margin plus pump/system intersection points. NPSHa waterfall shows where your suction head goes.
NPSHa analysis and pump operating points will appear here after computing.
Solve common pipe hydraulics equations. Select a mode, choose the unknown, and enter the knowns. The primary modes (Flow↔Velocity, Hazen-Williams, Manning's) support both US and SI. Some secondary reference panels (Equivalent Length, Water Hammer, Quick NPSH, System Curve Builder) currently use US units only — full SI support coming soon.
Quick Reference Values
Hazen-Williams C PVC = 150 · DIP = 130 Steel = 120 · Concrete = 100 Cast Iron = 100
Manning's n PVC = 0.009 · Concrete = 0.013 DIP = 0.011 · Clay = 0.013 Corrugated Metal = 0.024
Predict how pump performance changes with speed or impeller diameter adjustments.
Engineering Notes
Affinity laws assume geometrically similar conditions.
Power varies as cube of speed — small speed reductions yield large power savings. Q₂ = Q₁×(N₂/N₁) H₂ = H₁×(N₂/N₁)² P₂ = P₁×(N₂/N₁)³
Quick Unit Converter
Pipe Reference Tools
4 tools
Equivalent Length Calculator
Convert fitting K-values to equivalent pipe lengths. Useful for simplified headloss estimates.
Pipe Schedule Database
Look up standard pipe dimensions by material, nominal size, and schedule.
Pipe Sizing Quick Reference
Instantly compare pipe sizes for a given flow. No need to run the full calculation.
Pipe Material Selection Guide
Compare pipe materials across key engineering criteria. Select materials for the radar chart and use the application matcher to find the best fit.
Select materials for radar chart (up to 4):
Analysis & Visualization
5 tools
Scenario Comparison Heatmap
Multi-Scenario Analysis
Parallel coordinates view — each line is a scenario. Drag on any axis to filter. Color represents TDH.
3D Design Surface
TDH as a function of flow & pipe diameter. Surface steepness = how sensitive your design is to each variable. Red diamond = current design point.
Drag to rotate. Color gradient: green = low TDH (efficient) → red = high TDH (oversized pump needed). Find the flattest region near your design point for robust sizing.
C-Factor Sensitivity
How pipe aging (lower C) and off-design flow affect the head your pump must deliver. Use it to bound your pump curve selection.
Steep vertical gradient = pump sizing is very sensitive to aging. Flat contours = robust to roughness drift. Aim for a design point in a flatter region.
Aging Impact Map
Projected TDH over the pipe's lifespan at various flow rates. Plan for future capacity as pipes age.
Velocity Selection Map
Velocity contours across flow × diameter. Shaded green band = 2–8 ft/s (0.6–2.4 m/s) target — pick a pipe size that lands your design flow in that zone.
Blue = too slow (sediment risk). Red = too fast (erosion & surge). Green plateau is the sweet spot.
Design Quality Score
Design-space contour: every flow × diameter combination scored for velocity fit and headloss. Aim for green plateau near your design point.
All saved scenarios plotted together. Compare system curves and design points side-by-side.
Scenario 3D Comparison
3D scatter of saved scenarios by Flow, TDH, and Velocity. Rotate to explore trade-offs.
Friction Factor Calculator & Moody Diagram
Swamee-Jain friction factor from Reynolds number and relative roughness. Your operating point is plotted on the classic Moody chart.
Flow Regime Visualizer
Live-animated cross-section + side-view velocity profile. Shows how flow physics changes across laminar / transitional / turbulent regimes.
Pressure Zone Map
Identify low-pressure & high-pressure regions along the pipeline — useful for siting air-release valves and pressure-zone boundaries.
Pipeline Profile & HGL Editor
Sketch your pipeline elevation profile point-by-point. Live HGL/EGL overlay shows where pressures go critical. Note: this tool operates in US units only (ft, fps, gpm, psi) — SI unit support coming soon.
Design Tools
3 tools
Control Valve Sizing Calculator
Size a control valve by Cv from flow, pressure drop, and fluid properties. Validates against choked-flow and cavitation limits. Note: this tool operates in US units only (gpm, psi, inches) — the Cv coefficient itself is defined in US units (gpm at 1 psi); Kv (metric coefficient) support coming soon.
Pipe Network Topology
Visual node-and-edge map of your pipe network. Shows which branches split, merge, or terminate. Note: this tool operates in US units only (ft, in) — SI unit support coming soon.
Pipe Burial Depth & Frost Line Guide
Recommends minimum bury depth by climate zone, soil type, and pipe material to avoid frost damage and traffic loading. Note: values shown in ft/inches — SI display coming soon.
Reports & Templates
3 tools
Professional Report Generator
Print-ready PDF/HTML engineering report with full inputs, charts, and NPSH/TDH summaries — suitable for submittals and client deliverables.
Generate a print-ready engineering report from your current calculation results.
Scenario Template Library
Starter scenarios for common pump applications (municipal booster, wastewater lift, cooling-tower circulation, irrigation, etc.). Load one and tweak from there.
Load a pre-built scenario for common engineering applications, or save your own custom templates.
Design Standards Quick Reference
Summary Report
No calculation yet. Run a scenario to generate a detailed engineering summary.
Need a Professional Engineer to review or stamp this design?
A licensed P.E. firm in our partner network can take this project on.
Submit your contact info + project context and they'll respond within
1 business day. No charge for the introduction.
Choose a pipe condition to use a suggested Hazen-Williams C-factor, or switch to manual entry if you want to type your own verified value.
No fittings added yet. Click Add Fitting to build the suction or force-main fitting list.
K-values are previewed automatically from the selected fitting type and branch diameter. Use d1 and d2 only for fittings that require branch size inputs.
K Used0.0000
NPSHr can vary along a pump curve, but for preliminary work many users start with one representative value.
Flow
Head
NPSHr
Multi-Scenario System Curve Overlay
▶
Compare multiple operating scenarios on one chart. Add scenarios with different flow/head conditions to visualize how your system responds.
This site uses essential cookies for authentication and stores preferences locally in your browser. No tracking or third-party cookies are used.
Privacy Policy