Practical 4: Pump Performance

This practical uses a submersible pond pump with maximum head of 3.5m (no flow) and maximum flow of 1.5 L/s (no head), and eight pipes to be shared.

Pipes are standard black polyethylene garden irrigation pipe (k = 0.007mm), in two diameters (13mm and 19mm, internal diameter). For each diameter, there are four lengths (5m, 10m, 15m and 20m) available for testing. This practical makes use of a large rectangular channel sump in the hydraulics laboratory for both the water source and discharge. It could alternatively be adapted to any relatively large body of water, such as a swimming pool, spa or large trough.