How To Size Pipe for Solar Water Pumping

Use this chart to size the correct diameter pipe for your solar water pumping system. Areas shaded in red should be selected with caution.

Water Pipe Sizing Chart

Friction Loss in Plastic Pipe with Standard Inside Diameter (SIDR)

This chart applies only to: PVC pipe, Schedule 40 (160PSI) and to PE (polyethylene) pipe with SIDR designation (most common 100PSI black pipe)

Head loss in vertical feet per hundred feet of pipe or vertical meters per hundred meters of pipe

		Nominal Pipe Diameter (in) / Actual Inside Diameter (in)
FLOW RATE		1/2*	3/4	1	1 1/4	1 1/2	2	2 1/2	3	4	5	6
GPM	LPM	0.662	0.82	1.05	1.38	1.61	2.07	2.47	3.07	4.03	5.05	6.06
1	3.8	1.13	0.14	0.05	0.02
2	7.6	4.16	0.35	0.14	0.05	0.02
3	11	8.55	2.19	0.32	0.09	0.05
4	15	14.8	3.70	0.76	0.19	0.07
5	19	22.2	5.78	0.81	0.25	0.12	0.04
6	23	31.0	7.85	1.00	0.35	0.18	0.07	0.02
7	27		10.6	1.52	0.46	0.23	0.08	0.03
8	30		13.4	1.94	0.58	0.30	0.09	0.05
9	34		16.9	2.43	0.72	0.37	0.12	0.06
10	36		20.3	2.93	0.88	0.46	0.16	0.07	0.02
11	42		24.3	3.51	1.04	0.53	0.18	0.08	0.03
12	46		28.6	4.11	1.22	0.65	0.21	0.09	0.04
14	53			5.47	1.64	0.85	0.28	0.12	0.05
16	61			7.02	2.10	1.09	0.37	0.14	0.06
18	68			8.73	2.61	1.34	0.46	0.16	0.07
20	76			10.6	3.16	1.64	0.55	0.21	0.08	0.02
22	83			13.3	3.79	1.96	0.67	0.25	0.09	0.03
24	91			14.9	4.44	2.31	0.79	0.30	0.11	0.04
26	99				5.15	2.66	0.90	0.35	0.14	0.05
28	106				5.91	3.05	1.04	0.42	0.16	0.05
30	114				6.72	3.46	1.18	0.46	0.18	0.06
35	133				8.94	4.62	1.57	0.62	0.23	0.07
40	152				11.0	5.91	1.99	0.79	0.30	0.09	0.02
45	171				14.2	7.37	2.49	0.97	0.37	0.12	0.04
50	190				17.3	8.96	3.03	1.20	0.46	0.14	0.05
55	208					10.7	3.60	1.43	0.55	0.16	0.06
60	227					12.5	4.23	1.66	0.65	0.18	0.07	0.02
65	246					14.5	4.90	1.94	0.74	0.22	0.08	0.03
70	265					16.7	5.64	2.22	0.85	0.25	0.09	0.04
75	284					19.0	6.40	2.52	0.97	0.28	0.10	0.05
80	303						7.31	2.84	1.09	0.32	0.12	0.06
85	322						8.06	3.19	1.22	0.37	0.13	0.07
90	341						8.96	3.62	1.36	0.39	0.14	0.08
95	360						9.91	3.90	1.50	0.44	0.016	0.09
100	379						10.9	4.30	1.66	0.49	0.18	0.12
150	569						23.1	9.10	3.51	1.04	0.37	0.16
200	758							15.5	5.98	1.76	0.62	0.28

NOTE: Values shaded in			are at velocies over 5ft per second and should be selected with caution.
* The 1/2" data applies only to PE. PVC has a smaller internal diameter of 0.612