What is a pump system curve?

The head a pumped system demands at each flow: static lift (delivery level minus wet-well level) plus pipe friction and minor losses, which grow roughly with flow squared. A pump operates where its own curve intersects the system curve — the duty point. This tool builds the system curve from pipe data or a chainage/RL long section and finds the duty for one to four pumps in parallel.

Can I check a pump station without a full pump curve?

Yes. Enter just the best efficiency point (BEP flow and head) from any datasheet and the tool synthesises a realistic curve using the EPANET convention — shutoff at 1.33 × BEP head, zero head at twice BEP flow, power-law fit. Synthesised curves are clearly labelled and are for screening; paste the manufacturer's curve points for final checks.

Does this model water hammer or transients?

No — it is a steady-state screening tool. It checks duty points, velocities, retention, wet-well cycling, emergency storage, NPSH and power, and flags where a surge assessment is warranted, but transient analysis needs dedicated software. Criteria come as editable presets extracted from published authority documents (with clause citations shown per check) or as generic screening defaults.

Which authority design criteria are built in?

Presets cover Water Corporation WA (DS 51 and DS 32), Hunter Water (Design Manual S4), the SEQ Code (five QLD utilities), Watercare Auckland (ESF-500-STD-202), Wellington Water (Regional Standard), TasWater (WSA 04 supplement), South East Water (AM2961), Greater Western Water, SA Water (TS 0854 and TG 11a) and Power & Water NT — each figure extracted from the published document with its clause cited on the check row. Criteria that live only in the paid WSA 04 base code are left as clearly-labelled editable generic values, never guessed.

Sewage Pump Station & Rising Main Checker

Screens a sewage pump station and its pressure rising main at steady state: the system curve (static lift + Colebrook–White friction + minor losses) intersected with pump curves — from the catalogue, pasted datasheet points, or synthesised from a BEP — giving duty points for 1–6 parallel pumps with VSD affinity scaling, with optional per-pump station pipework (suction and discharge sections carry each pump’s own flow) and slimed-main roughness read from published velocity-band tables. Checks rising-main velocity, retention, wet-well cycling, emergency storage, NPSH and power, and draws the hydraulic grade line along a chainage profile with air-valve flags. Criteria load from authority presets — Water Corporation (DS 51/DS 32), the SEQ Code, Hunter Water, Watercare, Wellington Water, TasWater, South East Water, Greater Western Water, SA Water and Power & Water NT — every figure clause-cited to the published document, all editable; a generic profile is the default. Free, no login. Related reading: what is a pump's BEP? · BEP & pump curve selection.

Preliminary screening tool. Steady-state duty for identical pumps in parallel on a single rising main. It does not model transients/water hammer, main profile high points or air valves, dissimilar pumps, drawdown within a cycle, or sludge rheology — and does not replace manufacturer selection software, detailed design, or authority requirements. Criteria presets are extracted from the cited published documents and remain editable; confirm the current edition and any project-specific requirements with your authority.

System & pump curves i

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System curve (band = wet-well level range) vs pump curves for 1…N duty pumps. Dots mark the duty points; hover for values at any flow.

Duty points & checks

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Wet well, retention & energy

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How the system curve is built. H_sys(Q) = static lift + pipe friction (Colebrook–White) + minor losses (ΣK·V²/2g). Choose how the rising main is defined: Simple uses the sidebar's length and delivery RL directly; Profile derives them from a chainage/RL long section and additionally checks the hydraulic grade line against every profile point.

Rising-main definition

Simple — length & levels Profile — chainage & RL

System-curve composition i

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H_sys(Q) assembled from its components at mean static lift; dots mark the duty points.

Worked substitutions — 1-pump duty

Equations & conventions

References