Plumbing – When designing plumbing, what is the most efficient way to pump water to a roof

plumbingpumpwater-pressure

I am planning to pump water to the roof of my house in order to cool a solar panel array during warm days. I'm trying to determine the best way to route the water as the water source is on one side of the house and the array on the other.

Is it more efficient to minimize the height that the water will move, but introduce some 90° bends in the plumbing, or minimize the bends in the plumbing at the cost of an increase in height? What is the general trade-off in pressure for these scenarios?

To illustrate, I can pump the water straight up, over the apex of my roof and down the other side. Assuming the pump can handle the extra elevation of about 3-4m, gravity will assist in moving the water back down the opposite slope of the roof.

Alternatively, I can bury a length of pipe going from one side of the house to the other, introducing some 90° elbows, then pump straight up to the desired elevation.

EDIT:

A rough estimate shows that I would need to raise water at-most 10m/33'. I don't need a high flow rate since I plan to use micro-irrigation drip sprayers; these things will require at most 1 gallon per hour in flow, but typically much less.

Best Answer

Head is a term used to identify the vertical distance between the pump output and terminus. This is where we figure out how hard the pump has to fight gravity. Another thing to remember is the rule of thumb is every 90 degree elbow is equal to 20 feet or 6m of pipe. How much water you want to move and your head distance will determine pump and discharge pipe diameter. So we need to know head distance, volume in lpm or m^3/hr to get an idea of where to start. And FYI, even though gravity will help the water fall, you will need a bigger motor to start against the head pressure meaning a bigger pump than you really need. Go horizontal.