Pressure, head, & headloss

✏️Course in Development

Just a heads-up—this section is still a work in progress! I’ll be revising and expanding it soon to make sure it’s as useful as possible. Curious about what’s already done or currently in the works? Check the changelog for updates.

Let's talk about two of the most fundamental yet often confused terms in hydraulics: pressure and head. What exactly are they, and why does the distinction matter so much when you're modeling a water network? In this section, we’ll get crystal clear on these concepts.

We'll define pressure in practical terms — that force per unit area, commonly expressed in pounds per square inch (psi) or meters of water — that tells us how much "push" the water has. Then we'll explore head, which is a more encompassing measure of the total energy of water, combining its elevation (potential energy due to height) with its pressure energy.

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