Water Supply

Estimated Remaining Supply

Project additional hydrant flow at a selected residual pressure.

What It Tells You

An estimate of total and additional hydrant flow available at a chosen residual pressure.

Formula

Projected flow = current flow × ((static − target residual) ÷ (static − current residual))^0.54

What the Variables Mean

static
pressure before water is flowing PSI
current residual
pressure while the test flow is moving PSI
target residual
the pressure where available flow is projected PSI
current flow
measured hydrant flow GPM

Plain-Language Explanation

The pressure drop during a hydrant flow test shows how the water system responds to demand. Reverse Flow uses the standard 0.54 projection relationship.

Worked Example

Static is 80 PSI, residual is 50 PSI at 1,000 GPM, and the target residual is 20 PSI.

  1. Projected = 1000 × ((80 − 20) ÷ (80 − 50))^0.54
Projected ≈ 1,454 GPM; about 454 GPM additional

Fireground Takeaway

Twenty PSI is the standard reference. Lower targets are aggressive estimates, not rated available fire flow.

Practice This Formula

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