Pumps and Power: Process Control Basics
Water Horsepower tells you the theoretical minimum job a pump must perform — but no pump on earth delivers that job for free. Friction inside the volute, slip past the impeller, bearing losses, and mechanical seal drag all eat into the power a pump receives before that power ever reaches the water. This guide builds directly on Water Horsepower to teach Brake Horsepower (BHP) — what the pump actually needs from its driver — and then layers on motor efficiency to find Motor Horsepower, the true electrical-to-mechanical demand at the top of the chain. By the end of this guide you will be able to walk a pump-power problem all the way from flow and head down to the horsepower rating stamped on the motor's nameplate.
Why WHP Alone Isn't Enough
Think of a pump as a machine with an input shaft (where the motor's mechanical energy e