We NEED a pipeline in America

[Spider Jerusalem]

16. Here's a good baseline:

It takes about 185 kWh of electrical energy to raise one acre-foot (AF) of water an elevation of 100 feet. This answer assumes an overall pumping plant efficiency of 55.4%. Friction losses in the piping system are neglected.

Southern California Edison published a paper in the 1999 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Industry that provides results from over 28,000 pump efficiency tests performed between 1990 and 1997. The paper, "We've Been Testing Water Pumps for Years—Has Their Efficiency Changed?" reported overall average pumping plant efficiencies (wire-to-water) of 55.4% for centrifugal booster pumps, 58.4% for submersible booster pumps, 44.2% for submersible well pumps, 62.8% for turbine booster pumps, and 56.4% for turbine well pumps.

Energy savings from pumping plant efficiency improvements can be substantial. If the efficiency of the pumping plant discussed above is increased from 55.4% (E1) to 75% (E2), the annual energy consumption is reduced by 26.1%. Mathematically, the energy savings are expressed as:

Energy Savings = 185 kWh/AF x (1 - E1 / E2) = 185 x (1 - 0.7386) = 48.3 kWh/AF

Reduction in Energy Use = 48.3 kWh/AF / 185 kWh/AF x 100% = 26.1%

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