Evaporation from Water Surfaces

Evaporation of water from water surfaces - like swimming pools or open tanks depends on water temperature, air temperature, air humidity and air velocity above
the water surface - online calculator
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Evaporation of water from a water surface - like an open tank, a swimming pool or similar - depends on
water temperature, air temperature, air humidity and air velocity above the water surface.

The amount of evaporated water can be expressed as:

gs = A (xs - x) / 3600

(1)

or
gh = A (xs - x)
where
gs = amount of evaporated water per second (kg/s)
gh = amount of evaporated water per hour (kg/h)
= (25 + 19 v) = evaporation coefficient (kg/m2h)
v = velocity of air above the water surface (m/s)
A = water surface area (m2)
xs = humidity ratio saturated air at the same temperature as the water surface (kg/kg) (kg H2O in kg Dry
Air)
x = humidity ratio air (kg/kg) (kg H2O in kg Dry Air)
Note! The units for don't match since the this is an empirical equation - a result of experiments.

Required Heat Supply

Most of the heat or energy required for the evaporation is taken from the water itself. To maintain the water
temperature - heat must be supplied to the water.
Required heat to cover evaporation can be calculated as
q = hwe gs

(2)

where
q = heat supplied (kJ/s, kW)

hwe = evaporation heat of water (2257 kJ/kg)

Example - Evaporated Water from a Swimming Pool

For a swimming pool with water temperature 25oC the saturation humidity ratio is 0.02 kg/kg. With an air
temperature of 25oC and 50% relative humidity - the humidity ratio in the air is 0.0098kg/kg - Mollier
diagram.
For a 25 m x 20 m swimming pool and 0.5 m/s air velocity above the surface - the evaporation can be
calculated as
gs = ( 25 + 19 (0.5 m/s)) ((25 m) (20 m)) ((0.02 kg/kg) - (0.0098kg/kg)) / 3600
= 0.049 kg/s
Heat supply required to maintain the temperature of the water can be calculated as
q = (2257 kJ/kg) (0.049 kg/s)
= 110.6 kW
The energy loss and required heat supply can be reduced by
reducing the air velocity above the water surface - limited effect
reducing the size of the pool - not really practical
reducing the water temperature - not a comfort solution
reducing the air temperature - not a comfort solution
increase the moisture content in the air - may increase the condensation and damage of the

building constructions for indoor pools

remove the wet surface - possible with plastic blankets on the water surface outside operation time.

Very effective and commonly used

Note! - during operation time the activity in a swimming pool may increase the evaporation of water and the
required heat supply dramatically.
To reduce the energy consumption and to avoid moisture damages in building constructions it is common to
use heat recycling devices with heat pumps moving latent heat from the air to the water in the swimming
pool.