 Hydraulic head

Hydraulic head is the sum of elevation and pressure head, measured in metres relative to a chosen height datum. For constant mass density $\rho$ and gravitational acceleration magnitude $g$, the pressure head $p/(\rho g)$ is the height of a column of the same fluid supported by fluid pressure $p$. A water-filled open measuring tube records hydraulic head as the elevation of its water level when $p$ is gauge fluid pressure. Changing the common pressure reference or height datum adds a constant to hydraulic head and leaves its driving gradient unchanged.

For water with $\rho =1000\mathrm{kg}{\mathrm{m}}^{-3}$ and $g=9.81\mathrm{m}{\mathrm{s}}^{-2}$, a point at $z=2\mathrm{m}$ with gauge fluid pressure $p=9810\mathrm{Pa}$ has $h=3\mathrm{m}$. A second point at $z=0$ with gauge fluid pressure $29430\mathrm{Pa}$ also has $h=3\mathrm{m}$: these values are compatible with a stationary column under hydrostatic pressure. It is a difference in hydraulic head, rather than a difference in fluid pressure alone, that drives saturated Darcy flow. This form uses constant mass density; one cannot generally pull spatially varying $\rho$ through the gradient.^[ref]