Using the water shuttle capacity formula, what is the GPM if tank volume is 1000 gallons, trip time 60 minutes, fill time 15 minutes, and dump time 15 minutes?

Using the water shuttle capacity formula, what is the GPM if tank volume is 1000 gallons, trip time 60 minutes, fill time 15 minutes, and dump time 15 minutes?

• A. 10
• B. 15
• C. 9
• D. 12

Answer: (A)

Water shuttle capacity tells you how many gallons per minute you can move during a shuttle operation, based on the cycle time of loading, traveling, and unloading. The cycle time here includes the trip time plus the times to fill and to dump: 60 minutes for the trip, plus 15 minutes to fill, plus 15 minutes to dump, totaling 90 minutes per cycle. You move 1000 gallons per cycle, so the GPM is 1000 divided by 90, which is about 11.1 GPM. In many practice contexts, GPM values are rounded to the nearest ten for quick planning, so about 10 GPM is the closest given option. The other numbers would require notably different cycle times (roughly 66.7 minutes for 15 GPM, 111.1 minutes for 9 GPM, or 83.3 minutes for 12 GPM), which aren’t consistent with the stated cycle time.

Water shuttle capacity tells you how many gallons per minute you can move during a shuttle operation, based on the cycle time of loading, traveling, and unloading. The cycle time here includes the trip time plus the times to fill and to dump: 60 minutes for the trip, plus 15 minutes to fill, plus 15 minutes to dump, totaling 90 minutes per cycle. You move 1000 gallons per cycle, so the GPM is 1000 divided by 90, which is about 11.1 GPM. In many practice contexts, GPM values are rounded to the nearest ten for quick planning, so about 10 GPM is the closest given option. The other numbers would require notably different cycle times (roughly 66.7 minutes for 15 GPM, 111.1 minutes for 9 GPM, or 83.3 minutes for 12 GPM), which aren’t consistent with the stated cycle time.