Surface Consumption Rate

Given the importance of maintaining sufficient breathing gas supply, divers must become familiar with calculating the quantity of
gas breathed each minute at a given depth. Being familiar with this process is necessary for calculating the time a given gas
supply will last; it is also essential for calculating the volume that must be reserved to return safely from the planned depth while
considering the potential for an emergency, i.e., a team member’s loss of gas supply.

SCR (Surface Consumption Rate) is the amount of gas that a diver will consume per minute at the surface, and is also sometimes
known as Surface Air Consumption (SAC). SCR is normally calculated considering diving at depth; certain calculations (physical
laws) then allow us to infer the amount of gas we would have consumed were we breathing at the surface. This evaluation is
feasible because the gas consumed is directly proportional to the total pressure.

A diver’s SCR allows for the determination of the following:

• How long your gas supply will last at a given depth.

• The amount of gas you’ll need for a given dive.

SCR rates (as with susceptibility to DCS, CNS toxicity, and narcosis) vary from person to person and from day to day. Your SCR
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rate is affected by many factors, including fitness, equipment streamlining, comfort, and exertion. An SCR between .5ft /min and
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.75ft /min is considered good. An SCR between .75ft /min and 1.0ft /min is considered average. An SCR rate above .1ft /min is
considered poor.

Divers should also consider a stress (emergency) SCR and apply it while panning for Minimum Gas (volume of gas needed for two
divers to ascend during an Out Of Gas (OOG) situation).

Determining Your SCR

Divers need to know their working and decompression SCR. The most accurate way to calculate your working SCR is to swim at a
fixed depth for a fixed period of time or to use an average depth for a given period of time.

Example: A diver using single HP100 tank consumes 1500psi in 20 minutes at 66 feet.
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First, convert PSI consumed to Volume: 1500psi / 100 x 3 Tank Factor = 45ft
Then, divide Volume Consumed / ATA / TIME

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45ft / 3ATA / 20min = 0.75 ft /min

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On this dive the diver’s working SCR rate was .75ft /min

SCR = gas volume consumed / average ATA / time

Determining Your Average SCR

Since your SCR varies from day to day you should determine your average SCR. To determine your average SCR, add your recent
SCR rates and divide by the number of SCR rates observed.
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Example: .5ft /min, .75ft /min, .66ft /min, .82 ft /min, and .71ft /min
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(.5 +.75 +.66 + .82 + .71) ÷ 5 = 0.688 ft /min average SCR

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v2.0, © Global Underwater Explorers 2015 Imperial
 Surface Consumption Rate
Exercises:

1. What is the SCR of a diver if they use 1000psi from double AL80s in 20 minutes at 100’?

2. What is the SCR of a diver if they use 500psi from a single HP100 tank in 10 minutes at 33’?

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 Surface Consumption Rate
Depth Consumption Rate (DCR)

Knowing your SCR will allow you to calculate gas volume consumed per minute at various depths using the formula:

DCR = SCR x ATA

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Example: A diver with a .75ft /min SCR plans a dive to 100’. To find this diver’s DCR:
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.75 x 4 ATA = 3ft /min DCR

Exercises:

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1. What is the DCR for a diver with an SCR of .6ft /min at 66’?

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2. Calculate the DCR for an 80’ dive with a .75ft /min SCR:

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v2.0, © Global Underwater Explorers 2015 Imperial