Dataviz by Sunlight

Hydrologic Maps Based on Coca-Cola Data Spark Concern over Water Grabs

As competition for clean water grows, some of the world’s biggest companies have joined forces to create unprecedented maps of the precious resource that flows beneath our feet.

The Aqueduct Alliance, which allows users to create maps by combining hydrological data with geographically specific details, gives companies and investors unprecedented detail of water availability in some of the world’s largest river basins.

Which nations consume the most water?

This Scientific American article by Mark Fischetti and infographic by Jen Christiansen detail the consumption of water usage throughout the world. Jen used a Sankey diagram to show the top 10 water consuming countries and how their water was being used. One of Mark’s first points in the article is that population is the largest factor of water consumption. So I wonder why population adjusted numbers weren’t used. Many of the article’s commenters felt the same way.

Planet Earth Has Less Water Than We Think!

As a child, you are told a lot of things about this great planet of ours. We are the third of nine planets in the Solar System (now eight and one dwarf planet), Mount Everest is the tallest mountain on the planet, and the Earth’s surface is 70% water. With a figure like that, it’s easy to assume that water is pretty much an infinite resource. However, according to the U. S. Geological Survey, if you were to take all of the water on the planet (including fresh water, sea water, ground water, water vapor and water inside our bodies), it would only make a sphere 860 miles in diameter. 860 miles!? You can drive that in a day – it’s about the distance from Salt Lake City to Topeka, Kansas.

roomthily:

Water Underground (UC Center for Hydrologic Modeling)- global groundwater fluctuations (left: Sept 2004; right: March, 2011)

Water at the Urban Edge

This infographic explains the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District. It explains what this district is and how it operates.

attilaveress:

Water

A Shower Calendar to save water

The Shower Calendar is a “persuasive” concept for reducing the consumption of water for showering. It offers a way to foster awareness of water consumption and communication among family members. This ultimately has the potential to result in behavioral change.

Where the water resources are and where it goes

The placement of each line represents a rainfall measurement, and the length and end placement is based on urban consumption. Lines pulled farther from its source change to black. The data comes from two sources: USGS for water consumption and NOAA/NWS for rainfall data provided.

What is Your Water Footprint?

How much water do you consume based on where you are from? How much water do you consume based on what food, beverages, and products you purchase? This data visualization reveals the hidden water content in your nationality and your consumer goods. Label your lunch, your drink, your friends, yourself, even the whole world with its water footprint.

eigenstil:

Access to water in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa

Urban Water Needs: Can We Keep Up?

Matthew Laws and Hal Watts, a recent graduate and current student of the Royal College of Art, recently created this rather clever data visualization to convey projected water consumption. “Urban Water Needs: Can We Keep Up?” is a real-life take on topographical bar graph infographics—a fresh analogue approach,” according to Watts and Laws—earning a runner-up nod in Visualizing.org’s World Water Day Challenge.

Canal Isabel II - the company in charge of Madrid’s water supply