Where does my drinking water come from and how does it get to my tap?

My research is going to be guided by this question - finding the source of Auckland's drinking water and mapping how it reaches my home.

The London Tube map seems a possible base map - the aim is to portray a system, with little regard to geographic correctness and no scale requirement.  The underground infrastructure and nodes of water infrastructure (reservoirs, pipes and treatment plants) seem similar to the underground railway lines and stations of the Tube.

London Tube Diagram by Paul E. Garbutt

Source:http://www.20thcenturylondon.org.uk

The methodology will involve gathering data and information from primarily Auckland Council and its CCO Watercare, although this will need to be developed further.

Re mapping the invisible - this is a beautiful quote from Invisible Cities:
A map of Esmeralda should include, marked in different coloured inks, all these routes, solid and liquid, evident and hidden.  It is more difficult to fix on the map the routes of the swallows, who cut the air over the roofs, dropping long invisible parabolas with their still wings, darting to gulp a mosquito, spiraling upward, grazing a pinnacle, dominating from every point of their airy paths all the points of the city.
(Calvino, I.  (1972)  Invisible Cities.  Harcourt: Orlando Florida.)

In the news

A couple of relevant recent articles from the NZ Herald -

A report by the Hauraki Gulf Forum (established by the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park Act 2000 to promote the sustainable management of the Hauraki Gulf) into the current state of the Gulf.  The report records increasing levels of nitrogen (from rural runoff) and pollution: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10744343.

An exhibition and auction of photographs of nature by celebrities with the aim of bringing environmental issues into the public conscious and encouraging positive environmental action (the idea being similar to our mapping project - a different forum for portrayal of the environment):
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10744526.

Plotting volcanic water

This stunning map from 1866 shows the influence of volcanoes on the geomorphology of the Auckland region: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/auckland-places/19/2.  Seeing that map and learning about Auckland's geomorphology has given me a new understanding of volcanoes and their role in natural and man-made water activities in the Auckland region: Waterfalls over volcanic lava in the Waitakere Ranges Orakei and Panmure Basins - volcanic craters connected to the ocean Lake Pupuke - a fresh water lake One Tree Hill - the porous basalt lava creates an acquifer with 27300 cubic metres of water flowing through it every day (is used as the water supply for the surrounding area - http://www.arc.govt.nz/environment/volcanoes-of-auckland/water-resources.cfm) Meola Creek - created by lava flows from Mt Eden Western Springs - natural springs dammed to become a lake Mt Eden & many other cones containing reservoirs either within or on the slopes Altogether 48 volcanoes are within 20km of Auckland's centre, almost all of which have been modified by people (including several cones destroyed for the construction of Auckland Airport and Mangere sewage treatment plant). Yesterday our class heard a talk from an environmentalist and a biologist.  The impact on Auckland's waterways by humans is massive.  A brief list from the lecture includes: drained wetlands removal of vegetation dammed rivers for stormwater outlets piped rivers urbanisation creating impervious surfaces leading to runoff and species being flushed out to sea extracted water for drinking extracted sediment introduced pest species - fish, weeds, trees (which now dominate) Combining all these factors: the extent of volcanic influence on the geological formation of Auckland, the importance of the cones in contemporary life, how humans have permanently changed the formation of the cones and their impact on waterways - it's vital that this unique environment is protected from any further damage and, where possible, restored. Next step: develop my project further, and connect and map these water features.

How to create societal change: regulation/taxation, education or frightening and scary statistics?

Enough water to fill 150,000 Olympic sized swimming pools is pumped to Auckland residents EVERY DAY.  An even more mind-boggling statistic is while one person requires 2-4 litres of drinking water per day, it takes 2,000-5,000 litres of water to produce one person's daily food.  (For more scary statistics, see the United Nations-Water website (link below)).  With only 2.5% of the Earth's water being fresh, to me it makes water seem like a precious finite resource that needs to be treated with great care.

I'm not the only one: last Thursday I attended Late at the Museum, an event held at Auckland Museum in conjunction with the University of Auckland and the Aqua exhibition to raise awareness of water issues.  What struck me was the reaction by the audience during a panel discussion on the issue of water quality in Auckland.  Halfway through the discussion by the panellists an audience member spontaneously asked a question, opening up a flood of questions which were eventually cut off when time had run out.  The audience was obviously informed, frustrated and angry that (they perceived) little was being done to address the pollution of rivers and the effects of the urban environment on our water and its ecosystems.

So some people care and want to do something about water issues.  Others don't.  How to create societal change and get on board these people who don't care?  That seems to me the aim of our assignment.  NZ is perceived as a water rich country (as a classmate stated in my Sustainable Development class last week) - so why bother changing?

To create a paradigm shift in society's view however is very complex and probably a mixture of regulation, tax (I suspect people would consume a lot less if they were charged upfront the true cost of the capture of water in dams, transmission through many hundreds of kms of pipes, and treatment), education (although with the huge amounts of information flowing through our daily lives, would it stick?) and scary statistics and images.

My project is still being formed but I'm interested in the invisible infrastructure of water, particularly it's origins: in Auckland dams in the Hunua Ranges supply 57% of our water supply, 26% is from dams in the Waitakere Ranges, 10% from the Waikato, Mahurangi and Hoteo Rivers and the balance from groundwater supplies at various places around Auckland (including One Tree Hill).  How to map aquifers???

Perhaps if people had a simple way to understand the complexity of our water systems and the cost of receiving the water, they would not take it for granted.  Then those people who don't care may join those who do.  It doesn't matter for what reasons people change their attitudes, it's just essential that they do.

Thanks to:

Watercare (Auckland's water provider) for the Auckland statistics and photographs: www.watercare.co.nz.
UN-Water for the global statistics: www.unwater.org/statistics.html.
Auckland Museum http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/?t=1139.