Tracking the source

                    190 km                Flat Bush

         Totara Park                          a spot of minor trespassing (oops, sorry Watercare)

                Clevedon (that was a wrong turn)              Ardmore

         a prohibited defence area down an unsealed road (that was another wrong turn)

                    one waterfall                             two dope smokers   
        
       many rabbits                                  two Hunua dams          

                   and 5 hours later I've finally tracked my drinking water to its source.

It's certainly given me a new appreciation for when I turn the tap on.

Here are some photos from my trip:

On an aside, I loved these power boxes - during my water mapping journey I've wondered whether day-to-day infrastructure should be designed or displayed differently to make it more attractive or interesting - and here it's been done - gorgeous or an eyesore?  Gorgeous.

Now off to finish my map.

Juxtaposition of fact and fiction

My map is almost finished.  I think the concept has come across quite well - using notation to represent the clinical facts of water infrastructure - distance, height, scale - differently, in a fictional and imaginative way.   People looking at the map will see the water system but the main objective is for them to be able to engage in the map in a way they perhaps wouldn't if it was a typical engineering infrastructure map, with standard symbols (squares, triangles etc).

Necessarily the map is a simplistic version of a very complex system.  This map was sent to me by Watercare.  It shows what my initial idea of a network based on the London Tube map might have looked like: portraying the system and connections without reference to correct scale.  

Source: Watercare.

Obviously this is very complex; my map will show just the main route between my house and water source, focusing on the length and notation of the water nodes to show the system.

The tip of an iceburg

My camera batteries ran out halfway through my network tracing trip today - in the middle of Penrose industrial area.  At least it didn't run out just when I got to the Hunuas!  That part of the trip is now postponed till later in the week.

Looking for water infrastructure in the fabric of the Penrose neighborhood was like looking for what is invisible in day to day life.  I became attuned to meter boxes, gas connections, electricity substations, a myriad of manhole covers, fire hydrants, broadband control boxes - a nexus of utilities.  Helpfully, water nodes seems to either have a Watercare label or are blue.  

The majority of water infrastructure is underground so my photos so far have been like showing the tip of an iceburg - some box, manhole cover or structure indicating a link to an underground maze.

And even going on half the route gave me an impression of how far water has to come every time I turn on my tap.  I'm looking forward to finishing the trip later in the week, particularly as I've never been to the Hunua Ranges.  

Map analysis

Discussing my project at the last class session was useful – I’m now going to use the Highline map as the base for my project - see 15 September blog for map (the Tube map isn’t suitable as it lacks correct geographical scale – necessary to show the length of the water journey).

So looking closely at the Highline map, these are ways I'm thinking of adapting it for my project:

Path detail of the Highline – each section has basic illustration *** different pipe width – e.g. Hunua 1 & 3 watermain carrying most of the 57% of Auckland’s water supply that comes from the Hunua Ranges v the Pt Chev watermain supplying part of that water to Pt Chevalier.

Street names / buildings which enable people to locate and access the Highline *** not practical to have street level of detail - instead I can use suburbs which show the city-scale of my map.

Labels e.g. such as stairs for accessing the walkway *** label infrastructure with a specific function e.g. AWMA070 Bulk Supply Point or No. 15 Control Valve.

Renderings are used to show sections of the pathway – different scales but most show people which of course is the point of the walkway – for people to enjoy *** my photographs will be at different scales as well – ranging from taps, to water meters to treatment plants – making the invisible visible. 

Other features:

Different sized text - can’t make out why except it adds to the aesthetic.

Background of map is outline of streets and plots – Highline coloured to make it visible. 

Have a couple of ideas of things I want to do differently – one is to show the role gravity plays in the system by labeling each infrastructure node’s height above sea level.

Collecting images

Earlier this week I took photographs of infrastructure near my house – interesting seeing spaces I see all the time in a very different context.  

Tomorrow I’m going to venture further afield – all the way to the source – the Hunuas.

Pulling the project together

I’ve driven, bussed or walked past the corner of Symonds St and Mt Eden Rd dozens of times but never noticed the reservoir which fills half of that block.  Talk about invisible.  That’s exactly what my project is: mapping that type of “invisible” infrastructure which brings water from the Hunua Ranges to my house.

Thinking about presentation - I’m keen to base my map on the London Underground map discussed in "Mapping Experience" by M Treib in Design Quarterly – the maps are similar in that they both portray invisible essential infrastructure and have disregard of real world spatial reference (p 11).  The purpose is not to portray correct geographic scale but instead to help a traveller find their way from one station to another (London tube map) or tracing the flow of water from node to node back to its source (my map).

The ideas I’m trying to pull together for the presentation are –

• How can I use different weighting and colouring of lines to show different flow volumes?
• How can I portray the nodes? 
• Shall I incorporate gradient to reflect gravity in the system?
• What form of graphic can I use to show the dynamic flow of water?
• 
  

  How shall I integrate photographs of infrastructure in a meaningful way?  For example these photographs of Khyber Pass Reservoir:

 Source: Author's own.

Highlighting the invisible

Anything can be portrayed in a map.  The mix of maps at the opening of the You Are Here: Mapping Auckland exhibition at Auckland Museum yesterday was interesting: blueprints for new suburbs, animated traffic maps and social and health statistics of the region, amongst many other charts and records. 

The dynamic map where visitors are invited to add their stories was gorgeous – typing my story and reading others’ stories made me feel like I was a part of Auckland and a part of a wider story.  The snippets of stories portrayed what is hard in a map – the complexity, depth and colour of life – like is described in Calvino’s Invisible Cities (see the quote in a previous blog).

In terms of the presentation of my project, I liked how some maps had sections reproduced at greater scale on a separate block next to the main map.  I was thinking of doing something similar with the photographs of infrastructure that are a key part of my project: highlighting the invisible.

For me personally there is such an interest in seeing the invisible: my favourite map at the exhibition was a 19^th century representation of Auckland’s volcanic field by German geologist Ferdinand von Hochstetter.  This is a section of the map showing One Tree Hill and the associated lava flow.  Auckland is built on lava fields but this isn’t visible, except near some cones or where the lava has flowed into the harbour.  It is so interesting to see on the map where the lava flows under the houses and roads that are the city as I know it.  The porous lava also helps move water through the city - at the Onehunga Aquifer and from Mt Eden through to Western Springs.

  Source: Auckland Museum

                                                    Available: http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/?t=1645#explore-map

I need to develop my presentation ideas further.  Creative representation is not a strength of mine so I’m planning on using next week’s class to ask for feedback and ideas on what I have for my project so far.