Category: Analysis

Ever wondered how much rain is falling at your place? Then you should learn more about measuring rainfall to estimate your rainwater harvesting potential with this e-learning tool.

Methods for Rainwater Quantification

We will provide you with a rain gauge construction manual. This gives you the opportunity to measure your rainfall without using much equipment. Everybody can help to keep an eye on our planets water resources and you can start. Have a look by yourself and try out your first tests.

Measuring Rainfall by Birthe Hohm and Ruth Schaldach is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Rainwater is an important water resource by naturally irrigating plants and recharging water sheds. Rainfall is collected by rainwater harvesting (also see: traditional and land-based rainwater harvesting), stored and later used. Thus, knowledge on the speed of recharge is important in order to know how fast you can use your stored water resources. Additionally, rainfall is changing with the seasons in frequency and intensity. You can calculate with this Rainwater Collection Calculator based on your data the yearly collection potentials, which helps to plan your storage devices. As dryer a region is as more important it is to collect and store in these seldom peak times, which makes an exact planing even more important. Consequently, observing the rainfall is one of the first steps for sustainable usage practices.

World Water Resources

Toolbox

All Analyses

Ever wondered how the water quality of your water resource is? Then you should learn more about the condition of your water sources with this e-learning tool.

Methods for Water Quality Determination

We will provide you with some techniques, which do not need much equipment. This gives you already an idea on your water body’s condition. Everybody can help to keep an eye on our planets water resources. However, for more precise measurements we need more elaborate methods. Have a look by yourself and try out your first tests.

Water Condition Analysis Guide by Birthe Hohm and Ruth Schaldach is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Water condition analysis is the first step to check on the quality of a water body. It describes the biological, chemical and physical state of water and tells you how healthy a water resource is. A good water quality and good water health is important for the ecosystem, thus checking on the water condition is an important step for sustainable water usage practices and once implemented to monitor these. However it is also very important for your personal health and well-being. It follows a simple logic: You can only stay healthy, if you use good quality water for drinking water supply and irrigation systems.

Agriculture and urbanisation draw heavy on the worlds water resources and unsustainable practices show more and more their signs. Already, several rivers and lakes are polluted and even groundwater resource are not protected from getting increasingly polluted any more. However, everybody is in the responsibility to avoid pollution and to treat your environment responsible. All water resources are part of the hydrosphere and thus connected with each other, which leads to an easy spread of pollution from one water resource to another. Due to this importance several methods for measuring water quality developed over time. For a precise determination of water quality, a complex set of measurements are needed like Measuring Groundwater Quantities, Measuring Surface Water Quantities and Measuring Rainfall Frequency and Intensity, but for a first idea only few parameters are sufficient.

World Water Resources

Toolbox

All Analyses

Ever wondered how much surface water is in rivers, lakes, channels and reservoirs around you? Then you should learn more about measuring surface water with this e-learning tool.

Methods for Surface Water Quantification

We will provide you with some measuring techniques, which do not need much equipment. This gives you already a good idea on your surrounding surface water status. Everybody can help to keep an eye on our planets water resources. However, for more precise measurements you will need more elaborate methods. Have a look by yourself and try out your first tests.

Measuring Surface Water by Birthe Hohm and Ruth Schaldach is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Surface water is an important water source not only for recreational purposes. Rivers, Lakes and channels are the most easily accessible water sources, which are naturally widely spread over the planet. Surface water is part of the hydrosphere and thus depends on recharge and discharge even without human beings starting to influence these processes. Thus, surface water quantification is the first step for developing sustainable water usage practices and once implemented to monitor these.

Firstly, if you know the recharge speed of your system, you can set discharge limits. Secondly, surface water bodies should never dry out under a limit, which makes it very important to never use too much. A functioning aquatic ecosystems needs a minimum flow level to survive. However, surface water is more exposed as underground water and, therefore, more vulnerable to climatic conditions like high evaporation rates in times of drought. Additionally, this water source is also most affected by pollution as it is easy accessible and exposed. The agricultural revolution, industrialisation and urbanisation draw heavy on surface water resources, especially in regions without an implemented waste water treatment infrastructure. As dryer the region is as more vulnerable is your system and more important it is to know your surface water bodies exactly.

Therefore, measuring and mapping your water quantities gives you important directions for sustainable usage practices.

World Water Resources

Toolbox

All Analyses

Ever wondered how much groundwater is under your feet? Then you should learn more about measuring groundwater with this e-learning tool.

Methods of Groundwater Quantification

We will provide you with some techniques, which do not need much equipment to give you already an idea on your groundwater. Everybody can help to keep an eye on our planets water resources. However, for more precise measurements more elaborate methods are needed. Have a look by yourself and try out your first tests.

Measuring Groundwater by Birthe Hohm and Ruth Schaldach is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Groundwater quantification is also the first step for developing sustainable water usage practices and once implemented to monitor these. It follows a simple logic: You need to know how much water is there, before you know how much can be used. You need  to know how fast your system gets recharged to know how fast you can use your water reservoirs without harming your storage system. Storage systems should never dry out completely, which makes it very important to never pump your groundwater too fast to the surface and use too much. Measuring and mapping your water gives you therefore important directions. As dryer the region is as more vulnerable is your system and more important it is to know your groundwater exactly. Due to this importance several methods for measuring groundwater developed over time. However, quantification of groundwater is difficult due to many hydrological and environmental aspects that must be considered. Groundwater resources are part of the hydrosphere and thus depend on groundwater recharge and discharge even without human beings starting to influence this processes. However, agriculture and urbanisation draw heavy on groundwater resources and unsustainable practices show more and more their signs and some underground storage systems starting to dry out.

World Water Resources

Toolbox

All Analyses

Each soil particle is unique – just like a snowflake. Soil condition directly determines how the soil behaves  – how well it can contain water, how prone it is to erosion, how nutritious it is. Have a look at the handbook below to learn how to perform a basic soil condition analysis.

Soil Condition Analysis by Zhuoheng Chen, Tavseef Mairaj Shah and Ruth Schaldach is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

World Soil Resources

Toolbox

All Analyses