Interactive world map visualizes water scarcity around the globe

To help you make better decisions, our researchers created the water scarcity atlas, an educational tool that shows what water limitations mean globally

The average person in Europe uses 3000-5000 litres of water per day, of which the lion’s share is spent on food production – a considerable part on the other side of the globe. The world’s limited water resources are becoming an even more pressing issue as populations grow and climate change causes droughts in the global South and North. While studies have already provided a number of ways to reduce our consumption of water, this valuable information is often left unused.

Water researchers at Aalto University wanted to better communicate research findings to a broader audience. The Water Scarcity Atlas, a web application created by Postdoctoral Researcher Joseph Guillaume and Assistant Professor Matti Kummu, uses interactive global maps to provide an introduction to the problems that arise with limited water – water scarcity – and ways to fight them. Read more

In addition to producing oil and gas, the energy industry produces a lot of water, about 10 barrels of water per barrel of oil on average. New research led by The University of Texas at Austin has found that where the produced water is stored underground influences the risk of induced earthquakes.

This is an aerial view of hydraulic fracturing operations across the jonah field, a large natural gas field in Wyoming

Beyond supporting the link between water disposal and induced seismicity, the research also describes factors that can help reduce earthquake risk.

“If we want to manage seismicity, we really need to understand the controls,” said lead author Bridget Scanlon, a senior research scientist at UT’s Bureau of Economic Geology.

The research was published Oct. 31 in the journal Seismological Research Letters. Co-authors include Matthew Weingarten, assistant professor at San Diego State University; Kyle Murray, adjunct professor at the University of Oklahoma; and Robert Reedy, research scientist associate at the Bureau of Economic Geology. The bureau is a research unit at the UT Jackson School of Geosciences. Read more

Without water, plants wilt and die. But too much water can be as bad for plants as not enough. If land plants are submerged in water for too long, even if just their roots are submerged, they may rot or drown from lack of oxygen.

Watering plants is essential for healthy growth, but too much water can harm your plants.­

Balancing plants’ water needs is like having a healthful diet. Everything should be consumed in moderation. Provide your plants with enough water for good health, but don’t flood them with it. Read more

“Don’t drink the water” might be good enough advice to keep you from getting sick in some places, but according to researchers from Arizona State and Drexel University, the admonition should probably be expanded to “…try not to breathe the water either.” In research recently published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, the group takes a closer look at how the spray from showers, sinks and toilets can expose us to the bacteria responsible for the most waterborne disease outbreaks in the country.

“Most people in the United States think we have a handle on our water quality problems and drinking water isn’t something we need to worry about anymore. If anything, the recent water crisis in Flint, Michigan, and frequent Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks across the nation have demonstrated that’s not the case,” said Kerry Hamilton, PhD, an assistant professor in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University and former doctoral researcher at Drexel, who led the investigation into how the Legionella pneumophila bacteria can grow and spread in indoor water supplies. Read more

A polymer mat developed at Rice University has the ability to fish biologically harmful contaminants from water through a strategy known as “bait, hook and destroy.”

Tests with wastewater showed the mat can efficiently remove targeted pollutants, in this case a pair of biologically harmful endocrine disruptors, using a fraction of the energy required by other technology. The technique can also be used to treat drinking water.

The mat was developed by scientists with the Rice-led Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT) Center. The research is available online in the American Chemical Society journal Environmental Science and Technology. Read more