GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF WATER QUALITY DATA

It is possible to characterise waters by performing a chemical analysis of their major ions.

Once this is done the results can be plotted in a variety of formats to allow comparison
between different waters. There are several graphical methods that are used for visualization
and classification of hydrochemical data.

1. Collins bar diagram

Each analysis appears as a vertical bar having a height proportional to the total
concentration of anions or cations, expressed in milliequivalents per liter. The left half of a
bar represents cations and right half anions. These segments are divided horizontally to show
the concentrations of major ions or groups of closely related ions and identified by distinctive
shading patterns. The reference number of analysis is shown at the top of the bar.
2. Vector diagram
Water quality is represented as radiating vectors. The length of the six vectors
represents ionic concentrations in milliequivalents per liter.
3. Stiff’s polygon
Pattern diagrams first suggested by Stiff are used for representing chemical analyses by
four parallel axes. Concentrations of cations are plotted to the left of a vertical zero axis and
anions to the right; all values are in milliequivalents per liter. The resulting points when
connected form an irregular polygonal pattern; waters of a similar quality define a distinctive
shape.
4. Circular diagram or Pie diagram
Water quality is represented as circular diagram with a special scale for the radii so that
the area of a circle is proportional to the ionic concentration of the analysis. Sectors within a
circle show the fractions of the different ions expressed in milliequivalents per liter.
5. Piper-Hill tri-linear diagram
The most widely accepted of these is the Piper-Hill trilinear diagram. This diagram
has three parts: a cation triangle, an anion triangle, and a central diamond-shaped field. Here
cations, expressed as percentages of total cations in milliequivalents per liter plot as a single
point on the left triangle; while anions similarly expressed as percentages of total anions,
appear as a point in the right triangle. These two points arc then projected into the central
diamond-shaped area parallel to the upper edges of the central area. This single point is thus
uniquely related to the total ionic distribution. Waters of similar quality usually cluster
together.