Considering it makes up around 70% of our bodies, it’s no
surprise that humans need plenty of clean water in order to function. In fact,
the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that we need to use at least 20 litres per day — for drinking, as
well as washing and cooking — in order to take care of our basic hygiene and
food needs. And while the planet’s freshwater sources are the same as
they have always been — around 2.5% of Earth’s water is considered fresh — the
planet’s population has exploded in recent times, leading to a clean water
crisis around the world.

While you may think that first-world countries would be safe
from having to worry about access to freshwater, this couldn’t be further from
the truth. An increasing number of developed countries lack access to clean
water, the most notable example perhaps being the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. This came
about after the government failed to add corrosion inhibitors to the water,
having switched sources from the treated Detroit Water and Sewerage Department
water (which was sourced from Lake Huron and the Detroit River) to the Flint
River. As a result, it was found that lead was leaching into the water supply,
poisoning thousands of citizens. While thousands of families in Flint continue
to rely on water donations in order to survive, officials maintain that the
water is safe to drink.

Here, we’ll look at some of the most innovative technologies
being developed in order to solve the water crisis, prevent incidents like
these, and provide clean, fresh water to billions around the world.

Grundfos: providing solar-powered water pumps

As previously mentioned, not even 3% of the planet’s water
sources are directly usable for humans and, considering that around 71% of the
Earth’s surface is made up of water, this is a tiny percentage of
freshwater that can be used by a constantly growing population. But in many
places around the world, the problem isn’t a lack of water — it’s that the
available sources are contaminated. It’s estimated that around 2 billion people
use drinking water that has been contaminated with faeces, which can lead to a
range of diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, and polio,
and cause around 485,000 deaths each year. However, groundwater is being
increasingly used as it’s considered safer and easier to treat, if it needs to
be treated at all, provided pollutants haven’t leached underground.

Many businesses are looking at extracting groundwater, which
can be particularly useful in developing and rural areas. Grundfos,
for example, has developed solar-powered water pump products with the aim of
providing clean and sustainable water for customers around the world, whether
that’s for a small village or an entire building. These are perfect for rural
areas which perhaps cannot afford electricity or diesel to run traditional
water metering pumps, but still need a clean water supply for agriculture.

The rapid growth of Grundfos on a global scale meant it had
to quickly streamline its business processes in order to improve customer service by gathering accurate
data and reviews. The company looked to SAP software to address this, which
resulted in a threefold growth in purchases from the top 25% of customers.
Headquartered in Denmark, a leader in agriculture, manufacturing, and energy
sectors for SAP specialists, it meant that Grundfos could
quickly hire the required experts to get the project moving as quickly as
possible, and maximise sales.

LifeStraw: manufacturing portable water filters

Designed for people living in developing nations and for use
in humanitarian crises, LifeStraws have since been adopted by hikers,
survivalists, and general outdoor adventurists. The straw itself features a
hollow fibre membrane, as well as activated carbon in some models. Water is
drawn up via suction — like a traditional straw — then passes through hollow
fibres that filter water particles in order to make it drinkable. The device
claims to filter out any dirt, bacteria, and parasites, making it ideal for
cleaning water from lakes and rivers — an especially helpful process for a
water crisis.

While most entrepreneurs look at their businesses as having
a corporate social responsibility, LifeStraw instead looks itself as being a
“global public health company with a retail program”. Speaking to Forbes, managing director Alison Hill
explained how the company leverages products targeted specifically at
schoolchildren from the world’s developing areas. On the other hand, the retail
products developed by LifeStraw include water bottles, pitchers, and universal
filter attachments. And with every retail sale made, the business’ Give Back
scheme allows them to continually provide fresh water to communities around the
world.

Dar Si Hmad: capturing water from the atmosphere

Some regions, such as Peru, Bolivia, and Morocco, are chronically
dry, making water collection more difficult. However, while it isn’t possible
to use conventional methods to gather water from natural sources, experts have
managed to harness water from the atmosphere. Foggy regions, like Sidi Ifni in
Morocco, are ideal areas for utilising this technology, as made evident by the
nonprofit organisation, Dar Si Hmad.

On the slopes of nearby Mount Boutmezguida, they installed
fog collectors — large, vertically-installed nets — creating the world’s
largest fog harvesting, or cloud fishing, project.

The nets harvest around 6,3000 litres of water every day —
as the fog passes through the fine mesh, the mist gets caught, trickling down
into the collection system, where it is filtered through. The water is then
mixed with groundwater, and piped into five nearby villages, providing clean
water for around 400 people.

Storytelling with relevant data can help you create presentations that can influence masses. Your data has a story to tell, data visualization has become a pivotal part of presentations today. Be it presenting sales figures, business statistics to research findings, large amounts of data is everywhere to be displayed to the audience. Data visualization is the key to communicate your data during presentations since it makes the process functional as well as attractive to viewers. It is the visualization of information which adds an extra dimension for a better understanding of the subject matter. Information, when presented, effectively helps presenters build trust with their audience. 

Often comes a time when tailoring your data to the audience’s understanding seems cumbersome. Striking the right balance is important between not overwhelming the viewers with number jargons and not compromising the key points. There is a big emphasis on ‘Big Data’ by organizations around the world. Data scientists, for instance, deal with a plethora of numbers. Since everyone doesn’t speak the same language, what a data scientist or architect understands might be unintelligible for the ordinary audience. Storytelling backed by data, visuals and text is your way out to expressive and successful presentations. You can also use visual-rich Microsoft PowerPoint templates to get the job done. Let’s move ahead and understand how to create compelling PowerPoint presentations to communicate your data.

Understand your audience:

Before you jump into creating slides for your data-driven presentation, you should analyse your audience. Your audience can be internal or external. The purpose of a presentation might vary significantly according to the type of your audience. Internal audience generally comprises managers, architects and executives amidst an organization. The goal here is to communicate data and information to update them about business activities, initiatives or developments. On the other end of the spectrum, you have an external audience. These can be your company’s clients, potential leads or someone who does not know the internal processes. 

The goal here is to win confidence and build a relationship. Here, your presentation needs to be rich in promotional and sales-oriented content. The way you or the other executives understand the growth numbers might be very different from that of your clients’. Your presentation should encompass numbers in an easy-to-understand and comprehensive manner. Including audience-specific data can guide decision-makers in making the right choices. Where a presentation for the internal audience will contain more technical jargons, the external audience presentation should be engaging, intuitive and influencing.

Include Infographics:

According to an MIT report, a human brain can comprehend an image which is seen for as little as 13 milliseconds. Infographics are visually attractive, easy to understand & helps in increasing the brand awareness. It’s one of the most viral forms of digital communication in current times. You can project analytical data and numbers through infographics and keep your readers interested. Infographics make it easy for your viewers to remember the information. 

You can easily showcase your numbers and at the same time, increase your brand’s awareness amidst your audience. You can also present key and specific parts of a bigger dataset with pictograms and indicators. One of the primary reasons to inculcate infographics in your presentation is to reduce the complexity of data. Your audience won’t appreciate slides overwhelmed with lines and lines of information. Infographics help you reduce the slide bounce rate and enables your audience to consume more content in a reader-friendly manner. 

Charts and graphs are imperative:

Visuals fill the void that words can’t. Charts and graphs can provide an array of benefits to you. It’s one of the quickest mediums of conveying information. You can seamlessly bring your audience aboard by providing them information about comparisons, trends and findings. Providing a bird’s eye view of data to them is critical. It is only then that your viewers can understand, comprehend and draw conclusions based on data. People in your presentation who are not versed with numerical analysis can find it easy to understand charts & graphs.

While creating charts for your slides, you should make use of good chart etiquette. Using meaningful labels, colours and separators are all important for crisp and clear information delivery. Every element in your chart or graph should have a meaning. When you use a diverse set of colours, styles and labels for highlighting chart elements, it clarifies your point in unimaginable ways. For instance, by using Harvey balls, you can give an extra boost to data visualization. It is only then that your presentation can woo key decision-makers for your idea, product or company, as a whole. It is the job of your presentation to enhance the decision-making process for your audience which might comprise managers and executives.

Practise storytelling:

For crafting an effective story, apart from exhorting the numbers, your presentation should also combine data, visuals and text as a whole. Data alone can’t suffice for your presentation. It’d be difficult for others to read, interpret and understand the data. Storytelling comes into play since a good story is easier to follow. Not only it’ll help your audience arrive at the key points faster, but it’ll also help them discover fresh insights about the data. Whatever the data, be it profits, expenses, revenues or cash flows, adding simple notes or comments on the slides can add an extra dimension of insight for your audience.

Stories are simply very engaging. There is a reason why public speakers often begin their presentations with stories. Be it a sales pitch, an advert or a presentation, storytelling can help you retain your audience’s attention for a long time. People will only trust you once they start relating to your story. For that, you’ll have to create a presentation based on principles of storytelling and work for them. Through storytelling, your audience will be able to get a better understanding of your organization’s current position, past events and possible future developments.