Drinking Water

Synonyms / Other Terms Used

Potable Water, Drinkable, Potable

Category

Public Facilities

Message / Function

To signify drinkable tap water
Note: Drinking Fountain is not included

	Source	Description
1)	BTA	Tap in outline
	Twitter	Tap above half full glass, water indicated by solid fill
	Kapitzki	Tap above glass containing water indicated by three wavy lines
2)	UIC	Tap above glass containing water indicated by three wavy lines
	ISO 7001	Tap above glass containing water indicated by wavy lines
	UIC 413	Tap above glass containing water indicated by two wavy lines
	Tern	Tap above glass containing water indicated by two wavy lines
	Bolivia	Tap above glass containing water indicated by two wavy lines
	Ecuador	Tap above glass containing water indicated by two wavy lines
	Eco-Mo Foundation	Tap above glass containing water indicated by wavy line
3)	ÖNORM A 3011	Tap above glass containing water indicated by wavy line
	Parks Canada	Tap above glass containing water indicated by wavy line
	NZS 8603	Tap above glass containing water indicated by wavy lines, running water indicated by drop of water
	D'source	Tap above glass containing water indicated by filled area, running water indicated by line of dots
	SSRS	Tap above glass, running water indicated by lines of dots, two drops of water
	UIC 413 b	Tap above glass, running water indicated by lines of dots
	BS 8501:2002	Tap above glass, running water indicated by lines of dashes
	Slovenia 2015	Tap above glass, running water indicated by lines
	KFAI	Tap above glass, running water indicated by lines
	ÖBB 2007	Tap above glass, running water indicated by lines of dots
	O'72	Glass, water level indicated by line, running water indicated by lines of dots
	DB	Glass with water level indicated by wavy line, running water indicated by lines of dots
	U.S. National Park Service	Glass containing water indicated by wavy line
	NPS	Glass containing water indicated by wavy line
	Aicher & Krampen	Cup containing water indicated by several wavy lines
	SSRS	Tilted cup above water indicated by three wavy lines
	Unknown	Hand holding glass, running water indicated by lines of dots
4)	Simlinger & Falkner	Tilted glass with water indicated by wavy lines, profile of face in outline, glass and face in juxtaposition

Note: Some of the examples shown above were mirrored horizontally to contrast differences.

Discussion

The range of variants found shows a clear dominance of the concept based on a tap above a glass containing water. Tests conducted indicate the appropriateness of this concept:

In the first stage of the ISO 1975 test series (Easterby & Zwaga, 1976) fifteen pictograms used to signify drinkable tap water were examined on basis of the Appropriateness Ranking method: The variant designed by Simlinger & Falkner, marked with 4) above, was judged as most appropriate in the UK, while the UIC variant, marked with 2), showing a tap above a glass containing water indicated by three wavy lines, was first in the Netherlands. This study also included two images for Drinking Fountain, which did not reach a placement among the top rankings. When tested for comprehension in the next stage, the Simlinger & Falkner version elicited many inappropriate responses related to drinking facilities, bars and refreshments. The UIC variant reached 67 % correct responses and the BTA version, marked with 1), was second with 41 % correct. In the following Matching Test respondents were required to select a symbol representing 'Drinking Water' from a range of symbols presented. In this test the Simlinger & Falkner version reached 95 % correct responses and the UIC version 96 %.

With 100 % and 88.9 % correct responses the symbols marked with 2) and 3) were superior to the design of Simlinger & Falkner, marked with 4), which reached just 36.4 % correct in a Comprehension Test (Brugger, 1978) conducted in Austria. For these three variants the explicit answer 'Drinking Water' was registered for 53.7 %, 57.7 %, and 36.4 % of the participants.

In a Japanese study to propose domestically unified graphical symbols based on scientific methods, the pictogram variant labeled as Eco-Mo Foundation proved to be well comprehensible with a comprehension score of 79.4 (Eco-Mo Foundation, 2001).

Recommendation

Symbol A11: Drinking Water

Based on research data known, we recommend the use of a symbol like TS0610 from the Tern symbol set or the pictogram of the Eco-Mo Foundation.

Note: The referent Potable Water was approved as part of Unicode 6.0 in 2010 under the name “Potable Water Symbol” and added to Emoji 1.0 in 2015 (https://emojipedia.org/potable-water/). The Unicode Character 1F6B0 is located in the Unicode Block “Transport and Map Symbols”. The image content of most companies corresponds to ISO 7001 except for the way the water in the glass is shown, as these images are optimized for small size.

Tests of pictograms of referent Drinking Water

Brugger, Ch. (1978): Bericht über die Auswertung des Erkennungstests von November/Dezember 1977. Report to the Austrian Standards Institute (ON) dated 6. 3. 1978, Vienna.

Easterby, R.S. & Zwaga, H.J.G. (1976): Evaluation of Public Information Symbols, ISO Tests: 1975 Series. AP Report 60, Department of Applied Psychology, University of Aston, Birmingham, March 1976.

Eco-Mo Foundation (2001): Test data of public information symbols in Japan - Procedure for the testing of public information symbols by the Study Committee. ISO: ISO/TC 145/SC 1 N 329.