Each of these images is of an approximately 1 inch diameter water spot. They were created by evaporating 1 milliliter water samples on sheets of glass. The material that forms the spots is the non-volatile contaminants that were in the water. The term “contaminants,” in this case, is not necessarily a negative term; it only means things that are not water.
This project began simply as an experiment to see what water spots look like enlarged. However, as my collection grew, facts about the sources caught my attention. This information came from my own observations of the locations, conversations with the people who provided some of the samples, and published sources ranging from EPA documents to Wikipedia.
Thanks to Joshua Burns, Sam Burns, Mary Calahan, Claire Garoutte, Cathryn Hallett, Mike Keonig, David & Muriel Larson, Susannah Miller, Megan Rekow, Candace Shankel, Michael Stojanovich, and Maddison Treadwell for donating samples to this project.
Swipe or use arrow keys to navigate between grids.
Return to zlburns.com
