The reaction rate theory for viscosity modeling has been widely applied for decades. In this study, it is demonstrated that when a function containing the reciprocal of the excess energy of flow of several aqueous solutions of alkanediol is plotted against the mole fraction of the water, there is a universal common intercept that is independent of the alkanediol and the temperature. This common intercept is found to be valid in the temperature range of (283.15 K-338.15 K). The alkanediols studied include 1,2-ethanediol, 1,3-propanediol, 1,4-butanediol, and 1,5-pentanediol. This methodology allows an accurate prediction of the viscosity of binary water-alkanediol mixtures using a single viscosity data point of the mixture at the temperature of interest. The proposed methodology was shown capable of modeling the primary data set in the temperature range of (293.15K-303.15K) with an average absolute percent deviation (AAPD) between 1.5 and 2.6 for all of the systems tested. In addition, the methodology was also shown capable of predicting the secondary data set in the expanded temperature range of (283.15K-338.15K) with an overall AAPD of 4.0. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.