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[Skelodwarf]

So this is my first fort with salt water, and I was all like, this will be easy, no problems at all!

This is not the case.

So I set up a pump that draws water out from the ocean, into a 1x2 'cistern'. The water stays fresh.
Then another pump brings it up a level, into an aqueduct made entirely of stone. It travels along, and drops down a z level, directly into another constructed cistern.

This cistern USED to have salt water, but was completely dry when I started pumping water into it. None of the water touched any natural tiles, what did I do wrong?

[slothen]

are the ceiling tiles above the cistern constructed as well?  I'm not actually sure if its a requirement, but its something I tried.

[Sphalerite]

Experiments in a fortress of mine suggest that if a tile has ever contained salt water, then any water in that tile will be considered salty.  I haven't established this as an absolute rule, but I have found that a constructed cistern that's been contaminated by salt water will always show as salt water, even if you completely drain and refill it.

[Skelodwarf]

Ugh... That's disappointing.

So can I deconstruct it and rebuild it to make it work?

[Sphalerite]

Ugh... That's disappointing.

So can I deconstruct it and rebuild it to make it work?

I don't know.  When it happened to me, I didn't have the patience to completely deconstruct and rebuild the cistern.  Try it and let us know if it works.

[Skelodwarf]

Ugh, I don't think I have the patience either...

I've been trying for far too long to get this stupid cistern to work.

Abandoning time!

[Dragonchampion]

Wells make dwarves drink salt water. >.>

[_DivideByZero_]

Wells should fix the problem.
The cavern water is also fresh iirc.

[Skelodwarf]

Eh, it's not that I needed the dwarves to drink the water, it's more they wouldn't use it for their bucket brigades. Now that I think about it, it still would have worked, but oh well, already abandoned.

STRIKE THE EARTH! AGAIN!

[Hans Lemurson]

What I do is simply "desalinate on site".  Trying to transport large amounts of water while keeping it fresh is just asking for trouble.  If I'm in a salty environment, then I just set up aqueducts to carry salt-water to wherever it's needed, and then pump it into an artificial container.  With desalination being as cheap as it is, so long as you HAVE water, you can have as much of it fresh as you want.

[Skelodwarf]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'll just have a salty cistern. Building walls inside of a cave is a silly idea anyways.
I mean, underground farms just need mud, not fresh water, and as Dragonchampion pointed out, Wells have magic desalinating properties, so everything should be totally cool.