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[VerdantSF]

I didn't want to derail the vampire thread with a question on wells, so I created this one instead. 

That's actually a misconception, people think wells clean water because dwarves will drink contaminated water sources from them, if you use t to examine the bucket you'll see that it's filled with contaminants.

Is it possible to keep a clean well by introducing flow?  For instance, a set-up like this:

River     flow in ->   
~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~                ~
~~~~                ~ <--- water tile directly under well
~~~~                ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~
          <- flow out

[Loud Whispers]

Yup.

[Sphalerite]

Possibly.  Water will push contamination around, but the water has to be actually moving for this to work.  If the water is at 7/7, the contamination won't move.  In your case, if the river is all at a static 7/7 deep, it will not work.  You'll need to have a pump or something actually causing the water level to fluctuate for this to work.

[Starver]

I'd consider a simple entry-pump and exit-pump (exit pump slurps to zero the last tile, the entry pump makes sure that as much water as you can drag from the river makes up the deficit).  But it may need to be tuned to ensure there's regularly enough depth at the well-tapped point to prevent the inevitable slurp-and-evaporate ending of the track taking it down to an untappable depth at that point at the wrong moment.

Perhaps a 7/7ths-sensitive water-pressure-plate immediately before the exit pump would make it suitably moderated and yet effective.  Might then not even need the entry-pump, although it would be useful to have a solid 7/7ths near the start, rather than rely on the river's own tendency to (eventually) stay at that depth.

I must say that I've never tried this.  Never even had a problem with contaminated well-water...  (Touch featherwood!)

[VerdantSF]

Possibly.  Water will push contamination around, but the water has to be actually moving for this to work.  If the water is at 7/7, the contamination won't move.  In your case, if the river is all at a static 7/7 deep, it will not work.  You'll need to have a pump or something actually causing the water level to fluctuate for this to work.

But what about natural flow?  Did the following magmawiki info change recently?

Many water sources such as rivers and brooks are constantly flowing with natural flow. This is different from other flow effects in that it is always considered to be flowing water. This remains true even when the water flows into a complete dead end channel or even when blocked off with a floodgate. Any channels that link up to a naturally flowing source will soon become naturally flowing water as long as they remain on the same z-level.

[Skyrunner]

If you built a well over a river, and didn't dig anything, contamination will probably be washed away and coat the river's walls.