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[HraTaika]

So now, I'll be starting my first project which will be using pumps and perhaps other mechanisms in order to create an artificial waterfall to the central staircase of my fortress, which will end in an artificial lake inside the fortress.

Before tackling it though, I would like to hear experiences/best practices/suggestions/plans/don't do's ect. from the more experienced Dwarven Engineers. Alas, how to build an artificial waterfall inside the fortress?

[Finn]

How large is the waterfall?  Where is the source of the water and how large is that?

The best tips I can think of are...

If dwarves will be pathing through the water you will want to spread the water out to avoid "dangerous terrain" cancellations. 

The lake will need an egress unless you are simply pumping the water up from it.

Grates will trap contaminents.

Dwarves in combat near the waterfall my dodge into it and fall.

[Morpha]

Not sure if it still works, but i THINK water going down stairs won't impede actual movement up and down them to a huge degree, just make sure the drainage at the bottom is sufficient. Pretty sure it should generate mist the entire distance down AND clean dwarves, shouldn't push them around if you have it only 1 tile wide of course but might want to wait for confirmation.

[wierd]

A couple simple questions.

Is your fort entirely subterene, and if not, does your water freeze in the winter?

How much of an fps hit are you willing to take? (Waterfalls gobble up the cpu.)



If your fort is above ground, and it freezes in the winter, your lovely happiness inducing waterfall will become an armok dwarf popcicle factory in the winter.  When the water freezes, it has been known to destroy floor grates and drains, leading to hysteria when it thaws.

If it is below ground, as long as no path to the outside is above the waterfall, it shouldn't freeze.


That out of the way....


I usally use a dedicated aqueduct system with waterwheels on it to purpetually power the pumpstack needed to make the water flow.  After it has been channeled through the power plant, I let it pour through the fortress through floor grates. This allows dwarves to stand in the mist without getting sucked to their doom, and also serves as a nice shower. (Though it does get contaminants all over the grates). The plus side is that you can service many floors in the fortress this way before letting it go into the lake at the bottom. Remember, dwarves like the mist. Not explicitly the appearance.

[Morpha]

...
If your fort is above ground, and it freezes in the winter

Oh dear, I just realised how bad my idea would be in a biome that freezes...

[HraTaika]

How large are you thinking?

The current embark I'm using would require me to move the water first across the map from a river and then a couple z-levels upwards. Then down around 10z of the stairs, ending in an approx. 16+ tiles wide articial lake, which will contain a small island with a Temple and a statue Garden/Zoo on the non-lake part of the level.

Not sure if it still works, but i THINK water going down stairs won't impede actual movement up and down them to a huge degree, just make sure the drainage at the bottom is sufficient. Pretty sure it should generate mist the entire distance down AND clean dwarves, shouldn't push them around if you have it only 1 tile wide of course but might want to wait for confirmation.

I'm planning on doing the following:

I'll make a 3x3 stairwell with four stairs, one in each corner. Then I'll channel out the center square of the stairwell, install grates in the center on each level, install hatches on each stair on each level, dig a cistern at the bottom (the lake) and then a tunnel to the edge of the screen, smoothing and fortifying the edge square, and install waterfall.

The issue is, I've got no idea on how to engineer the water transfer with the pumps, or how to make it safe/fool proof, or what I should be worried with and, and, and.. So much margin for error here that it's not ever funny

[Sadrice]

Each tile of flowing water reduces fps, so it is probably better to move the water to a cistern above the waterfall and feed it with one of those nifty diagonal pressure reducers.

[nopil3os]

my current strategy is this:
on lvl -1 where the river bed is (mine is just a 3-tile wide brock) i carve a tunnel like this:

Code: [Select]

WWWWWWWWWWWWWW
D^^^^D##FBBB++
WWWWWW##FBBB++ -> to river ->
D^^^^D##FBBB++
WWWWWWWWWWWWWW
where W: wall
D: door
#: floor grate
F: fortification
B: drawbridge
^: cagetrap

lvl -2 is the waterfall level (waterfall through the floor grates and another lvl down)
on lvl -3 i dig a tunnel to the edge of the map.

then i channel on lvl 0 so that the river gets partly reroutet through my new system.

benefits: on lvl -2 you have a waterfall, and lots of space for an indoor well and lots of water wheels for your magma stacks.

downside: i had to add the cage traps because every now and then the water at the fortifications is 7/7 and some invader or wild animal manages to get through

edit: put it in code. looked nicely to me so i didn't bother before. apparently i have an almost monospaced font

[khearn]

if you surround your drawing with [ code ] and [ /code ] (remove the spaces), it will make the ^'s as wide as the W's so everything lines up nicely and the drawing looks right.

[jwest23]

Above all else, be fully prepared to stop and drain the system completely so you can adjust it.

If this is your first go, you might want to be prepared to drain the surrounding area.

Doors and hatches may become your best friends.  They help to define "the surrounding area" as some space smaller than "your entire fortress."

Make sure you account for spread as the water falls.  It will spread quite a bit, given the opportunity.  Opportunity comes primarily from the height from which you drop the water and the overall rate of water flow.  The diagonal pressure reducers that Sadrice mentioned will help control the rate of flow.

[Finn]

my current strategy is this:
on lvl -1 where the river bed is (mine is just a 3-tile wide brock) i carve a tunnel like this:

Code: [Select]

WWWWWWWWWWWWWW
D^^^^D##FBBB++
WWWWWW##FBBB++ -> to river ->
D^^^^D##FBBB++
WWWWWWWWWWWWWW
where W: wall
D: door
#: floor grate
F: fortification
B: drawbridge
^: cagetrap

lvl -2 is the waterfall level (waterfall through the floor grates and another lvl down)
on lvl -3 i dig a tunnel to the edge of the map.

then i channel on lvl 0 so that the river gets partly reroutet through my new system.

benefits: on lvl -2 you have a waterfall, and lots of space for an indoor well and lots of water wheels for your magma stacks.

downside: i had to add the cage traps because every now and then the water at the fortifications is 7/7 and some invader or wild animal manages to get through

edit: put it in code. looked nicely to me so i didn't bother before. apparently i have an almost monospaced font

Side view:

Code: [Select]

wwwwwwww
~~~w~~~~ to fort->
ww~w-www
ww~~~www
wwwwwwww

Where:
w = wall
~ = water
- = grate

Guaranteed monster free.  Do this and you don't need the fortifications or traps.

[weenog]

Don't try to use your pump housing as a scaffolding for your workers to build from.  You will trap someone, get job cancellations, or both.  Then when you try to dig little side tunnels to reach from, you'll screw something else up.  IME the easiest way (though perhaps not the most material and time-efficient way) is to dig out the housing for the pump stack 3x as wide as it actually needs, build the stack, then construct walls that seal it off completely from the rest of the housing.

You will need to block tree growth at the output of every pump -- maintenance never goes as quickly as you hope it would.  I use constructed floors, but anything that blocks plants despite mud and still allows water to flow over it should work.

[Viking]

Make sure you account for spread as the water falls.  It will spread quite a bit, given the opportunity.  Opportunity comes primarily from the height from which you drop the water and the overall rate of water flow.  The diagonal pressure reducers that Sadrice mentioned will help control the rate of flow.

I would absolutely love if someone could elaborate one what exactly a diagonal pressure reducer is. Is it just letting the water flow though a corner?
Something like this?:
w=water
r=rock wall
r r r w r
r r r w r
r r w r r
r r w r r

[Finn]

Make sure you account for spread as the water falls.  It will spread quite a bit, given the opportunity.  Opportunity comes primarily from the height from which you drop the water and the overall rate of water flow.  The diagonal pressure reducers that Sadrice mentioned will help control the rate of flow.

I would absolutely love if someone could elaborate one what exactly a diagonal pressure reducer is. Is it just letting the water flow though a corner?
Something like this?:
w=water
r=rock wall
r r r w r
r r r w r
r r w r r
r r w r r

Yes.  That will set the max z-level to which the water will rise to the current z-level.

[Viking]

Wow! Cool