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[DrPoo]

I kind of have this problem with my fortress, i tried digging an indoor water supply, but the river current(im used to settling near brooks, using dams to store the water) was so strong it basically went like when you turn on the knob on the sink too high and the water just splutters everywhere. My friend tried helping me but he couldnt figure it out, what could i do?

[Sheb]

I think you have a pressure problem, not a speed current problem (since that's not modelized in DF). If I were you, I'd use a floodgate connected to a lever to block your canal once your cistern is full.

[DrPoo]

Hmm then i need to get a mechanics guy running, never, ever did mechanics before. This is going to be fun!
Also how to i dig 1x1 vertical shafts properly?

Sometimes i would wish i could build a drill or something :/

[Sheb]

Just dig a vertical stariway, water will go through just fine.

[Findulidas]

Its easy to make a floodgate. Just build 3 mechanics and a floodgate. One to create the lever, two to link the lever to the built floodgate. Its important to remember that some building destroyers can infact swim and get in to your fort through wrecking your floodgate.

If you want to be able to stop them as well then just build a bridge instead, it cannot be destroyed if its raised.

[MattStriker]

Yeah, my standard method of flow control is drawbridge-based because of that building destroyer thing. Had a FB come up into the cistern from the caverns once. While it turned out to be one of the really easy ones, it still managed to stink up my entire water supply pretty thoroughly.

[DrPoo]

Thanks guys! Ill try that, can pressure blow off a construction like a door or hatch?

[Aviator CJ]

Pressure won't open doors or hatches, so feel free to use them. But if they're holding back pressurized water then you should lock them - you don't want any stupid dwarfs coming along and opening the damn things (pun intended).

[MattStriker]

You don't even need stupid dorfs. Gremlins are infamous for causing Fun that way. Remember: Chain guard dogs near important levers if your world has significant numbers of gremlins.

[Findulidas]

Chain guard dogs near important levers if your world has significant numbers of gremlins.

Always have a dog on the entrances to the fort as well. Stops most of the stuff, only legendary sneaking kobolds will get through.

[Urist McSpike]

I kind of have this problem with my fortress, i tried digging an indoor water supply, but the river current(im used to settling near brooks, using dams to store the water) was so strong it basically went like when you turn on the knob on the sink too high and the water just splutters everywhere. My friend tried helping me but he couldnt figure it out, what could i do?

Like Sheb said, first make sure you understand how pressure works.  Also, cisterns.  If you have an aquifer, it's a lot easier.  If you have a river, it's a bit more work.

First, mine out a tunnel to your water source, but stop before you actually breach it. My preferred method is to set up a fortification and floodgate at the end.  Once the floodgate is installed, you can channel out the last block from above.  The fortification will keep building destroyers from reaching the floodgate, and the floodgate allows you to shut off the water supply at will.  Connect floodgates to appropriately placed levers, and make use of the note system to track what lever goes to what floodgate.

Run this tunnel to a first cistern for "untreated" water.  Make sure to equalize the pressure, so it doesn't overflow.  I like to have a method to empty this cistern, in case I have to do work in it.  Build a second cistern for your "clean" water - use a pump to pull from the first cistern into this one.  I like to build a "pressure equalizer" into this point, so I can automate the pump later and never worry about overflows:

Code: [Select]

Top: (w - wall, Pp - pump going right to left, . - open air)
www
w.Pp.
www

Bottom: (w- wall, . - floor, r - ramp up)
.ww
wrw <- water drops into the center, flows out through the diagonals.
.ww

It's a good idea to have ways to block inflowing water and empty the water system, in case you need to go into it for repairs.  Also, don't just smooth the floors of your waterways, or you will eventually get trees growing on them - be sure to use constructed floors to prevent that.  Read up on contaminants, and build walls (instead of smoothing) as needed.  In areas where you don't need to worry about contaminants, smoothing & engraving the walls is good practice for your low-skill Stone Detailers.

I also like to dig out a few extra tunnels leading out of the cistern, and install floodgates to them - in case you want to expand your waterworks in the future, or add drowning traps.

[Quietust]

The fortification will keep building destroyers from reaching the floodgate

No it won't - fortifications which are flooded to 7/7 depth (of either water or magma) allow all creatures to pass through them freely. This has actually been the case since 40d, possibly even since the game first went 3D.

[EvilBob22]

Also, don't just smooth the floors of your waterways, or you will eventually get trees growing on them - be sure to use constructed floors to prevent that.

Paved roads also work for that, and use less raw material to create.

[Triaxx2]

Patented pump pressure housing: Don't want to face a flood of fun while trying to bring water to your fortress? Then the patented pump pressure housing is for you.

Pumps pressurize to their own level. If your pump is on z level 1, and the water descends through a bend to z-3, the water will then rise up to z 1 on the opposite side of the bend. However, if it reaches another pump before this happens it will pressurize to that level instead.

So first you build the draw pump. One side of this pump is exposed to the water and can it can be operated manually. The output side dumps into a hole, and the entire tile into which it outputs must be enclosed.

Code: [Select]

w WWW
w>0VW
w WWW

w=Water
W=Wall
>=Input Tile
0=Output Tile
V=Channeled Tile

Don't forget to floor over the top.

Drive the channeled shaft down one level below where you want to place your cistern. Place the second pump on the level you want the cistern. The input tile should be completely sealed. Construction will require diagonal movement. Seal the output tile with a flood gate to one side. Place the powering gear in the input tile. You can run a second shaft up from there for power, since the water will have passed through the second pump and be pressurized to that level.

Code: [Select]

WWXWW
V>0Gw
WWWWW

X=Floodgate
G=Gear

This way you'll never get the water pumping back up into the fortress unless the second pump is destroyed. (If that's the case you have swimming building destroyers and bigger problems anyway.)

A flowing water reservoir and fortification can solve the building destroyer problem. As long as the water will flow away from the gate when the pump is lost, the fortification will no longer be 7/7 and will protect the fortress.

[joeclark77]

I don't think this has been mentioned yet, but I always like to build an overflow drain.  My reservoirs/cisterns tend to be narrower and taller than others I've seen people make.  Vertically, I build it like this:

    O     <- well(s)
#### #### <- roof
_x     ## <- inflow
##     __ <- overflow drain
##     ##
##     x_ <- at least one "tap" controlled by floodgate
##     ##
_x     ##  <- main drain
#########

The overflow drain can drop a few levels down into the main drain-pipe, the key differences are that the overflow drain doesn't empty the cistern and cannot be shut with a floodgate.  It merely determines the maximum level of fill.  No matter how many levels your cistern is built below the water source, water will never come up out of the wells and flood the fort.

Floodgates on the inflow and main drain can be used to fill or empty the cistern as needed.  A number of "taps" are pre-built with lever-controlled floodgates so I don't have to empty the tank every time I want to add a new plumbing hookup.  (Not shown: I typically leave a staircase inside the cistern for future modifications.)