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[jez9999]

The wiki's well guide says that "Technically, a trench full of water can be designated as a water source just as easily as a well, and dwarves will sanely path around such a thing, as well as bathe in it more easily."  Let's say I tap a nearby river to fill up a trench I create inside my fortress, using channeling.  If I designate that a water source, won't the dwarves drown in it?  Its depth is going to be 7/7.

[Deathworks]

Hello!

Dwarves will stand next to the water when using the water source, so there is no danger of them drowning, unless you have a cave-in nearby or someone or something pushes the dwarf. If it still feels awkward, you can build a well over the trench and do not designate a water source zone - active wells are automatically recognized as such. However, as far as I know, wells are actually as dangerous as open trenches (I recall reading things about nasty sparring accidents).

Yours,
Deathworks

[jez9999]

But could they bathe in it by standing next to it?  And what about practicing swimming?

[slothen]

dwarves do not like to practice swimming.  You have to do a few things to force them to learn.

[jez9999]

Such as?  The wiki article talks about "making a shallow pool as a water source" - how would you do that?  Some kind of intricate setup that opens a floodgate when the water level gets below 3 and closes it when it gets above 3?

[Sir Crashalot]

Well, you can set a shallow pool as a water source just my setting an activity zone over it.

Press I then zone the top of the pool (aka ground level) and then select "w" to designate the zoned area as a water source. The dwarves will then come to that pool to drink, wash, fill buckets etc.

Edit: If you need help setting up a cistern and well fed by a river just say, it isn't actually that complicated once you know how. DF can be a learning cliff but it's like riding a bike, once you know how you will find it easy to do.

[jez9999]

It's not hard to setup a cistern that has level 7 water, no.  But how do you keep it at level 3 or level 4?

[Sir Crashalot]

You will need a floodgate to stop the inlet once it reaches the level you require, that is the only reliable way to do it if you are feeding from a river or brook. If you just want to expand a pool then you can widen it until the level reaches the required depth, but Dwarves do not really like murky unclean pools and will get unhappy thoughts from them. I think you would need to build a roof over it too in order to stop rainfall filling it up again.

[Garath]

get a floodgate or raising bridge to cut off the source before it fills up entirely. It's much easier with a longer trench. You just have to calculate how much water is needed to fill it to 3/7 and close it when that is reached. No worries if a few are 4/7, it will slosh around but noone could possibly drown, though you might get a few cancelations

ninja'd

[Sir Crashalot]

Just booted up a game and tried with a murky pool.
I designated channels all around the edge and got the water down to level 4 so thats the easiest way with a murky pool. Ill leave it running and see if it rains now.

Edit: Yes the rain is starting to fill it up again.

One thing you could do is build a wall around the expanded pool leaving an openeng so they can still get in and out obviously.
Then using a constructed up ramp designate the top with floor tiles which will effectively roof it over and prevent it refilling.
Or if you wish to force your unwashed grubby friends to take a bath designate the roof as a retractable bridge instead of using floor tiles, link it to a lever and set a burrow on the bridge.

Assign your dirty Dwarf to the burrow and when he gets there get someone to pull the lever and down he goes with a splash, the channels around the edge of the pool will allow him to get back out again.

[Garath]

well, don't actually use a murky pool. The water is fouled and unfit for drinking and proper washing

[Sir Crashalot]

I agree but I was giving an example, the same would apply to a shallow pool filled by a river though and the bridge trick is always good for a laugh and truly the only way to give your Dwarves a proper bath.

However, dirt, blood etc. will remain in the pool so it will become more and more contaminated. This is where slightly more advanced engineering will be required to empty, flush and refill the pool from time to time. Though that just amounts to opening the exit gate to a much larger area where it will be absorbed by the soil.

[jez9999]

get a floodgate or raising bridge to cut off the source before it fills up entirely. It's much easier with a longer trench. You just have to calculate how much water is needed to fill it to 3/7 and close it when that is reached. No worries if a few are 4/7, it will slosh around but noone could possibly drown, though you might get a few cancelations

ninja'd

Hmm, well not an exact science then.  That actually sounds pretty difficult, given that the game runs at 100FPS by default and dwarves don't *instantly* pull levers you tell them to, you're bound to struggle to get just the right amount of water in.  High maintenance.

[Sir Crashalot]

If a bit too much gets in then you could just widen the pool by channeling around the edge. Make sure the lever is near a meeting area and you have idle Dwarves hanging out there to reduce the delays.

[vanatteveldt]

It's not hard to setup a cistern that has level 7 water, no.  But how do you keep it at level 3 or level 4?

Why don't you create a cistern with a number of tiles dividable by 7, say 21. Then have a bridge/gate partition it into one reservoir of 3/7*21=9 tiles and fill them up completely. Then, stop the inlet, open the partitioning bridge/gate, and it should even out to exactly 3/7 in the whole reservoir.

(edit: and for even easier one time use in an open environment, just channel out a 9-tile pool, fill it up by connecting it to the river with a floodgate at the edge, close the floodgate, and expand the pool to 21 tiles....