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[Hishan]

Fountains, sewers, waterfalls, showers, traps and all things watery!!!

[Glacies]

Well, have you got any?

[Hishan]

Well not really, thats why I wanted people to post so I could get some ideas.

The best Ive done is a 20 z-level water tower and sewer system, which isnt very hard.

[Neonivek]

The best I ever got is the one time I flooded a lake into my fortress...

And I guess a well I made myself via buckets

[Vugor]

i wish i could say that i have ever made anything really water awesome....... once i did try to make a type of shower thing for my dwarfs but before it was ever finished enough to even try it i got sieged and there was an opening in my defences.  Needless to say as most of my dwarves were getting slaughtered i just pulled the leveri had the unleashed all the water into my fortress, finishing off my remaining dwarves and effectively makeing sure those damn goblins would not be able to loot it, atleast not as easily?

[Greiger]

Most spectacular thing water system I made was puncturing a vertical aquifer right next to a statue garden and converting it into a waterfall that drained into the river.  The waterfall doubled as a dump pit as stuff being dropped down there with the wide drainage channel looked kinda like a game of Klinko from The price is right.

I did attempt to create a spectacular fortress wide waterfall system with a waterfall 1 z level  below all major areas of the fortress excluding the barracks to prevent accidents. 

Unfortunately although the system functioned and did produce the desired waterfalls, it also caused a U-Bend, And a veritable wall of water came flying out of the fishing pool causing about 4 fps until the water reached the pumps and then the game sped back up to normal speed. 

After reaching the pumps however the water continued to spread, rendering the emergency shut down switch inaccessible.  Water flooded all but the entry floor of the fortress. And then once the water filled every nook and cranny it could to 7/7 the game promptly crashed spectacularly.

P.S.  it all happened so quickly that nobody had even finished drowning yet by the time the game crashed.

[Bromor Neckbeard]

Once I get my fort fully functional then I start working on bonus projects.  Usually my second bonus project is a waterfall in my dining room to both wash the blood and vomit off my dwarves and keep them happy.  I put gratings in the floors to keep anybody from being washed into the cistern.  A wrinkle that's occurred to me but I haven't tested out yet is to build some of the channel that leads into the waterfall out of soap blocks.  It wouldn't have any in-game effect, but from a roleplaying point of view, a giant communal shower/dishwasher would work better if some of the water was soapy.

Yes, I'm aware of the incongruity of having dwarves shower where they eat.  They have no problem with running around naked all the time anyway, at least this way their bodies are clean.

I've also worked on various deathtraps that use small floods to sweep goblin hordes out from in front of my gates into a moat, where they either drown or freeze, but I haven't really perfected this yet.

[Melloth]

Purely theory for now:

Has anyone tried to make a perpetuum mobile? I dont think friction would be a problem. A set amount of water should be able to power a watermill to pump itself up again and go on forever.

I also mused to combine this with the U-bend bug to make an endless amount of water (so use and evaporation would not be an issue), but two problems stopped me: My lack of patience and concentration, and never having observed this u-bend bug before (but I think I understand it).

It would be a great convoluted solution for maps with no running water.

Actually.. I'm going to try now! Anyone else up for the challenge?

[Bromor Neckbeard]

Many users including myself have gotten perpetual motion machines to work.  It's standard in my already-mentioned Dining Room Waterfall.  Now, you might have to start the pumps by hand, and until the waterflow evens out, the pumps tend to chug as the water fluctuates in depth, but you can help the chugging along by using bucket brigades to fill the entire pumping system before you start it.

I have no experience with the u-bend bug, but it seems to me that adding infinite water to a perpetual motion machine seems like a recipie for a disastrous flood.  That is, it's a great idea and totally dwarven!

[Sukasa]

I've made plenty of Perpetual Motion machines in DF.  My biggest problem, however, is more of 'the water is evaporating, dammit' and not 'o shit, it's flooding!'

There was that one exception, though...

[Time Kitten]

I'm experimenting with pump towers right now.  Sure it means 8x8 legs on my ginormous bleeding statue I'm planning, but U-bends scare me, and I'd be at continuous risk of running out of goblin red dye if it didn't circulate.

[Melloth]

Oh heh, I feel spectaculary stupid. That turned out like calling "Hay, how about building a car, with WHEELS!" to a crowd of accomplished car engineers.

Well, I'm still mustering concentration to try it out anyway... with u-bends and waterwheels!

[sneakey pete]

U bends aren't really that big of a deal. Or if your really, really worried about them: include a completely sealed off pod for a single dwarf with 2 levers in it. One to shut down all pumps, and a second to open up a drainage pit (constructed before, of course).

[inaluct]

Hay, how about building a bridge, with STRUTS!?

I don't know what a strut is.

[THLawrence]

I've been setting up a piping system in my fort. It can flood each section of my tree farm separately and has a pipe leading to my nobles quarters. I do not drown my nobles. This is actually a supposed to be a waterfall. Still working out the bugs. What is really impressive about the waterworks project is the fact that the reservoir leads several levels above my main level. However when I turn on the water fall the pressure doesn't flood their chambers instantly. This is because I set up a pressure equalizer in to stop it. What is a pressure equalizer? A pump connected to an underwater waterwheel.

Future plans include a water system for my future jail and any thing else I might feel like.