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[blu]

Im trying to make it completely needless for my dwarves to leave the safety of the fortress. One problem with this is setting a well as a water source. When I set the well as an activity zone, the only option i can choose is a pit/pond. What I did was mine a tunnel a z-level under the well so I could have the well in the fortress walls. Did I do something wrong? Can dwarves even drink from wells?

[Jim Groovester]

The well, if active, is automatically a water source. But only a certain amount of dwarves can drink from it at a time.

To make it function the best, designate the surrounding tiles as water sources, too.

[XSI]

Dwarven water priority goes through a simple list

Wells->water source zones->flowing water->stagnant water.

You do not need to set the well as water source, or even as meeting hall for dwarves to drink from it, they will always prefer a well.(And as mentioned, only a certain amount can drink from a single well, just make more wells and make sure they have water under them if you want more dwarves to use a well)

[Malicus]

There IS a reason to mark a well as a water source: bucket brigades only take from marked water sources.  Actually, making a well over salt water is the only way I know of to make dwarves put salt water into buckets and put it somewhere else (I highly doubt that they can actually DRINK from such a well) short of desalinating the water with a screw pump and a lot of constructions.  A well that's over fresh water should function just fine as a drinking water source without being marked as such, though.

[Jim Groovester]

(I highly doubt that they can actually DRINK from such a well)

Dwarves can drink from salt water wells as if the water were fresh with no problem whatsoever.

[blu]

Ah, I see. Thanks for the help gentlemen.

[Derakon]

Dwarven water priority goes through a simple list

Wells->water source zones->flowing water->stagnant water.

This isn't quite accurate. The ordering is "wells => flowing water => stagnant water", and once the dwarf has found what the best type of water available is, he checks to see if there is a zone designated for that type. If there is, he drinks there; otherwise he drinks where he pleases.

The upshot of this is that you can't convince dwarves to drink from a pond instead of from the carp-infested river, unless you put a well on the pond.

[Hyndis]

I've found that you don't need to set water sources. Just build a well and dwarves will love to drink from it. Make the well from artifact components and they'll get happy thoughts admiring the completely sublime well while drinking.

[Kanddak]

I've found that you don't need to set water sources. Just build a well and dwarves will love to drink from it. Make the well from artifact components and they'll get happy thoughts admiring the completely sublime well while drinking.

If they're drinking from a well, you're doing things wrong.

[Halconnen]

Just put the artifact well along one of the main pathways they walk through. That does fine. I have an artifact rope in mine, and even though they never drink from it (it's pretty much for health care only... well, and for when I forget to queue brew drink jobs once in a while...), most of my dwarves have a happy thought from seeing the well.