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[TKGP]

I was wondering, will a walled-in area on the z-level above a layer of water fill up when it rains?
Something like this:

Code: [Select]

z-level 1:
.....
.777.
.7777
.777.
.....

z-level 2:
eeeee
eO-Oe
e|e|e
eO-Oe
eeeee

e: empty space
O,|,-: walls
7: 7/7 water
.:groundWill the empty space inside the walls collect water? The lower water is fed by a brook to ensure that it is always 7/7.

[Shaostoul]

Short reply -No.

Long version - The only time rain will fill any tile with 1/7 water is at a "murky pool" if there is a soil tile, water will not collect. Even if you use metal to make a "sealed" bin for water to collect.

[MelloHero]

^Does that include building up around a murky pool?

[NecroRebel]

No.

Only tiles marked as "Murky Pools" will collect water when rain hits them. These always exist where pools of water were when you embarked, and there is no way to create more (though you can destroy them). They also only fill to a depth of 7/7; once their specific tile is filled, they fill no more.

To make a rain-filled water tower or subterranean reservoir, build powered screw pumps next to the pre-existing murky pools or have a tunnel dug into them (ideally as close to vertical as possible in the tunnel case) that pushes the water into a small area that you can then slowly increase in size, for instance via drawbridges, as it fills.

For example:
Pool
W%W
W%W
W+W
W+W
WDW
W+W
W+W
WDW

%s are the screw pump, +s are floors, Ds are doors, floodgates, or drawbridges, and Ws are walls. There should be a roof over the area the pump goes into. What this does is it moves the water into a roofed area, so it will not evaporate unless it is only 1/7 depth. The area, initially, is small enough so that you're likely to be able fill the whole thing to at least 2/7 depth from a single rain, so you will lose no water to evaporation until the next rain, when it fills more. Then, when you have at least 10 units of water (2 5/7 tiles), you open the first door, allowing you to store more water and moving your water closer to your final cistern. Then, simply repeat as you get enough water, and eventually you'll have enough to tap from wells.

Ideally, you should harvest rainwater from as many murky pools as possible if you don't have an infinite water supply, or don't bother if you do have an infinite water supply since harvesting rainwater is, at the moment, vastly more trouble than it's worth unless absolutely necessary.

[Shaostoul]

As NecroRebel said, only if necessary or if you want to do it for SnG's.

You'd want to make a small underground pool that you could slowly increase upon or you might have issues of the water evaporating. 1/7 evaporates, I don't believe 2/7 does. All water will evaporate if exposed to too hot of a climate, unless underground.

[TKGP]

Alright, thanks for the answers!

[Astramancer]

2/7 water kinda sorta not really evaporates.  If there are few enough 2/7s in a sea of 1/7s, then, eventually, one tile will stay 1/7 long enough to evaporate.  Water will start evaporating faster and faster as there's less 2/7s moving around to keep it from happening.

[Shinziril]

However, if the entire area is full to 2/7 or greater, it will not evaporate.  Ever.

[Blargityblarg]

Unless it's above ground in a Warm or hotter biome.

I tend to just make a room directly underneath a murky pool, then dig a ramp up. Provides me with water storage beyond the capacity of a murky pool, and it's easy as +cat tallow bicuits+.

[digitCruncher]

My only source of water on my mountainous site was right next to the edge of the map. Since I couldn't build a well there (Or rather, I could, but it would be undefended on one side, as I couldn't build walls... too close to map edge), I channeled out a indoor well.

I had torrential rain (In fact, it often rains for 2 years at a time), but after my first attempt at making a reserviour with rain-water failed (I spread it all out to 1/7 tiles), and I staggered the refilling process with doors (removing them as neccessery), and after nearly 3 years of nearly constant rainfall, my 4x4 reserviour FINALLY reached... 3/7. And then it stopped raining, and now it hasn't rained for 2 seasons.

So.... yeah. Rainwater reserviours are never a reliable source of water. They take years to make, but at least they are (relatively) constant and stable and VERY safe!