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[Tanaman]

Hi all, first post here. Anyways I've been through some of the tutorials and I'm slowing getting a grasp on this game. I've decided to start tinkering with water some and for my first project, I've decided to build my dwarves a swimming pool!

So here's my situation. Poking around online I've got an idea on how to channel the river to move water. I'll build a trench 2 levels deep, install some flood gates and some wall grates to prevent any nasties from getting through. The trench will lead directly into a cliff face, filling my pool. I quickly realized I would flood my whole domain if the pool directly attached to the rest of my fortress. I can solve this problem by limiting access to the pool from above only via, say downward ramps. Unfortunately, 1 z-level above the river level would then place me outside. I could enclose it with a building, and that would make for a pretty swanky pool...I might just do that! However, I'd then need to eventually worry about defending it. Then I got the idea of draining the water using floor grates. It would be like one of those classy pools that has no edge and drains away instead of overflowing. So how to make this work?

1)If I drain the water away through grates before it can flood the fortress, where can I send it? Can I send it back to the river? Which way does the river flow?

2)If this would work, how big should the drainage be? Should I build a wider channel for water out then I built for water in?

3)Side note: do the wall grates preventing critters to get in prevent fisherdwarves from using the pool to fish out of?

[Jelle]

Haha I still remember my first attempt to get a little pool in my fort. The dwarves ended up wet alright.
After that incident I read up on water pressure and how to use it.

I'm asuming you want to make a pond in your fortress probably several z levels under the water source (the river). I'm a bit tired so I might be mistaking what you meant.
Anyway what you want to do to depressurize the water is install a pump inbetween the source and the pond to be filled, one that outputs the water on the level you want it to be. This will depressurize the water causing it to not overflow would it have it's normal presure.
Either that or I believe there's an even easier method involving having walls running through the width of the channel so that the water can move diagonally. Worked fine last time I tried....I think.
Something like
WWWW
    W
       W
WWWW
Where W are obviously walls.

Getting the water back out to the river is a bit tricky, I'm guessing the pond will be on the same level or under the level of the river, wich means to get it back in you'll have to defy gravity with more pumps. Either that or go for a more reckless method and just dump it all into caverns below. Who minds really, the troglodytes? 

Oh if you are going to dump the water somehow I strongle suggest making a mist machine with the water overflow. Don't know just adding to the idea.


Edit: Also I don't think the fisherdwarves can fish out of a dwarf made reservoir, no matter if it is directly connected to the river, grate or no.

[Tanaman]

The mist machine idea would be awesome! It would be like the pool at the Hard Rock Hotel in Vegas. Probably more complicated then I want to get into.

Thanks for the tips on the pumps at diagonal setup. I did some reading prior and considered their use and may still do so.

What I had in mind was a bit different, though. The pond will actually be on the same level as the river. I have a cliff face that is exactly one level higher then the river. That allows me to have a subterranean pond inside the fortress. Here's a diagram of what I'm talking about.
                WWWWWWWWWW                            W=Wall
RRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRR                  R=River
RRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRR                  O=Pond
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

The river runs right in, feeds the pool and then I run it back out again. If I make the entrance to the pond from above, I'm now outside. The question is where do I run it out to? I thought of dumping it in the caverns too, but I haven't dug that far yet and I'm not quite ready to get into all that action. I figure if I make enough grates and a big enough channel I can drain more then I bring in, but I don't know where to put it. I could use the floodgates to stop the flow once I've filled it up, but then would it still be considered fresh water for drinking purposes? Plus I was hoping to fish from it...

[Tanaman]

Actually, upon further reflection I think I'm visually my z-levels it incorrectly and shouldn't have a problem for what I want to do.

I am still curious though, what to do with excess water?

[Tanaman]

And now to answer my own question. I'm thinking if I just ran it off the edge of the map that would do the trick...

[JmzLost]

If the river and the pool are at the same level, you can just run it back to the river.  Actually, if it's all at the same level you don't need a drain, because it will fill the pool and then stop when the water is the same height as the river.

It's hard to tell by just looking which way a river flows unless there is a waterfall or blood in the water.  However, if you check the river bed at the edge of the map, one end should have tiles that are listed as "water source" or "river source" or something.  I can't remember the exact name.  Those are the tiles the water flows from, so that would be the head of the river.

Dwarfs can fish from artificial ponds, and they can fish through floor grates.  Just make sure to designate a fishing zone where you want them to fish, and hope they don't try 2 or 3 other places on the map as well.  Should only be a problem if you have multiple biomes.

One suggestion, make sure there are stairs or a ramp somewhere around the pool.  If dwarfs are near water, they will inevitably fall in.  They need an easy way to get out, or else they will drown.  Also, making a barracks on a 1- or 2-tile path over the water can train military units in swimming, as they will dodge off into the water, and climb out before they drown (usually).  I haven't done much with the military since 40d, but this was a useful trick, and I don't see any reason it shouldn't work now.

JMZ

[Khift]

And now to answer my own question. I'm thinking if I just ran it off the edge of the map that would do the trick...

Running water off the edge of the map is definitely the best way to do it. Just smooth and carve a fortification on the edge tile and dump it off into nullspace.