Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[tomtherat]

I just don't get it.... I've cleared and rebuilt the floor 3 or 4 times on my waterworks, I've got a 40 high pump stack that refuses to pump anything but mud and I just don't know what to do.  How do I get clean water into the fort?

I even threw the switch on the pump stack and then put the game into step mode and watched 4 squares of mud instantly pop up.  This is so frustrating.

[Sphalerite]

Water always leaves mud on surfaces.  This is unavoidable.

If you want to make sure dwarves getting water from wells or water source zones aren't getting muddy water, make all your cisterns at least two Z-levels deep.  Only the lowest Z-level has mud, so water taken from layers above that will be clean.

[tomtherat]

Really?  I thought that water pumped through a pump stack was considered "purified" and could be used as a water source.

[Garath]

it is true, just as soon as it hits a new tile, there is mud. The water is clean, the floor is not

[tomtherat]

Grr.  Ok, 2 deep cisterns all over now.  Thanks!

[Garath]

the purification is mostly about salt water and murky pools though

[tomtherat]

Yeah this stack is pulling from a brook.  I was worried I left muddy terrain under the pump stack or something and would have to rebuild the whole stack.  I'm rebuilding my baths and hospital now, hopefully the 2 deep will work.

[Garath]

I usually make it 4 or even 5 deep, just to have a supply in case of a VERY heavy siege, so I have a good store

[tomtherat]

How often does the pump stack or windmills get destroyed really though?

[Garath]

well, windmills quite regularly

[tomtherat]

Ok, now I've got 2 deep cisterns which are still not registering as water sources.  What could I be doing wrong?  The zone is not directly over the water, the water is 7 deep.  I don't get it.

[Sphalerite]

Are you creating the zone over the water, or on the floor adjacent to the surface of the water?  You need to designate the water source zone on the surface next to the water.

Incidentally, being muddy will not prevent you from designating water as a water source zone.  If you can't designate the tiles adjacent to the water as a water source zone, it means the water is salty or stagnant.  If a tile has ever contained salty or stagnant water, then any water in that tile will always be salty or stagnant, even if you completely clean it out and then refill it with a pump.

In any case, if you build a well over the cistern, your dwarves will be able to use the well to get drinkable water even if the water source is salty or stagnant.  Don't be confused by not being able to designate the area as a water source zone - water source zones are only for getting water without using a well, you don't need to set one for dwarves to be able to use a well in the zone.

[tomtherat]

Well, I was trying to have a large bath area and a separate water area in my hospital.

How do I know if the water is stagnant or salty?  When I k over the tiles it just says 7/7 water.

[Sphalerite]

Mostly, you try to designate a water source area on the tiles next to the surface of the water.  If you can designate the area as a water source zone, it's not salty or stagnant.

Also, if you build a well over the water, and a dwarf uses the well, the bucket will contain 'water laced with salt' if the water is salty, or stagnant water if the water is stagnant.  If it's clean water, the bucket will just contain water.

[tomtherat]

Its kind of silly how much ambiguity there is surrounding this.  I built a well and in 10 seconds I had 30 deep piles of blood and soap right next to it.