40d:Well

Wells must be built over the water. Though they can be many levels higher than the water.

Wells are structures that serve as water sources for your dwarves. Dwarves will drink from wells if there is no alcohol to be found in your fortress, but more important, wounded dwarves will drink only water. Your dwarves much prefer drinking from a well to drinking from a river or pond.

Wells may be constructed as long as the well has a clear vertical pathway to a water source, i.e. a channel, aquifer, an underground reservoir, an aboveground water source (if you built the well inside a house that's above water), or an underground river, brook, stream, or lake.

When constructing a well, it is important to consider water pressure to avoid flooding your fortress by accident.

Using the well will take a small amount of water from the channel below, so it will eventually dry up if not replenished. Wells generate a happy thought from dwarves who use them, a deep well shaft contributes to the building quality, as well as the materials used in the construction.

Your dwarves will happily use any excuse for falling into wells, usually resulting in injury, drowning and swift death. Thus you should construct your well as dead end, surrounded mostly by walls. Military dwarves are reportedly even more interested in well-diving than civilians, so keep military infrastructure, especially barracks, away from wells. Building escape stairs from your water source may also be a good idea.

Construction

To build a well, press the b key, followed by the l key.

The required materials for building a well are:

• Bucket
• Any block
• Mechanism
• Chain or Rope
• Open Space (A channel, filled with water, dug under the well.)

"Easteregg"

While the well is being used, you can see the bucket travel through the z-axis.