40d:Well guide

A well is an important part of any fortress. It gives you a source of water that doesn't dry up or freeze. It's indoors, so there's no threat from carp, goblins, or animals. You can even use it safely during a siege. Using it provides your dwarves with happy thoughts.

Wells can be intimidating to build. Draining water from the surface can flood your fortress if you aren't careful. The first part of this guide tells you how to build a well by draining a pond. The second part tells you how to build a well by using a brook, which is an unlimited water source and should be handled carefully.

Draining from a river is not recommended, but can be done. That requires a reservoir, since there's an unlimited supply of water entering the map. You will also want to control the water with floodgates.

To build a well you will need a stone block, a chain (or rope), a bucket and a mechanism.

Pond Draining Technique

1. Mine a one-square wide tunnel to a place near the pond to be drained.

~######
~#+++++
~######

2. Figure out how many squares of water are in the pond. You will need the same number of empty tiles below your well. Stairs do count as empty. The well does not need to be on the same level as the water.

3. Channel though the floor the the end of the tunnel. Your well will be on this tile, or directly below it.

4. Dig a staircase down, just behind the channel.

~########
~#.>+++++
~########

5. Repeat this stair and channel pattern as far down as you need. If in doubt, make it a level deeper than you need.

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##.X#
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6. If you run out of depth, just make the bottom wider.

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#+++#
#+.X#
#+++#
#####

7. Almost ready to drain the lake! Check for any leaks. You might want to place a door behind the channel, as a precaution.

8. From the surface, channel through the last square separating the pond from the tunnel. Wait for all the water to drain into the well.

9. Build the well. You can make it anywhere above the water surface. You might want to widen the tunnel so more dwarves can access the well at once.

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#+++##
Do++D+
#+++##
######

10. Install a door to seal off the dry lake. (Or use a wall, but this might cause a dwarf to trap himself in the lake bed.)

Style points

• Widen the area around the well, and make it a meeting hall. Smoothed or engraved walls and floors will make your dwarves happy. The well has to be in a stone layer, not soil.

• Add a gap between the channel and the stairs, then construct walls in the gaps. This avoids the aesthetic problem of muddy stairs inside your well. Be careful, your well will need to be twice as deep.

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#.OX#
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Tapping a Brook

A brook can be tapped to supply constant water for a well, if you have one in your area.

WARNING: Trying this with a river doesn't seem to work; the water pressure it produces is too high, you will flood your fortress (unless you use floodgates to control it).

You'll need to understand the basics of digging, etc., as much is glossed over in this particular guide.

1. Dig out a room similar to the one below. It's easier if it's one z-level above the brook itself but that can be addressed several ways. The room itself could be different, perhaps even just one square of a channel, where the well will be placed. Whatever you prefer.

z-0

	  ###+###
	  #+++++#
	  #+++++#
	  #+++++#
	  #.....#
	  #######

OR

 	   #+#
	   #.#
  	   ###

2. Connect your channel from the room above to the brook as follows. The tunnels can be wider, longer, and can drop a z-level or two if you need to by various methods. You'll need some way for the miners to get down here; access from other rooms on that z-level by door, staircase, whatever.

z-1

           
         ###########
         #+++++++++#
         #+#######+#
         #+#     #+#
         #+#     #+#
         #+#     #+#
         #+#     #+#
         #+#     #+#
############################
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
############################

3. Mine the last two wall segments, your miners should easily outrun the water to the safety of a staircase/door. From then on you should have a perpetual water source. It will fill the trench tiles to 7/7 but should not overflow into your fortress proper, as the water is returned to the brook and thus the pressure does not build up.

4. Build a well on one of the channel squares in your original room and cover the others with floor grates/floor hatches. Or, if you chose the smaller room, build the well, you're done.