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Difference between revisions of "40d:Water flow"

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''(Why isn't my waterwheel turning?)''
 
''(Why isn't my waterwheel turning?)''
  
I am still experimenting, but it appears that a waterwheel will only turn if there is a difference in the [[water]] levels between the three tiles under it. Flowing water supposedly has positive effects for the quality of drinking water, preventing stagnation, and helping to clear up diseased water. These all sound like good things, so I certainly want them. The problem is that generating flow, is not easy.
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What is [[water]] flow? The obvious answer would be water that moves. Water in a [[brook]] moves doesn't it? Oddly enough, it seems it does not, at least not fast enough to satisfy a water wheel. And since the vast majority of maps feature a [[brook]], not a [[river]], this leaves you with no natural water flow. It seems that in order to satisfy a water wheel, there must be a difference in the water levels. i.e. 7/7 6/7 5/7 . . . If all three tiles under a water wheel are the same level, the water is not flowing. If a brook is not moving enough to satisfy a water wheel it makes me wonder if it is flowing fast enough to prevent stagnant or [[murky]] water either.  
  
A screw pump is simply way too powerful. picking up water from any source a screw pump will easily empty the source tile in a hurry, and will cheerfully fill any number of output tiles straight up to 7/7. For satisfying a water wheel, three tiles in a row of 7/7 is not flowing. Screw pumps are really efficient at filling every available tile straight up to 7/7 water. In a closed loop logically there is flow here, but as for as game mechanics I'm not so sure. The water is apparently flowing too slowly to satisfy a water wheel, and may still have risks of stagnation and poisoning. For a closed loop, it seems the simple answer is to simply put the water wheel before the pump. The input side of a screw pump makes a much nicer distribution of water levels which seems to make a water wheel happy. Another solution is to simply have a very small closed loop, so it doesn't matter so much which comes first since the entire loop is clearly flowing consistently. For a larger engineering feat truly worthy of dwarvenkind, I need a lot more information about water flow.
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Can a [[brook]] become [[stagnant]]? [[murky]]?
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Can a closed loop of 7/7 water pushed by a screw pump become [[stagnant]]?
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Or does the water level need to change to lower levels (6/7, 5/7 etc..) in order to prevent stagnation?
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how long does it take before water will become stagnant?
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All good questions, and currently, I have no idea. Thus far all I can say is I have not yet noticed a brook to become stagnant.
  
Some thoughts for experimentation. A screw pump dumping to a one wide channel instantly fills to 7/7. What about a 3 wide channel? five? seven? How far can we generate flowing water without needing a new screw pump? How important is flowing water?
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If we do want to make sure water is flowing smoothly, how do we do so? The only tool we really have available is the screw pump, which is quite efficient at filling any number of tiles straight up to 7/7 without any difficulty at all. For the purpose of simply satisfying a water wheel, it seems the simple answer is to simply put the water wheel before the pump. The tiles the pump sucks water up from drain quite quickly, and water quickly flows in to fill this void thus insuring a steady area of flowing water which satisfies the needs of a water wheel. As for making larger areas of steadily flowing water, this seems to be trickier.
  
Needs more information about water flow, water stagnation, and poisoned water. I also need to figure out how to do some redirects to tie this in better to the rest of the wiki.
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Some thoughts for experimentation. A screw pump dumping to a one wide channel instantly fills to 7/7. What about a 3 wide channel? five? seven? How far can we generate flowing water without needing a new screw pump?
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Hopefully some people smarter than me out there can help shed some more light on the subject of water flow.

Revision as of 02:34, 2 July 2009

Water Flow (Why isn't my waterwheel turning?)

What is water flow? The obvious answer would be water that moves. Water in a brook moves doesn't it? Oddly enough, it seems it does not, at least not fast enough to satisfy a water wheel. And since the vast majority of maps feature a brook, not a river, this leaves you with no natural water flow. It seems that in order to satisfy a water wheel, there must be a difference in the water levels. i.e. 7/7 6/7 5/7 . . . If all three tiles under a water wheel are the same level, the water is not flowing. If a brook is not moving enough to satisfy a water wheel it makes me wonder if it is flowing fast enough to prevent stagnant or murky water either.

Can a brook become stagnant? murky? Can a closed loop of 7/7 water pushed by a screw pump become stagnant? Or does the water level need to change to lower levels (6/7, 5/7 etc..) in order to prevent stagnation? how long does it take before water will become stagnant? All good questions, and currently, I have no idea. Thus far all I can say is I have not yet noticed a brook to become stagnant.

If we do want to make sure water is flowing smoothly, how do we do so? The only tool we really have available is the screw pump, which is quite efficient at filling any number of tiles straight up to 7/7 without any difficulty at all. For the purpose of simply satisfying a water wheel, it seems the simple answer is to simply put the water wheel before the pump. The tiles the pump sucks water up from drain quite quickly, and water quickly flows in to fill this void thus insuring a steady area of flowing water which satisfies the needs of a water wheel. As for making larger areas of steadily flowing water, this seems to be trickier.

Some thoughts for experimentation. A screw pump dumping to a one wide channel instantly fills to 7/7. What about a 3 wide channel? five? seven? How far can we generate flowing water without needing a new screw pump?

Hopefully some people smarter than me out there can help shed some more light on the subject of water flow.