40d:Water

Water is a fluid found all over the world. It flows from mountain springs, forming the world's oceans, lakes, rivers, and brooks. Water falls as rain and snow, and freezes into ice. Water is home to aquatic creatures. Most creatures can swim in deep water, and like all fluids, air-breathing creatures can drown in it. Water comes in two varieties: freshwater, which makes up almost all inland water, and saltwater, which fills the seas; these are home to different aquatic creatures. If dwarves do not drink they will become dehydrated(thirsty) and if they do not quench that thirst then they will eventually die. Injured dwarves will only drink freshwater, though normally dwarves prefer their booze.

In addition, water can be stagnant or murky. This may cause dwarves to have unhappy thoughts if they drink from it. Water must be flowing to avoid being/becoming stagnant or murky.

When water comes into contact with creatures and objects, they become wet. Soil and stone becomes damp or muddy, which can be used for farming, and produces tower-caps at a higher rate. Water can "drown" saplings.

Water is displayed with the symbols ≈ and ~, sometimes colored different blues, white, brown, or red to show ripples, mud (in the case of a brook), blood and flow. (The game can be configured to show the depth instead). Dark-colored water symbols indicate the water is one Z-level below the camera level. Water has 7 depth levels per tile, with 1 being perhaps ankle-deep, and 7 filling the tile completely. Dwarves and other humanoids can walk through water up to depth 4. At 4 they can choose to walk or swim, any deeper and they must swim to pass through the tile. Elves drown only in 7/7 water, and wade in 6/7.

Every material sinks in water.^{v0.27.176.38c}

The tiles above brooks are treated as floor tiles. They are passable to creatures, and objects do not fall into them.

Water Flows

Water above a depth of 1 will tend to flow towards any adjacent tiles, and can move diagonally, the depth will spread out evenly so a tile of 7/7 water will become seven 1/7 tiles, or if there are only two it can expand to it will become two 2/7 and a third 3/7 though the 3/7 will move around. Water can be stopped by most solid tiles. These include walls and buildings, plus closed floodgates, doors, hatches. Exceptions are grates, bars and fortifications which are specifically designed to allow liquids through. Waterfalls occur when water has the opportunity to fall through open space. Waterfalls will continue falling straight down until hitting either floor or another body of water.

Water in Dwarf Fortress acts like a fairly thick, viscous fluid. This makes it possible to do otherwise impossible things like pump out a dry hole in the middle of a river.

Water in Fortress Mode

In addition to drinking, pools and rivers can be used for fishing. To specify a pool of water as a water source, fishing zone, or pond, you need to create activity zones at the level above the water. The "level above the water" is the level at which the surface of the water is at foot-level instead of ceiling level. Water can be bridged, and can also be used to make a moat.

Water can be moved by digging channels or tunnels, using buckets, or by constructing a screw pump. Dwarves will use buckets to fill a pond. Screw pumps (operated by dwarf or machine power) can move water vertically and horizontally. Transferring water down channels/holes to lower levels can be hazardous due to water pressure.

Lakes and murky pools can be drained by digging into the side of them. Rivers can also be redirected in this manner. It is only possible to dig directly up into a water-filled tile using stairs or a ramp. Fish and other aquatic creatures will stay in the water as it moves, but may end up on the ground if the water becomes too shallow. Drained lakes that are outside are filled by melting ice and snow, but not by rain. Murky pools, once drained, can be refilled by rainwater, allowing for "rain barrel" systems of supplying your fortress with water.

Tiles adjacent to a water-filled tile are labeled "damp" and flash the water symbol when accessing the designations menu. When a miner discovers a damp tile, he cancels the mining designation, the game pauses, and the camera centers on the tile. This happens for every damp tile discovered, and each must be designated again before a miner will dig it out.^{v0.28.181.40d} Digging under a water-filled tile does not actually drain it, even though you receive multiple warnings about damp tiles. If a tile already appears to be damp when it is designated, no warning will be given.

Somebody who falls into water, for example, a kobold thief, will then have a "water covering" on nearly every part of their anatomy. This is listed under v,inventory and is shown in green.

Water wheels can be used to generate mechanical power from flows.

The water in a tile can be destroyed by closing a floodgate or door on it (via a lever), by lowering a bridge onto it, or by evaporation. Thus water mass is not conserved and it is possible to run out of water on maps without an infinite source(such as an ocean, river or aquifer). It is also possible to get rid of excess water by letting it flow into a river.

Ice

Water will instantly turn into ice when the environment is cold enough. In some biomes, water will freeze only during the winter. In other biomes the water will always be frozen in all seasons.

• See Ice

Sourced Water

Sourced water is a term referring to any water that will never run out (i.e., water features you can see on the region map). These include "river sources" flowing into the map from the edge. It is possible to completely flood your fortress if you tap into these without building controls such as floodgates.

• See Water pressure

Water depth

You can find out how deep water is by examining it with the look command, or by editing your init.dat file to display water as coloured numbers.

Water depth ranges from 0-7. The following is a qualitative description of how deep the water is relative to a dwarf.

0. Not a true value (that is, you will never see it displayed) - there is no water on this tile.
1. A puddle. This is the maximum depth dwarves will build on.
2. Knee deep.
3. Waist deep.
4. Chest deep. However dwarves prefer to walk instead of swim, and in 4/7 water they will wade regardless of swimming skill. Dwarves never drown in 4/7 water.
   Also, a swimming creature can move through 4/7 water even if they are IMMOBILE_LAND.
5. Head height. Dwarves are now swimming (or drowning, as the case may be).
6. Over a dwarf's head.
7. The tile is full to the brim of water.

Salt Water

If a site contains saltwater (there will be a warning before embarkation), then all the naturally occurring water in that site will be salt water; including ponds, rivers and aquifers.

You can tell whether a particular area of water is salty or not by creating an activity zone around it. If 'water source' is not highlighted in the zone options, then it is saltwater, and thus undrinkable. Water may currently be desalinated by passing it through a screw pump, however, if any desalinated water touches natural walls, natural floors, other salt water or an aquifer, it will immediately return to its salt form, thus meaning that all cisterns or reservoirs of desalinated water must be completely constructed, with no natural boundaries.

Wells also may appear to desalinate water as dwarves will gather around them but this water is still undrinkable.

Contaminated water

When blood or dead bodies come into contact with water, it can become contaminated, and dwarfs will refuse to drink from it. In a river or brook, this can occur if the contact was upstream of the drinking spot. Flowing water will recover from contamination faster than murky or stagnant water.

Rain

Most climates experience rain. Rain will slowly fill murky pools in the land. Rain will not collect in dwarf-dug channels.

"Water covering"

If, in a dwarf's inventory menu, some or all body parts are described as "Water covering" them (in bright green letters), don't panic - all that means is that the dwarf is wet, not (necessarily) underwater. They may have been underwater (they may still be underwater!), or just wading about in deep water, or they may have been out in the rain, or walked under falling water somewhere. Unless exposed to more water, they will dry off soon.

Water FAQ
How do I move water up levels?
How do I stop water moving up levels?
Can dwarves swim to the surface for air?
How long does it take for a dwarf/goblin/creature to drown?
How deep is the water?
Is it possible to melt ice?
How do I build a well?
How do I channel a path for water?
Will water push items around?
Can I build a dam to stop the water?
Digging designation canceled: Damp stone located
What is the best way to proceed on a map with no rivers? Will my dwarves die of thirst?
How can I divert a river to allow safe(ish) indoor fishing?
How can I dig through an aquifer?
How do I purify my water?
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