How to get drinkable water in Dwarf Fortress

Dwarf Fortress is the incredible and complex game that influenced the likes of Minecraft and RimWorld. In this game, similarly, is the aspect of survival. Your dwarven citizens will need to survive to pull through and construct your Mountainhome. One vital element of staying alive is having access to water. Here is how to get drinkable water in Dwarf Fortress.

How to provide water in Dwarf Fortress

How thirst works in Dwarf Fortress

Dwarves will need to drink water at least once every three weeks. In other games with a thirst mechanic, you need to prepare the water and store it to make sure it is clean and fit for consumption. In Dwarf Fortress, however, that is not the case. Any body of water will do, from lakes to streams, even to stagnant and murky ponds.

A dwarf will always go to the cleanest body of water available to take a quick drink from. The worse the quality is, then over time there may be some adverse health effects.

The deeper you go, the further clean water will be from your dwarves, which is why you will need to utilize wells and fluid systems to pump water from the surface down to the well, where dwarves can then drink comfortably.

Please note that pregnant dwarves will consume twice as much water as the baby ‘leeches’ off of her supply.

Related: How to fish in Dwarf Fortress

Alcohol in Dwarf Fortress

There is a listed quantity on the top menu where the food goes, called ‘drinks’. This is not clean drinking water, but alcohol. Dwarves don’t need alcohol to survive, but they are very alcohol dependant. Without it, their work and mental and physical health will suffer.

You can produce you own alcohol using a still. Make sure their supply is always up.

A dwarf cannot survive on alcohol, however, and will need clean water all the same.

Keep an eye on Gamer Journalist for more gaming and Dwarf Fortress content, such as how to grow plants.