Water, channels and pumps

Current colonies have flowing water and magma. Older colonies using the earlier water engineering system keep that system. You cannot turn an existing water engineering colony into a flowing-fluid colony through adoption.

Standing water can stop construction and ordinary work before it becomes deep enough to block walking. Drain or draw the water away and inspect the job again. A channel removes the floor and opens the level below, so goods and fluids can fall through it.

Link a lever to a floodgate, hatch or door with a mechanism. Linking and pulling are jobs a settler has to perform. A switch command does not mean the person has reached the lever yet.

A screw pump draws from the level below. Switching it on does not guarantee flow. It still needs fluid beneath it, space at the outlet and a worker. A gate can also fail to close when the fluid in its cell has nowhere to go.