Transporting Polluted Water In Oxygen Not Included: A Guide

Polluted water in Oxygen Not Included is a common issue that players must address. It can be caused by a variety of factors, such as duplicants not making it to the toilet in time, or by-products of certain amenities like showers and algae distillers. It is important to manage this issue as it can have negative consequences for your duplicants, including adding to their stress and causing disease. There are several ways to deal with polluted water, including bottling it, using it as a coolant, feeding it to plants that require it, or purifying it into clean water. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages, and the best approach may depend on the specific circumstances of your game.

Using a pitcher pump to bottle polluted water

To transport polluted water in Oxygen Not Included, you will need to use a pitcher pump to bottle the water for transport.

The pitcher pump is a building that is 2 tiles wide and 4 tiles tall. It will expand up to 4 tiles deep into the liquid below it, with the amount of liquid accessible displayed when hovering over it with the mouse. The pump works with non-water liquids, too, such as liquid Chlorine or Phosphorus. It can also be used to collect bottles of Magma or Liquid Tungsten.

To use the pitcher pump to bottle polluted water, follow these steps:

• Construct the pitcher pump over or near the polluted water source.
• The pump will draw the liquid from below it and will start bottling the polluted water automatically.
• Duplicants can then carry the bottled liquids and transport them to the desired location.
• At the destination, you can use a bottle emptier to empty the bottles of polluted water.

To increase efficiency, you can use 4 bottle emptiers alongside the pitcher pump. This will allow for a maximum manual transport efficiency of 800 kg per run. Additionally, enabling auto-bottling on the bottle emptier will automate the process, with dupes carrying the bottles to the emptier.

Purifying polluted water with a water sieve

The water sieve uses a filtration medium to separate the pollutants from the water, and it needs to be supplied with polluted dirt to function. For every 5 kg of polluted water and 1 kg of sand or regolith, the water sieve will output 5 kg of clean water and 200 g of polluted dirt. This polluted dirt is a by-product of the filtration process and will be expelled from the water sieve, requiring duplicants to remove and compost it.

It is important to note that the water sieve does not kill germs, so if the polluted water contains any, they will pass into the clean water output. Therefore, it is crucial to keep water supplies separate to avoid contaminating clean water with germ-infested polluted water. Most naturally occurring and produced polluted water contain no germs, so it is safe to use for irrigation and other purposes.

Additionally, the water sieve does not change the temperature of the water. This is beneficial as polluted water is a valuable resource due to its wider temperature range, making it a better coolant than pure water. Polluted water is also required for certain plants' irrigation and can be converted into pure oxygen by filtering out the polluted oxygen it emits.

Using polluted water to grow plants

Polluted water is a common resource in the game 'Oxygen Not Included' and has a variety of uses. It is created when a duplicant does not reach a toilet in time or vomits due to stress. It can also be a by-product of certain amenities such as showers and lavatories, as well as the Algae Distiller. While polluted water can be detrimental to the health of duplicants, it is useful for irrigating certain plants and as a coolant.

When managing polluted water, it is important to separate it from clean water sources to avoid contamination. Bottling and storing polluted water in a designated room or hole is a common strategy, and players can use a bottle emptier to specify which liquids to run through it. This can then be used for irrigation or other purposes.

Using polluted water for irrigation is a great way to utilise this resource. Mealwood, peppers, and certain trees and reeds can be grown using polluted water. For example, Pincha Peppers require 35 kg/cycle of polluted water, while Thimble Reeds require 160 kg/cycle. It is worth noting that wheat requires clean water and fertiliser, so using polluted water for this crop is not advised.

Additionally, polluted water can be used in a fertiliser synthesizer to produce fertiliser. The recipe for this is 39 g/s of polluted water, 65 g/s of dirt, and 26 g/s of phosphorite, which will yield 120 g/s of fertiliser and 10 g/s of natural gas. This is another way to make use of polluted water to support plant growth.

Using a bottle emptier to transport polluted water

To transport polluted water in the game Oxygen Not Included, one method is to use a bottle emptier. This is a device that can be constructed and rotated so that the liquid can fall to either its left or right side. Once you have built a bottle emptier, you can specify what kind of liquids you want to run through it. This is done through the Element Filter menu, which by default only has water as an option, but other liquids become available as the player discovers them.

After construction, you can enable the ""auto bottling" option, which allows Duplicants to bottle liquid at a Pitcher Pump and bring it to the Bottle Emptier. It is important to note that Duplicants will not deliver another bottle until the current one is fully discharged. The Bottle Emptier can be completely submerged and still function without issue, and it can empty a bottle of up to 200 kg of liquid at one time.

To deal with polluted water specifically, it is recommended to set the Bottle Emptier to 'sweep only'. This will direct your Duplicants to sweep the polluted water bottles and dump the contents into your reservoir. Setting it to 'sweep only' prevents your Duplicants from emptying other bottles, such as those containing fresh water, into your polluted reservoir.

Additionally, you can use the bottle emptier to separate polluted water from clean water. To do this, build the bottle emptier so that it pours into a different pit than your clean water. Then, in the bottle emptier's menu, select the option to only allow polluted water to be brought to it. Your Duplicants will then collect the polluted water bottles and empty them there. After that, you can place a pump at the bottom of that pit to send the polluted water to a sieve for further processing.

Using polluted water as a coolant

Polluted water is a great coolant that can be obtained early in the game. It has a high specific heat capacity and a wider temperature range than water, brine, or saltwater. This makes it ideal for cooling applications.

To use polluted water as a coolant, you can pipe it into a water sieve to purify it into regular water. This process does not remove any germs, so if you need drinking water, you will need to add a secondary step, such as chlorination. Polluted water is also useful for irrigating certain plants, such as Pincha Peppers, Thimble Reed, Bog Bucket, and Arbor Tree, which require polluted water for growth.

If you have a large stockpile of polluted water, you can also use it as a fuel source. Polluted water can be boiled into steam and used in steam turbines to generate power for your base. However, this method is inefficient as it requires a higher temperature to turn polluted water into steam compared to clean water, and it produces blocks of dirt that can cause issues for your system.

Another option for dealing with polluted water is to convert it into fertilizer using a Fertilizer Synthesizer. This process combines polluted water, dirt, and phosphorite to produce fertilizer and a small amount of natural gas. This fertilizer can then be used to enhance the growth of almost any plant.

Overall, while polluted water can be a nuisance in Oxygen Not Included, it is a valuable resource that can be utilized in various ways, especially as a coolant.

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