Water System (2)

Master SimCity 2000's water systems with our guide. Learn the Grid and Tree methods for efficient pipe layout, understand water dispersal, and keep your Sims hydrated.

Water systems are one of the most challenging aspects of SimCity 2000. Demolished buildings can leave behind old plumbing, making it difficult to identify broken connections due to how water is dispersed. Water is distributed from a central point and expands outward in a diamond shape until its capacity is reached. Ideally, this diamond should be larger than your city to ensure adequate supply to all areas, even if a pump is placed next to an un-watered building, as water still disperses from the city's center.

There are two primary methods for laying out water pipes:

Grid Method

Similar to laying power lines, this involves creating a grid of water pipes to water every city block. It's often more efficient to lay pipes in only one direction rather than a full grid. Since pipes can be built underground, you can position them to water two rows of blocks, which is cost-effective. This method is best suited for large, flat cities with grid-like blocks. Unlike power lines, water systems are less prone to accidental deletion, and temporary water loss is less critical, making this technique safer.

Tree Method

This method is ideal for cities built in varied terrain like mountains and valleys, where a single water supply for the entire city is impractical or space is limited for large pumping grounds. You'll typically establish one or more smaller watering areas, each serving a portion of the city. A main line runs from the water source to a city section (the trunk), with smaller lines branching off to water the surrounding areas. Each water source has its own main line feeding into a different part of the city.

The Graph window shows the percentage of water not being used by your Sims, which the simulator uses to gauge the water supply's status. Phantom water pumps are discussed in section 8.1.