Water
Quick answer: water exists to make Wet Sand and Wet Seeds — the inputs of the entire gold loop — and "large volumes of water are required for an efficient factory." Here is where to get it and how to move it, with sources labeled by freshness.
Material Data (wiki snapshot 2025-09-08 — verify against current build)
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Matter type / Density | Liquid / 100 |
| Obtained from | Snow, Ice, Steam |
| Processed by | Fire, Cryoblaster, Snow |
| Byproducts | Steam, Ice |
| Wetting math | 1 Sand + 1 Water = 2 Wet Sand; 1 Seed + Water = Wet Seed |
The Water article itself survives only as a 2025-09-08 snapshot — these values predate Early Access and are pending re-verification. Everything in the sections below comes from current 2026 captures.
Where Water Comes From
The documented sustainable sources: rain condensing from Steam, melting Snow and Ice — "this can create infinite water when using the Cryoblaster to make snow" — and pumping underground deposits.
A current-version bonus from the official Beginner's Guide: captured creatures help too — "enough Lumlings in a location can create a small but constant supply of water."
The 2025 page also described a manual duplication trick via Steam conversion. It is exploit-adjacent and unverified in the current build, so we do not recommend or detail it.
Moving Water: Pump, Pipes, Liquid Vent (current sources)
Research "Fluids" (Tier 3, 1,250 Gold) unlocks the set: "Unlocks the Pipe, Pump and liquid Vent." The rule of the system: "You can move any Fluid besides lava." Water pumps continually while it sits at or above the Pump and the destination has room below the Vent.
Pump geometry matters: the Pump occupies a 4×4-pixel area but "it is only the central 2 × 2 area that is actually able to pick up the liquid." Pumps are non-solid, so stray solids like Gold can fall in and silently stop the flow — hover the Grabber over a dead pump to check.
Pipelines do not filter: all liquids in a network exit from every connected Vent, and "the Liquid Vent will always prioritize whichever Liquid is closest." Keep one liquid per network.
Water-Related Research
| Research | Tier / Cost | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Flamethrower | Tier 2 — 400 Gold | Vaporizes Water into Steam that rises and becomes rain |
| CryoBlaster | Tier 2 — 1,000 Gold | Infinite Snow: freeze water, solidify Lava, or steam into rain |
| Fluids | Tier 3 — 1,250 Gold | Unlocks Pipe, Pump and Liquid Vent |
| Snowmaker | Tier 5 — 2,500 Gold | Powered structure converting Water into Snow using Energy |
Interactions Worth Knowing
- Water landing on Lava evaporates into Steam — and the lava does not decrease (current capture).
- (2025 snapshot, unverified) A droplet that fails to settle into a depression within 45 seconds evaporates; water always settles into flat-surfaced pools.
- (2025 snapshot, unverified) Flow is blocked by Block and Conveyor Belt but passes through other buildings, notably Filters.
Plan water like a resource, not a given
The gold loop consumes water at both ends — Wet Sand in, Wet Seeds later. Build a renewable source early (Cryoblaster snow, or a pumped reservoir) instead of draining the pools near your first factory.