What is the most efficient way of providing water to the Sims? How many Water Towers do they need and what is the best combination of water towers and water pumps?

Strategic Advice: Jerry Moore

The sims really like to consume a lot of water and the average pump only produces around 15,000 gallons/month which is only enough to support around 17 tiles. The water towers can only store a maximum of 40,000 gallons and each of these take up 4 tiles. They are good for getting the SimCitizens through the dry spells when the pump output is low, but I don't think they're very efficient since you could replace these 4 tiles with 4 water pumps and have a constant output of 60,000 gallons/month versus storing 40,000 gallons. One way to increase the output of each pump is to place it next to a source of fresh water. This can be right next to a river or lake or you can use the tree/water icon to place water at 1,2,3 or 4 tiles surrounding the pump. Use the query tool often to measure the water output and to be sure that you are not pumping salt water. Desalinization plants have an output of 105,000 gallons/month and operate most efficiently if placed on an island.

If you really don't want to be bothered with the sims constantly complaining about water shortages, there is a way to fool the simulation into thinking it always has a water surplus. Just pick any 3x3 section of your map, de-zone the tiles so pipes won't develop and place a single water pump in the center tile. Now connect this pump to power but DO NOT CONNECT ANY PIPES. The pump will start generating water, and having no connecting pipes to consume this water, the simulation will think you have a surplus. Pretty soon the water shortage messages will go away and if you open the graph tool and look at water, you will see that the graph

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