Quick Question About Germs in Liquid Reservoir

[🦊 Hermit]

So I've heard that holding germ-infested liquid in a tank within chlorine will kill off said germs, leaving the liquid clean (if not non-polluted). Been trying this on my latest colony, and it worked...almost. Most of the germs seemingly were removed, but on draining the tank I found that a small amount remained in the water, and soon started multiplying again.

All I can think is that maybe a tiny bit of liquid remained in the pipe leading into the reservoir when it was filled up, and this stuff was not cleansed like the rest. Can anyone confirm that this is the case, or is the chlorine trick actually flawed in some way and doesn't always work?

And if it is a pipe thing, how can one set up a system to prevent this from happening, because you'll always have at least one pipe segment leading into a reservoir which would hold a bit of water when you put it in. And this would always then re-infect the output to some degree.

[gimmethegepgun]

To fully disinfect on a consistent basis you need to set up multiple reservoirs in succession. They can be looped back into each other to make it so that the last one in the line will always be germ-free, after an initial disinfect period when starting the whole loop. There's videos on youtube that can tell you how to do that.

The real question though is why? Why bother disinfecting?

[🦊 Hermit]

A loop? Hmm, I guess I can see how that may work...so long as the loop begins directly at the reservoir intake so there's no standing water in the pipes, right?

And why - so I can recycle the water from my toilets lol. I guess lategame it could be used for other things like cooling and then venting the heat into space, but I haven't got that far in yet.

[gimmethegepgun]

The reason to ask why is that the only realistic way you're going to get food poisoning from contaminated water is by using water cooler/juicer/soda or liceloaf. So if you don't use those it's completely pointless to decontaminate.

[Bokonon]

Germs multiply in polluted water. Sieve the polluted water to water and sterilize that in the chlorine. If there's small amounts of germs left, they'll die off in water rather than multiply in polluted water. And/or leave it in the chlorine to completely clean it. Keep in mind that game logic says germs will die in a tank in chlorine but not in the pipes.

But the other posters are right, there's really no good reason to remove germs from the liquid, I never do.

[Bokonon]

Originally posted by *blep*:

how can one set up a system to prevent this from happening

Find Francis John on YouTube, he's got videos on this and he's really thorough in testing and doing all the math. I'm pretty sure he said 5 tanks, as in hook 5 tanks back to back and by the time the liquid exits it'll be germ free, 5 tanks give the liquid more time in the chlorine plus there's an averaging effect that helps when new liquid mixes with the liquid already in a tank. But watch Francis' video for the exact details.

[Hedning]

You don't need to loop your reservoirs as long as you make sure that they are always full (and in chlorine), because when tapping 10 kg from a reservoir of 5000 kg the germs will be rounded down. Having enough reservoirs in a straight chain with no loops is enough for the last to have so few germs that when 10kg exits it it is completely germ free.

[Xilo The Odd]

yep the resevoir itself and all its contents are cleaned by chlorine. but substances in pipes will not be cleaned.

so the trick is to build a system that doesnt overflow the tanks so all of it gets stored in them. and only lets water out of the system if it is germ free. and otherwise loop it back into the system. a germ pipe sensor can accomplish this though it does take plastic to make. that + a shut off and your golden, only fluid that'll leave will be germ free.

[🦊 Hermit]

Originally posted by gimmethegepgun:

The reason to ask why is that the only realistic way you're going to get food poisoning from contaminated water is by using water cooler/juicer/soda or liceloaf. So if you don't use those it's completely pointless to decontaminate.

I like to have one large, central pool for all of my water needs (and I haven't yet gotten far enough in the game that I need to separate them off), so any germs which got into there could potentially get to other places too, even if they're in the process of dying off from clean water. Plus I'd be worried about dupes picking up bottles of the stuff and getting germs on them from that, then spreading those germs to other places before they wash. What can I say, guess I'm a bit of a germophobe lol XD

But thanks for the tips everyone, I'll take a look and try to fix up my system so it works better. Your advice has been helpful, and I'll see about checking out that Youtuber too when I'm able.

[gimmethegepgun]

Originally posted by *blep*:

I like to have one large, central pool for all of my water needs (and I haven't yet gotten far enough in the game that I need to separate them off), so any germs which got into there could potentially get to other places too, even if they're in the process of dying off from clean water.

So? Dupes will generally go to the bathroom before eating so they'll just wash off whatever germs they get on them before touching the food. It's a very very small chance of getting sick from food poisoning germs by incidental contact through things that aren't food. The only realistic risk is making food from water without cooking it (liceloaf) or drinking the water (water cooler, soda, juice).

[Xilo The Odd]

Originally posted by gimmethegepgun:

Originally posted by *blep*:

I like to have one large, central pool for all of my water needs (and I haven't yet gotten far enough in the game that I need to separate them off), so any germs which got into there could potentially get to other places too, even if they're in the process of dying off from clean water.

So? Dupes will generally go to the bathroom before eating so they'll just wash off whatever germs they get on them before touching the food. It's a very very small chance of getting sick from food poisoning germs by incidental contact through things that aren't food. The only realistic risk is making food from water without cooking it (liceloaf) or drinking the water (water cooler, soda, juice).

for some asteroids Tofu is something you have to watch out for with food poisoning, its a great meal, but with how its made, you'll easily be susceptible if your not careful.

thankfully the cure is fairly easy to produce if it gets bad.

[Raymond]

Originally posted by gimmethegepgun:

So? Dupes will generally go to the bathroom before eating so they'll just wash off whatever germs they get on them before touching the food. It's a very very small chance of getting sick from food poisoning germs by incidental contact through things that aren't food. The only realistic risk is making food from water without cooking it (liceloaf) or drinking the water (water cooler, soda, juice).

So it's ok to not treat the water at all and live off polluted water? I am new btw.

[Wantoomany]

Originally posted by YariMurai:

So it's ok to not treat the water at all and live off polluted water? I am new btw.

No, polluted water and water with germs in it are completely two different things.

[Raymond]

Originally posted by Wantoomany:

Originally posted by YariMurai:

So it's ok to not treat the water at all and live off polluted water? I am new btw.

No, polluted water and water with germs in it are completely two different things.

oh ok, my bad. I was trying to ask if it's ok to just sieve water and not treat the germ?

[Wantoomany]

Originally posted by YariMurai:

Originally posted by Wantoomany:

No, polluted water and water with germs in it are completely two different things.

oh ok, my bad. I was trying to ask if it's ok to just sieve water and not treat the germ?

Yes, you can get away with it as long as the germy water is not used directly for dupe consumption. So you can use germy water to feed to your farms and plants, you can use it run electrolyzers or CO2 scrubbers, you can even safely use it to feed back into your sinks, showers, and toilets.

What you do not want to do is use it to supply water for water coolers, juicers, microbe mushers, espresso machines, or anything similar that uses water directly consumed by dupes. That will eventually lead to sick dupes.

[E Man]

Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBOAOeLoez4

Listen for references to the "three foods" to avoid. If you avoid those (plus juicer/cooler/esporesso), germy water is actually a useful resource since your bathrooms create water that can be used for any other purpose.