Is there any detailed guide on how pollution works?

[pawelkrzyzak]

I just don't quite understand, why sometimes pollution appears within the city, sometimes not. Randomly. I observed and cannot correlate it with waste, nor with garbage... Is it the wind?

[tr0mp]

Yes, it is the wind.
And also - the polution output is linked to the productivity.

For instance, your heating furnace does kill anyone in the first winter, but does so in the second. Population has grown, so the output is higher and the polution more severe.

I have no exact radii (radiusses) per ton polution. Better safe then sorry as I have learned the hard way. Many citizens died because of polution.

You can see which buildings are affected if they were 100% full and later they are not...

[pawelkrzyzak]

Thanks. Do traffic also add to the pollution? Wind would have made sense. I gotta make some observations

[Silent_Shadow]

Here you go:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/784150/discussions/0/6348431004286066364/

Originally posted by pawelkrzyzak:

Do traffic also add to the pollution?

I don't think so.

[Bert]

It would be nice to have an overlay that shows for each building the amount and radius of the pollution it causes. As it's now, it's a bit of a guessing game. I know that you can see the max. pollution of a building on the building information window when building it, but it would be good to get information about the current amount of pollution.

I started a game after the update and for 10 years everything was fine pollution-wise, I had 3500 people and 95% health. Then I didn't check for about half a year in-game time while I was building stuff far away from the city, only to notice that almost 1000 people had died or escaped and health was down to 80% due to pollution where previously was no pollution at all (I had a monitoring station showing green in my entire residential area and suddenly, it was mostly read or orange for no obvious reason).

That's why I think it's necessary to have better tools to know where the pollution comes from.

[pawelkrzyzak]

Originally posted by Bert:

It would be nice to have an overlay that shows for each building the amount and radius of the pollution it causes. As it's now, it's a bit of a guessing game. I know that you can see the max. pollution of a building on the building information window when building it, but it would be good to get information about the current amount of pollution.

I started a game after the update and for 10 years everything was fine pollution-wise, I had 3500 people and 95% health. Then I didn't check for about half a year in-game time while I was building stuff far away from the city, only to notice that almost 1000 people had died or escaped and health was down to 80% due to pollution where previously was no pollution at all (I had a monitoring station showing green in my entire residential area and suddenly, it was mostly read or orange for no obvious reason).

That's why I think it's necessary to have better tools to know where the pollution comes from.

I had similar situation. I have noticed I had sewage spilling and it seems it has caused the pollution. EDIT. It wasn't spillage of sewage. It must be some mechanics in the background. I guess we gotta build 1000m away of industries, which make sense

[Silent_Shadow]

Buildings working at maximum production will output a lot more pollution than when operated at partial production or at full production for only part of the time. Deaths are a common occurrence in winter because the heating plant suddenly needs to supply more heat and so it ramps up production, and by extension, its pollution. Most new players tend to build heating plants too close so workers can walk to it rather than provide a bus, so a lot of citizens tend to be within range...

Partial operation really reduces the output of pollution. A coal power plant paired with two solar power plants and only run at night will allow housing to be built only 500m away instead of at least 1000m. Water can even be withdrawn from within 300m, but only if a treatment plant is provided for safety.

[Lex713]

About wind: no, there are no wind in this game and pollution is not affected by it.

About overlay: there are overlay which is made as gameplay mechanic. Build pollution control stations to see pollution levels in its radius.

About traffic: traffic does not generate pollution.

About radius: better keep your industry or major pollution sources at least 300 m away, better 500, from your residential area.

About preventing health problems: with new researches you have bunch of stuff to decrease pollution levels and increase overall health condition of your citizens.

About small pollution sources like self-heating: it affects your people but can be countered easily with simple health care.

[Onbird]

This is purely anecdotal, but it seems to me like pollution spread was made more random recently. I used to get away with having industrial areas 500 m away from housing, but now that's insufficient. It also varies a lot depending on when I look, even though production and pollution output should be pretty constant.

[Silent_Shadow]

There is wind, but only as a universal wind speed with no direction.

Pollution does not drift with the wind, but it does concentrate into "clouds" that are randomly dispersed around the pollution source.

I find that 1000m is almost always safe, and it isn't much farther than 500m.

[Titule]

Originally posted by Bert:

It would be nice to have an overlay that shows for each building the amount and radius of the pollution it causes.

Agreed, but those things would be better visible in a heatmap than in overlays. Just like traffic density, unemployment, electricity supply and many more, but that's a different topic.

[Bert]

Originally posted by Titule:

Agreed, but those things would be better visible in a heatmap than in overlays. Just like traffic density, unemployment, electricity supply and many more, but that's a different topic.

Indeed, I used overlay as a general term, not to mean it should look like the current overlays. My idea would be: you click on an industrial building or select multiple and it shows you the pollution that is generated by the selection. And indeed, a heat map (similar to the dotted map of the pollution station, although it's not ideal in the way it's displaying) is a good choice.

Originally posted by Lex713:

About overlay: there are overlay which is made as gameplay mechanic. Build pollution control stations to see pollution levels in its radius.

Yes, the pollution monitoring station was mentioned. But it only shows you where the pollution is, not which industry is causing it. I want to see the source represented, not the effect. :)

[Silent_Shadow]

Pollution is cumulative though; multiple industries may be contributing to the pollution levels in an area.

[Bert]

One could also think of it the other way round: I click on a location on the map and it tells me the pollution at that location and all the contributors with percentages. But maybe that's too much as in reality it would also not be possible to get this kind of information.

[oldschool]

The only thing i build closer than 1000m is my large heating plant

even with that i plan my city and put the heat exchanges as close to the edge of one side of the city as possible; then measure 1000 m from the furthest ex changer and build my heating plant just a lil closer than that mark

[Comrade Sky]

Originally posted by Lex713:

About wind: no, there are no wind in this game and pollution is not affected by it.

About overlay: there are overlay which is made as gameplay mechanic. Build pollution control stations to see pollution levels in its radius.

About traffic: traffic does not generate pollution.

About radius: better keep your industry or major pollution sources at least 300 m away, better 500, from your residential area.

About preventing health problems: with new researches you have bunch of stuff to decrease pollution levels and increase overall health condition of your citizens.

About small pollution sources like self-heating: it affects your people but can be countered easily with simple health care.

Does it matter if stores, universities, etc. are in polluted areas?