Factorio Forums

Picture this:

• Chemical plants that use water produce toxic wastewater as a byproduct.
• Water treatment as a chemical plant recipe, turning toxic wastewater into solid waste product.
• Assemblers that use fluids produce solid waste product as a byproduct.
• Three additional levels of landfill containing different amounts of solid waste product (for proportionally less stone).
• The more waste in landfill, the more pollution is produces over time.
• Bonus: Destroying oil pipes and containers contaminates existing soil in an "inventory explosion" pattern for the same effect, depending on how much liquid was spilled.

I would add possibility to dump waste water to lake at cost of massive pollution. There should be suitable balance between costs of waste handling and dumping so that decision would not be trivial.

I like that. Maybe like a purple water tile that represents a blob of contaminated water. Its surface area determines how much pollution is emitted and how quickly it dissipates, and also the "capacity" of the blob. When the "capacity" is reached, it expands by another tile, just like Zerg creep. With the additional tile it now has more surface area and produces more pollution. It would also contaminate ground tiles along the shoreline the same way. I put capacity in quotes because if it goes over but can't expand (because of a small lake) it simply increases its pollution output. You could end up with a bubbling pool of death. And then pumps used to draw water out end up pulling wastewater instead, which fouls up the machinery. So you need two lakes, one for resource and one for dumping.

Interesting. I like consequences of actions.