Timberborn Water Calculator

Plan your colony’s water storage to survive any drought.

What is a Timberborn Calculator?

A timberborn calculator is an essential planning tool for the city-building game Timberborn, where you manage a colony of beavers in a post-human world ravaged by increasingly severe droughts. This specific calculator focuses on the most critical resource: water. It helps you determine how long your current water reservoir will last by calculating beaver consumption and water loss from evaporation, ensuring your colony’s survival through the dry seasons.

Understanding these mechanics is vital. A player who fails to properly calculate their water needs will quickly find their fields barren, their power wheels stopped, and their beavers thirsty. This tool is designed for both new players learning the ropes and veteran architects planning mega-reservoirs. One of the common misunderstandings is that depth doesn’t matter for evaporation, but as we’ll see, deep reservoirs are far more efficient than wide, shallow pools. For more advanced strategies, you might want to look into advanced water management Timberborn techniques.

The Timberborn Water Formula and Explanation

The calculation for your water supply’s longevity is based on two primary factors: how much water your beavers drink and how much evaporates into the air during a drought. The formula is:

Days of Supply = Total Water Volume / (Total Daily Beaver Consumption + Daily Evaporation Loss)

Each part of this formula has its own calculation, which this timberborn calculator handles for you.

Variables Table

Variable	Meaning	Unit / Type	Typical Range
Beaver Population	The number of beavers drinking from your supply.	Count	10 – 500+
Consumption Rate	Water units consumed per beaver per day, based on difficulty and faction.	Units/Day	1.7 – 3.07
Reservoir Surface Area	The total tile surface area of your reservoir exposed to air.	Tiles	50 – 5000+
Evaporation Rate	Water lost per surface tile per day. A baseline of ~0.045 depth/day is used.	Depth/Day	Fixed Rate
Total Water Volume	The total amount of stored water. Calculated as Area x Depth.	Water Units	100 – 100,000+

Knowing your Timberborn beaver needs is crucial for long-term planning.

Practical Examples

Example 1: Early Game Colony

You have a small, growing colony preparing for its second drought.

• Inputs: 25 Folktail Beavers, Normal Difficulty, Reservoir Area of 150 tiles, Depth of 1.5 blocks.
• Calculation:
  • Total Volume: 150 * 1.5 = 225 water units.
  • Beaver Consumption: 25 beavers * 2.13 units/day = 53.25 units/day.
  • Evaporation Loss: 150 tiles * 0.225 units/day = 33.75 units/day (since 1 depth block = 5 water units, 0.045 depth loss * 5 = 0.225 units).
  • Total Daily Loss: 53.25 + 33.75 = 87 units/day.
• Result: 225 / 87 = ~2.58 Days of Supply. This indicates a need to deepen the reservoir or reduce surface area.

Example 2: Late Game Iron Teeth Metropolis

Your massive Iron Teeth settlement faces a 20-day super-drought.

• Inputs: 300 Iron Teeth Beavers, Hard Difficulty, Reservoir Area of 2000 tiles, Depth of 6 blocks.
• Calculation:
  • Total Volume: 2000 * 6 = 12,000 water units.
  • Beaver Consumption: 300 beavers * 3.07 units/day = 921 units/day.
  • Evaporation Loss: 2000 tiles * 0.225 units/day = 450 units/day.
  • Total Daily Loss: 921 + 450 = 1371 units/day.
• Result: 12,000 / 1371 = ~8.75 Days of Supply. Despite a massive reservoir, the huge population and surface area are draining water fast. This signals a critical need for water storage tanks, which prevent evaporation entirely. Check out a Timberborn drought strategy guide for more tips.

How to Use This Timberborn Calculator

1. Enter Population: Input the total number of beavers in your colony.
2. Select Difficulty: Choose your current game’s difficulty setting to adjust the base consumption rate.
3. Select Faction: Choose between Folktails and Iron Teeth, as Iron Teeth are thirstier.
4. Measure Your Reservoir: Enter the surface area (length x width in tiles) and the average depth (in blocks) of your water storage.
5. Calculate: Click the “Calculate” button to see your results.
6. Interpret Results: The main result shows how many days your supply will last. The intermediate values show where your water is going. Use the chart to visualize the impact of beaver thirst versus evaporation.

Key Factors That Affect Water Supply

• Drought Length: The primary pressure. Longer droughts require exponentially more storage.
• Reservoir Shape: Deep, narrow reservoirs are far better than wide, shallow ones because they minimize surface area exposed to evaporation.
• Water Pumps: Pumping water during a drought drains your reservoir faster. It’s often better to pause pumps and rely on stored water in tanks.
• Faction Choice: Iron Teeth consume about 15% more water than Folktails, a significant difference at high populations.
• Game Difficulty: Hard mode significantly increases beaver needs, making water management a much greater challenge.
• Water Storage Tanks: Large and small water tanks are the ultimate solution to evaporation, as water stored inside them does not evaporate. They are crucial for late-game survival.

Mastering the game’s mechanics is key. Researching how to calculate water needs in Timberborn is a worthwhile investment of time.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Does the depth of a reservoir affect the evaporation rate?

The evaporation rate is per surface tile, so depth does not change the rate of evaporation per tile. However, a deeper reservoir holds much more water for the same surface area, making the *percentage* of water lost to evaporation much lower. Therefore, depth is the most critical factor in building an efficient reservoir.

Is it better to have one giant reservoir or many small ones?

From an evaporation standpoint, one single, deep reservoir is most efficient because it minimizes the total surface area to volume ratio. However, multiple reservoirs can be strategically useful for irrigation in different areas.

Should I turn off my water pumps during a drought?

Generally, yes. If you are relying on an open-air reservoir, your pumps are competing with beavers and evaporation. It is much more effective to fill up dedicated Water Tanks during the wet season and pause pumps during the drought, preserving the reservoir for irrigation.

How much water does a beaver drink per day?

It varies. On Normal difficulty, a Folktails beaver drinks about 2.13 units per day, while an Iron Teeth drinks about 2.45. This increases on Hard and decreases on Easy.

Does this calculator account for water used in buildings?

No, this timberborn calculator focuses on the two primary passive drains on your water supply: beaver thirst and evaporation. Buildings that require water (like Grills or Bakeries) should be factored into your total storage needs separately.

What’s the best way to reduce evaporation?

The number one way is to store water in Large Water Tanks, where evaporation is zero. For open reservoirs, digging deeper and reducing surface width is the best strategy.

How is evaporation calculated in Timberborn?

The game uses a system based on “adjacency scores,” but a good rule of thumb is that each exposed water tile loses about 0.045 blocks of depth per day during a drought. Wider canals and open lakes evaporate faster per total volume than narrow channels.

Can I use this for Badwater?

The evaporation principles are the same, but this calculator is designed for fresh water consumption. Badwater has different uses and is harmful to beavers, so its management requires a different strategy involving contamination control and separate pumping infrastructure. More information on badwater can be found by researching Timberborn badwater management.

Related Tools and Internal Resources

Expand your knowledge and optimize your colony with these guides:

• Timberborn evaporation rates: A deep dive into the specific mechanics of water evaporation.
• Timberborn water consumption mechanics: Detailed breakdown of how much water your beavers and buildings need.