WATER PUMP RATIO: FIX FACTORY STALLING

TL;DR - Key Points

• Pump output is 1u/s, pipe capacity is 2u/s — confusing these two numbers is why your factory stalls
• One pump saturates only half a pipe — you can supply a maximum of 2 production buildings before stalling
• The golden ratio is 2 pumps to 1 pipe to 4 facilities — two pumps merge at 2u/s to fully saturate a pipe
• Each production building draws 0.5u/s — four buildings consume exactly 1u/s total, matching one full pipe
• Fix existing factories in under a minute — add a second pump and merge into the existing pipe before the first split
• No amount of splitter trickery fixes a source bottleneck — the flow problem is at the pump, not downstream

Related read: Factory Optimization: Belts & Production Deep-Dive goes deeper on factory.

The Flawed Assumption That Wrecks Pipelines

Water extractors in Endfield show a pipe capacity of 2 units per second. Most production buildings consume 1 unit of water every 2 seconds. That little bit of math made me think one pump could supply four facilities without issue. I set up a single pump, split it to three buildings, and watched all three sputter and stall. It made no sense. The numbers said it should work, but the fluid was just not moving fast enough.

The mistake is confusing pipe capacity with pump output. The pipe can transport 2 units per second. The pump sitting at the start of that pipe does not produce 2 units per second. It produces exactly 1 unit per second. A single pump fills only half the pipe. You will never reach maximum flow, and you will never supply more than two buildings, because each building needs 0.5 units per second. Two buildings consume exactly 1 unit per second, which fully uses one pump. Add a third building, and you are now demanding 1.5 units per second from a source that only gives 1. The deficit causes the stalling.

See also: Ferium Bottleneck: Stop Factory Choking for more on factory.

The Ratio That Actually Works

The golden rule of Endfield water mechanics is: 2 pumps to 1 pipe to 4 facilities.

Two pumps converged into a single pipe saturate it completely at 2 units per second. That saturated pipe can then split to exactly four production buildings drawing 0.5 units each per second. This is why every efficient blueprint you see has exactly that setup. You merge two pumps with a Double Conduit Inlet, run a single pipe from that Outlet, and then split that pipe to your four buildings. Without the second pump, the entire downstream math fails.

I now place two fluid pumps on any water source, converge them immediately, and only then start splitting. The difference is instant. Buildings that used to blink yellow and pause now run continuously. There is no mystery, no bug, and no blueprint magic. Just two pumps instead of one.

A Quick Fix for Existing Factories

If your production lines are already built and stalling, you do not need to tear everything down. Add a second pump to the same water source, merge its output into the existing pipe right before the first split, and the whole line wakes up. This takes under a minute and permanently solves the choking. Do not try to fix it with more splitters, valves, or complex routing. The only bottleneck is the flow right at the source. Fix the source, fix the factory.

Ignoring this ratio is the single most common reason factories in Sky King Flats, the Stockade, and Marker Stone randomly stop producing. People share blueprints that look correct, but if the creator forgot to mention the second pump or the blueprint tool assumed full pipes by default, you will copy it and wonder why yours does not work. Now you know. Two pumps into one pipe, split to four buildings, and never look back. Lay out the whole line in the industrial planner before you build it in Wuling, and the saturation math becomes self-correcting.