Pump - Sandustry Wiki
Learn how to use the Sandustry Pump with Water, Pipes, and a Liquid Vent, then troubleshoot blocked inputs, broken connections, and full outputs.
Why is my Pump not working?
Trace the system from the source to the destination:
- Check liquid contact. Water or another non-Lava liquid must touch the Pump. Partial contact can reduce flow.
- Clear the pickup space. Solid pixels inside the Pump’s tile leave no room for liquid at those pixels.
- Trace the Pipe. Confirm a continuous Pipe connection from the Pump to the Liquid Vent.
- Check the output. Leave room for the Liquid Vent to release liquid. A blocked or sufficiently filled destination can stop the system.
How It Works
| Stage | Verified Behavior |
|---|---|
| Source | A non-Lava liquid must touch any part of the Pump. |
| Input | Every pixel of the Pump can take in liquid; a fully submerged Pump can deliver up to 16 liquid pixels per tick. |
| Transport | A continuous Pipe network carries the liquid from the Pump. |
| Output | A connected Liquid Vent deposits the liquid at the destination. |
The working sequence is:
Water source → Pump → continuous Pipe → Liquid Vent
The Pump is non-solid, so solid pixels can enter its tile. If solids occupy the pickup space, liquid cannot occupy that same space and the Pump stops transporting it. A connected system can also stop at the other end when the Liquid Vent’s output area is blocked or sufficiently filled; that is an output-side condition rather than a Pump throughput rule.
How many Pumps or Liquid Vents do I need?
A fully submerged Pump can move up to 16 liquid pixels per tick, while one Liquid Vent can release up to 4 pixels per tick. The current official documentation therefore says one Pump can support up to four Liquid Vents when all components are operating at capacity. Actual flow can be lower when the Pump is only partly touching liquid or a Vent is submerged.
Overview
The Pump is a fluid Building that takes Water or another non-Lava liquid from a source and sends it into attached Pipes. It is the input component in a fluid network, connecting a usable source to a Liquid Vent that releases the liquid at the destination.
This page reflects the official Wiki and current Early Access gameplay evidence rechecked on September 3, 2026. It does not assign the Pump an unverified range or transport distance; capacity figures on this page are limited to the current official Pump and Liquid Vent documentation.
Quick Facts
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Building |
| Category | Fluid Building (site classification) |
| Related Resource | Water |
| Related Buildings | Pipe, Liquid Vent |
How to Obtain
The checked current sources establish the Pump’s function but do not provide a stable build cost or permanent unlock order. Follow the Objectives and Research available in your current Early Access build rather than relying on an older Demo sequence or a fixed cost from an unverified source.
Used For
- Water transportation: Move Water from a usable source to another part of the factory.
- Fluid automation: Provide the input side of a connected Pump, Pipe, and Liquid Vent network.
- Production supply: Deliver Water to a reservoir or wetting area upstream of Wet Sand processing.
- Opening production context: Delivered Water can help create Wet Sand, which a Shaker processes into Gold and Residue. Gold later reaches a Collector for Research use; neither Building connects directly to the fluid Pipe network.
Related Buildings
- Pipe — forms the continuous connection between the Pump and the output device.
- Liquid Vent — deposits the transported liquid at the destination.
- Shaker — processes Wet Sand created with Water, but does not receive Water directly from the Pump.
- Collector — sits farther downstream in the opening Gold chain and is not a fluid-network component.
Related Resources
- Water — a verified liquid input that the Pump can move through a connected Pipe system.
Other non-Lava liquids may be transported, but this page does not list them without a separate entity-level source review.
Tips and Notes
- Confirm that source liquid touches the Pump. Every Pump pixel can accept liquid, so partial contact provides less input than full submersion.
- If the Pump stops moving Water, check for solid pixels inside the pickup space before rebuilding the network.
- Trace the system in order: source liquid, Pump input, continuous Pipe connection, Liquid Vent output, then destination space.
- Keep the Liquid Vent output area open enough to deposit fluid. A full or obstructed destination can look like an input failure.
- Current official documentation establishes component capacity, but it does not establish a universal placement, distance, or optimal network layout.
FAQ
What does the Pump do in Sandustry?
The Pump takes a non-Lava liquid from within its tile and sends it into attached Pipes. In a basic Water system, it supplies the input that a connected Liquid Vent releases at the destination.
How do Pumps move Water?
Place the Pump so Water touches it, connect it to a Liquid Vent with a continuous Pipe, and leave room for the Vent to output Water. The verified chain is Water source → Pump → Pipe → Liquid Vent.
Can a Pump move Lava?
No. The official Pump and Pipe pages exclude Lava from the liquids the network can transport.
Related Guides
Update History
Updated: 2026-09-03, Asia/Shanghai — Refreshed search metadata and replaced the outdated central-input description with the current official full-tile intake and Pump-to-Vent capacity evidence.
Updated: 2026-08-17 18:40, Asia/Shanghai — Initial Pump fluid-building draft based on the official Wiki and existing current Early Access Automation research.