Water has six grades by purity: Gutterflow (<90%), Rustwater (90–96%), Ghostwater (96–98%, the classic fake), Basewater (98–99%, ~40 credits per litre), High-Quality (99–99.9%) and Pure Water (99.9%+). For Pure Water you need a Water Purifier (250) with at least +100 Quality from modules — without modules it stops at 99%. In 1.0 the filter no longer removes microbes: kill them with a purification tablet or UV lamp first.
Sells water overnight — but never Rustwater or Gutterflow
What each tool removes
Tool
Value
Removes
Doesn’t
Purification Tablet
6
All microbes; chemical contaminant down to ~0.7%
Leave space in the bottle — it adds 15 mL of chlorine
Water Filter (in a pitcher)
25
Physical contaminant, minerals · 400 durability
Microbes (since 1.0), heavy metal, chemicals
Advanced Water Filter
350
Same, recovers 50 durability per day
—
Kotton Fabric (in a pitcher)
65
Plant matter and debris · 1,000 durability
Useless on tap Gutterflow — mostly a chemistry tool
UV Lamp
150
All microbes; never used up
—
HydraTech Micro Purifier
325
Brings a container up to Basewater · 1 durability per 100 mL
Eleanor gives one after her Day 28 storyline (Eleanor)
AquaScan
200
Shows what’s in the water
—
The Water Purifier
Price 250 (cut from 300 in 1.0.0.5), 3×4 tiles, 4 energy per night — no power used on nights it has nothing to remove.
It removes the largest contaminants first and stops at its max purity, which depends on Quality from modules:
Quality bonus
Max purity
none
99%
+15
99.15%
+25
99.35%
+50
99.65%
+75
99.8%
+100
99.9% — Pure Water
+200
100%
Never put a chemistry batch in it — it turns everything that isn’t water into water.
A Rustwater-to-Pure routine (Owlie, 1.0)
Fill from the tap. Add 1 tablet per 2 L (2 for a 6 L jug); optionally UV.
Purifier for 1–2 nights (2 L) or 3 nights (6 L).
Pour through the pitcher filter.
Test with a strip before you label or sell.
Selling water
Display-case buyers come by grade: Gutterflow–Basewater bring tier-1 buyers, High-Quality tier 2, Pure Water tier 3 — and tier-3 buyers don’t show up until Day 14.
Outside events, players report only about one water buyer per day, so don’t overproduce early.
Common mistakes
Selling the starting 6 L jug.
Buying 2 L bottles without testing them.
Skipping the microbe step (filters don’t do it any more).
Chasing Pure Water before you have +100 Quality on the purifier.
Relabelling large volumes.
FAQ
How do you make Pure Water in Probably Stolen?
Get the water to High-Quality first, then run it through a Water Purifier with +100 Quality or more from Quality modules. One player's purifier at 103% Quality turned a 6 L jug of 99.00% water into 99.90% Pure Water in one night. Below +100 Quality it can't reach Pure — the purifier stops at its max purity.
How do you get water in Probably Stolen?
Start as the Water Merchant, or unlock Water Trading in Joe Wild's network (Water → Water Trading, 300 favor). Joe Wild's card arrives on Day 7 (call 8376). After that: Wild's Gutterflow tap (250 favor, unlimited, purity changes daily), the Rustwater tap, water sellers drawn in by a Water neon sign in your display case, and the Retired Water Merchant who visits on Wednesdays.
Why does my water still have microbes after filtering?
Because in 1.0 the Water Filter no longer removes microbes. Use a purification tablet (also cuts chemical contaminant to about 0.7%) or a UV lamp first, then filter.
Is the Moisture Farm worth it?
Not really in 1.0. It now makes about 850 mL per night and gets weaker the more of them you own. The price was cut from 650 to 350 in hotfix 1.0.0.2, but the top water guide on Steam still calls it 'gutted'.
How much is water worth?
Basewater is about 40 credits per litre (a 750 mL Sealed Water Ration is worth 30). Better grades sell for more and worse grades for much less, but we haven't found verified 1.0 per-litre prices for the other grades — tables that say Pure = 200/L aren't backed by their cited source.
Can I just relabel bad water as good water?
You can (the labeler is right there), but it's a crime, display-case water buyers carry test kits, and selling bad water is the Water Merchant's 'liability': one notice in the game reads 'The Bottle of Water (Small) you sold to my friend killed him!'. One player got called out after relabelling about 100 L.
Checked against the current version on · High confidence — confirmed by the developers or two independent sources. Spotted something outdated? Tell us.
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