Aqueduct (Civ6)

Aqueduct
Introduced in Civilization VI
Unlocked by	Engineering
Cost
Production	36
Production	36
Notes
Must be built adjacent to City Center and a source of fresh water.

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The Aqueduct is a District in Civilization VI, which provides early water infrastructure. It requires Engineering, and must be placed adjacent to the City Center and either a Mountain, Oasis, Lake, or River (which must be on an edge of the tile that is not directly between the City Center and the Aqueduct).

• Effects:
  • Cities that do not yet have existing fresh water receive up to 6 Housing.
  • Cities that already have existing fresh water will instead get 2 Housing.
  • Prevents Food loss during droughts.
  • +1 Amenity if adjacent to a Geothermal Fissure.
  • Military Engineers can spend a charge to complete 20% (rounding down) of an Aqueduct's production.
  • Does not depend on Population.
• Restrictions:
  • Limit of one per city.

Strategy

The Aqueduct is not a specialty district, meaning that you can construct it in any city which has the right conditions without subtracting from your maximum district count, as Population dictates.

The description of how much Housing is gained is misleading: it does not add 6 Housing, but rather it sets the Housing from water to 6 if the city doesn't have fresh water. Originally, cities with no water have 2 Housing from water, cities with coastal water have 3 Housing, and cities with fresh water get 5 Housing. So, in effect, the Aqueduct gives 4, 3, or 2 Housing for a total of 6, 6, or 7, respectively.

While Aqueducts may seem at first to be a mediocre district that's only useful if there are only mountains and no sources of fresh water around, they become far more valuable if you take into account the major adjacency bonus that Aqueducts give to Industrial Zones. Immediately they provide 2 extra Production, and another 2 Production on top once you construct a Coal Power Plant, followed by yet another 4 Production with the Craftsmen or Five-Year Plan policy cards that double the adjacency bonus. Therefore, instead of thinking of Aqueducts as something to build only for your cities without fresh water, you should instead consider them a district that gives your city 2 Housing and a possible 8 Production, which are pretty decent yields! If the Aqueduct can be placed next to a Geothermal Fissure, you'll net 1 Amenity as well.

The Khmer civilization's Aqueducts provide them with an additional 3 Faith and 1 Amenity, and also increase the Food output of adjacent Farms by 2. Incan Terrace Farms also benefit from having adjacent Aqueducts. Finally, as Mayan cities never naturally receive bonus Housing from water, Aqueducts in their cities always provide the maximum of 4 Housing.

Aqueducts cannot be built from any Natural Wonder, even when they provide fresh water or look like a Mountain.

Civilopedia entry

The remains of aqueducts – man-made watercourses – have been found scattered about ancient settlements around the world ... Egypt, India, Persia, Greece, Azteca, and especially across the once-Roman lands. Over 415 kilometers (about 258 miles) of aqueducts brought fresh water to the metropolis of Rome for drinking and bathing. These Roman aqueducts were marvels of engineering (considering the times) and often roofed, so also serving as bridges where they crossed ravines and waterways. Although there were some health issues involved in the design of aqueducts (notably the sometime use of lead to line them), in general a supply of relatively-clean water was a boon to any town hoping to grow into a city.

Related achievements

An Engineer's Dream Have a Canal, Dam, Aqueduct, Railroad, Golden Gate Bridge, and Mountain Tunnel in a city. All of the above are related to the discipline of civil engineering, with the Military Engineer being able to contribute to all except the Golden Gate Bridge.

Po-tay-toes! As Pachacuti, construct a Terrace Farm that is adjacent to 2 Aqueducts and 4 Mountains A reference to Samwise Gamgee's enunciation of 'potatoes' from the 2002 Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers film. The Inca were the first civilization in the world to cultivate potatoes.