Water trading in the current Playtest
In the public Playtest, the Water Trading Manual can be bought from Dr. Jackson New. The August 6 official update also names three Wild Network upgrades: Retired Water Merchant, Gutterflow on Tap and Rustwater on Tap. The announcement does not publish their numeric effects, prices or returns, so this guide does not add them.
These manual and network upgrades are current water-trading systems. They are not the same as selecting a Water Merchant starting scenario when beginning a run.
Water Merchant is planned for the Demo
Water Merchant is one of the starting paths described on the official Steam store page, but the August 6 Playtest update explicitly says the water upgrades are not a Water Trade starting scenario. A later official announcement schedules the Water Merchant starting scenario for the September 14, 2026 Demo. That is a planned Demo feature, not a claim that the scenario is already selectable in the public Playtest.
See the starting scenarios guide for the announced status of the other paths, and the Playtest guide for the difference between access requests, the planned Demo and Beta previews.
Profit comes with liability
Every product line is described as having its own profit curve and consequences. For water, the named consequence is liability. That makes quality control part of the trade rather than an optional side task.
No filtration recipe, machine input, margin or optimal price is published here because those details are not established by the official source reviewed for this guide.
Connections to the wider shop
Probably Stolen includes machines, production chains, inventory management and customer demand. Water trading sits inside that wider economy, so a good current-build decision needs to consider both product preparation and the cash reserved for rent.
Playtest note
Machine behavior and economy values can move during the Playtest. The three named Wild Network upgrades are confirmed, but their exact effects are not published in the source used here. Use dated, reproducible evidence before adopting a claimed water setup.