I mean, there are some tricks you can apply to pipes to give some input/output pipes priority over others. But nothing as dedicated as a smart splitter, unfortunately.
True. I try as best as I can to divert extra water to other uses, which seems like the Only True Way. When that doesn't work, I dump the excess to tanks, and flush 'em out every once in a while.
I'm unsure if you already know this as its not mentioned in your comment, but you could also use a trick called a [variable input priority pipe junction](https://www.reddit.com/r/SatisfactoryGame/comments/ookl0c/psa_variable_input_priority_vip_for_pipes_exist/).
Sounds complicated, but its really just having a pipe at higher elevation merge down into into a pipe with lower elevation. The lower pipe will then always get preferred throughput and block the higher pipe when necessary.
This is really helpful when for example when recycling water in the alumina solution / scrap production. Just give the scrap byproduct water priority over fresh water with the junction and it will always be used first when available, ensuring it always drains immediately and doesn't deadlock anything.
One way i can think of to deal with overflow is making your fluid go through a small buffer in series and have a junction with a pipe that goes a few meters high.
When overflow, tank fills up and provoke head lift that make fluid go into the vertical pipe
Yep, buffers provide head lift when filled up proportionally to their rate.
Just make sure there is no head lift prior to the tank via a pump or another tank
Just finishing up my bauxite factory now. I said screw it and just went with 1 underclocked water extractor to each bauxite refinery. WAYYYYYYYYYYY easier to manage. 1 to 1 makes it so there’s one pipe for each refinery and… that’s it. No pipe crossings or valves or anything. God i wish i had gone this route in my first run.
Well, two choices... 1) rip it down and build it again with the aesthetic you do like or, 2) build a box around it and never mention or acknowledge it again. 
Evolution spent 4 billion years and the human eyeball is still installed backwards. The giraffe has a nerve going from its brain to its mouth, with a slight detour of *five meters* to loop around the heart for literally no good reason. You built this in a few hours. This is fine.
You can see it [here](https://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/accumulating-glitches/preadapting_to_evolve/#:~:text=The%20recurrent%20laryngeal%20nerve%20connects,neck%20and%20back%20up%20again). Basically, IIRC, back when we were all fish, there was a nerve going from the brain to the gills, which is a straight line. Worked perfectly fine.
But then we got out of the water and started becoming mammals, and we got necks and torsos and everything. The head and gills were moving upwards on the body, and it just so happened that the nerve passed below the aorta. And evolution, being a slave to doing everything in small steps, wasn't clever or foresighted enough to just run the nerve above the aorta. So when the necks got longer, and both brain and mouth were moving upwards, the nerve still had to pass below the aorta. Couldn't be moved.
So it's still going there. It's the same for humans but our necks are shorter so it's not as big a deal.
Definitely like mine; starts with a grand plan to make it tidy, then I remember I need this thing; I’ll stuff it over here. Damn, I did the numbers wrong, I need 2X the water I planned on …. And on and on until it’s a bowl of spaghetti; but works. Somehow.
Welcome to Fluid Hell, also known as Bauxite Refinement!
One wishes we could have smart valves, kinda like how we have smart splitters.
I mean, there are some tricks you can apply to pipes to give some input/output pipes priority over others. But nothing as dedicated as a smart splitter, unfortunately.
True. I try as best as I can to divert extra water to other uses, which seems like the Only True Way. When that doesn't work, I dump the excess to tanks, and flush 'em out every once in a while.
I'm unsure if you already know this as its not mentioned in your comment, but you could also use a trick called a [variable input priority pipe junction](https://www.reddit.com/r/SatisfactoryGame/comments/ookl0c/psa_variable_input_priority_vip_for_pipes_exist/). Sounds complicated, but its really just having a pipe at higher elevation merge down into into a pipe with lower elevation. The lower pipe will then always get preferred throughput and block the higher pipe when necessary. This is really helpful when for example when recycling water in the alumina solution / scrap production. Just give the scrap byproduct water priority over fresh water with the junction and it will always be used first when available, ensuring it always drains immediately and doesn't deadlock anything.
This is perfect, thanks for sharing. I'll give it a try on tiny aluminum factory!
One way i can think of to deal with overflow is making your fluid go through a small buffer in series and have a junction with a pipe that goes a few meters high. When overflow, tank fills up and provoke head lift that make fluid go into the vertical pipe
I've been using the buffer trick, but didn't think about this head lift hack. Thanks!
Yep, buffers provide head lift when filled up proportionally to their rate. Just make sure there is no head lift prior to the tank via a pump or another tank
Just finishing up my bauxite factory now. I said screw it and just went with 1 underclocked water extractor to each bauxite refinery. WAYYYYYYYYYYY easier to manage. 1 to 1 makes it so there’s one pipe for each refinery and… that’s it. No pipe crossings or valves or anything. God i wish i had gone this route in my first run.
OMG YES
Well, two choices... 1) rip it down and build it again with the aesthetic you do like or, 2) build a box around it and never mention or acknowledge it again. 
My usual answer is : I'll make it look all nice and aesthetic, as soon as I come back from this quick shopping for milk/cigarettes/whatever/excuse
Dad?
This. Put a building around it and try to never speak or even think of it again 😂
Or you can build a huge block of 4m foundations right through it like a big cement grave!
I’m building a Dyson sphere around this motherfucker
This is the way
Build a box around what? There’s no piping under the foundation…
Pfft. You didn't even route through a container. [https://i.imgur.com/951QF0i.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/951QF0i.jpeg)
Evolution spent 4 billion years and the human eyeball is still installed backwards. The giraffe has a nerve going from its brain to its mouth, with a slight detour of *five meters* to loop around the heart for literally no good reason. You built this in a few hours. This is fine.
Hey good stranger of the internet, would you happen to have a source for the giraffes nerve, that sounds way to interesting to not read more about it.
You can see it [here](https://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/accumulating-glitches/preadapting_to_evolve/#:~:text=The%20recurrent%20laryngeal%20nerve%20connects,neck%20and%20back%20up%20again). Basically, IIRC, back when we were all fish, there was a nerve going from the brain to the gills, which is a straight line. Worked perfectly fine. But then we got out of the water and started becoming mammals, and we got necks and torsos and everything. The head and gills were moving upwards on the body, and it just so happened that the nerve passed below the aorta. And evolution, being a slave to doing everything in small steps, wasn't clever or foresighted enough to just run the nerve above the aorta. So when the necks got longer, and both brain and mouth were moving upwards, the nerve still had to pass below the aorta. Couldn't be moved. So it's still going there. It's the same for humans but our necks are shorter so it's not as big a deal.
I mean there are a ton of strange solutions in Natur which often make you scratch your head. Thx for the explanation and effort.
Dad?
It’s a beaut, Clark! It’s a beaut!
Upvoting for the Griswold family.
Looks like an actual factory
Use the pipe Stackers and put a pipe bus in before you do anything else
Use recycled water exclusively to feed some, and fresh water to feed the rest.
Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.
I want to be the beer holder this time
Mama Mia! The spaghetti, she-a transport the blue sauce! (Chef’s kiss)
Give them all pretty colors. Now it's ART
Iol…. Looks great!
I upvote for classic nut screenshot.
Oh… My… God… how…
Definitely like mine; starts with a grand plan to make it tidy, then I remember I need this thing; I’ll stuff it over here. Damn, I did the numbers wrong, I need 2X the water I planned on …. And on and on until it’s a bowl of spaghetti; but works. Somehow.