Talk:Key:inlet

Inlets on ways / Gutters mapping

It's a kind of an issue @CarrotManMatt: to have changed affinity of this key and inlet=grate with ways as it hasn't been discussed this way during proposal review.
It has been discussed that gutters will be tagged differently due to affinity with nodes only.
To me, Different solution for linear water collection features should be found and affinity restored for node only please Fanfouer (talk) 15:56, 5 September 2022 (UTC)

Many apologies, I see that wasn't the right way to approach it! Has there been any discussion on the best way to tag this feature? I definitely agree with your point to simplify the key to be only used on nodes. Is there any alternative that could be mentioned instead to tag the covered gutters as? I would be more than happy to change all the incorrect mentions to tagging ways to this correct key. -- CarrotManMatt (talk) 20:31, 5 September 2022 (UTC+1)

No offense, we'll surely manage to find a more suitable solution. We weren't able to find the best approach quickly during the proposal so it has been postponed.

A similar question raised recently in French community and we looked for waterway=ditch but that isn't so great. It's even more difficult to map when they're located in the middle of street, forcing to merge them with osm highway geometry.

Will it need a brand new value waterway=collector or something similar? Fanfouer (talk) 19:56, 5 September 2022 (UTC)

I'd agree with a new tag value, but the waterway=* key doesn't feel right. I get that it may link in better with the existing tagging schemes for water infrastructure, but seen as these objects are likely to also be mapped by more general mappers I'd feel like a different (but not necessarily new) key would be preferred. (I really like the way the inlet=* key bridges the gap in this way between complex infrastructure & the stuff most mappers will see (like manhole covers & utility boxes) so something similar would get my vote!) -- CarrotManMatt (talk) 23:51, 5 September 2022 (UTC+1)

So we have found a supplementary feature for which tagging is missing. As tagging develop continuously in OSM, no doubt we'll manage to find a suitable solution later. It should be discussed with @ZeLonewolf: who may have an idea. Inlets are not the only bridge we can build between water collection and carrying it in closed spaces.

For now, we shouldn't encourage to use inlet=* on ways as we know it's not where we want to get. Affinity should be restored as it has been defined originally please. Fanfouer (talk) 07:17, 6 September 2022 (UTC)

Inlet on Junction

Mapping the inlets on junctions of waterways is currently recommended in the text:

Put a node at the junction between a way way representing a culvert or pipeline and the open air or another uncovered waterway, then use inlet=* to describe this inlet.

But his does not specify which one of the three pipelines is affected by the inlet. So tagging the first node after the junction ode seems correct.--Hb 03:16, 24 July 2025 (UTC)

Hello, I don't understand to which three pipelines do you refer. The quoted sentence means there is an inlet when the water is took from a river towards a pipeline through a screen for instance. Fanfouer (talk) 16:41, 24 July 2025 (UTC)

Area must be included

As someone who spends lot of time mapping dams and hydros, being unable to map area as inlet / intake is a huge problem. I would like to ask the creator and community to include area. Inlets are usually complex, often huge separate facilities, sitting next to dams. While we can map less complex spillways as an area, we can't do the same with intakes. This makes little sense to me. At this point, I sort of cheat and use "nod" for an intake, but the rest of a facility surrounding a nod I then map as "sulice_gate," which could pass but it's not a good practice because not all facilities have gates - say, bell-inlet usually has a valve(s), etc. The same applies to outlet facilities. Thanks.--Santasa (talk) 05:21, 5 October 2025 (UTC)

Hello, several questions to handle this case:

• Aren't you confusing inlets and head works? There is a distinction of both in theses guidelines.
• How would an inlet area connect to the downstream linear waterway=* feature?

Complex spillways are tagged as waterway=canal + usage=spillway and supplementary natural=water + water=canal + usage=spillway which aren't the same features. Only the linear is used in the waterway graph and the area is useful for land use.

Once solved, we could consider inlets as areas in mapping Fanfouer (talk) 10:19, 5 October 2025 (UTC)

Inlets in ponds (e.g. monk)

Quote: The monk is one of the oldest and most common pond draining structures. Source: fao.org (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations )

In Europe it is much more common than the bell_mouth, but it seems to be unknown to OSM.

--Stephan t (talk) 14:07, 21 November 2025 (UTC)