Water Temple walkthrough for Zelda Tears of the Kingdom

Aug 17, 2023

How to activate all four Water Temple pipes to clear the sludge.

The Water Temple in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the final part of the Sidon of the Zora quest and you will be faced with a four-stage puzzle that you need to figure out to clear the Temple of sticky sludge.

Before you start the Water Temple in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, we highly recommend collecting some arrows and Splash Fruit, as well as a few Zonai Fans as they will all come in handy when it comes to solving the puzzles.

Without further ado, we're here to show you how to activate all Water Temple pipes and how to collect all of the Water Temple chests too.

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If you'd like to learn more about Link's adventure, visit our Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom walkthrough.

To activate the first pipe in the Water Temple in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, face the blocked pipes in the main area of the Temple and then look to your left. You should see a raised area here. This is one of the longest puzzles, so it's best to get this out of the way first.

Head over here and use the broken bridge to the right side of the platform to climb up to the raised area. The way gravity works in the Temple makes it easy for Link to simply jump and climb up here.

Then, when you get to the raised area, there will be several Constructs waiting for you. You can fight them or you can sneak around them. We chose the latter, but this is up to you. Now, there's a chest on this platform. On the far left side of the area, you should be able to see a waterfall that has been blocked with Sludge.

Attach a Splash Fruit to an arrow and shoot it at the sludge to wash it away, which then gets the waterfall to work again. Then, using your Zora armor, swim up the waterfall and open the chest at the top. This chest contains a Zora Shield.

Now, head across to the right side of the area (when you are facing it from the direction of the blocked pipes). You should find that a Zonai Bubble device has been blocked with sludge too. You can use Sidon's ranged attack to clear this, and the machine will start to produce bubbles again.

Before you jump into a bubble, look in the pool in the middle of the area. You should see a large orb sitting in it. Use Ultrahand to grab the orb and drop it into a bubble. This will carry it up to the next area for you. Once you've done this, you can ride the bubble up too.

Now that you are up on the next area, grab the orb and place it over the circle/hole that is currently covered in water. Don't worry, it won't go into the mechanism here just yet but we're getting to that.

Once the ball is in place, face the gate mechanism and use Ultrahand to lift the gate up all the way. Wait in this position until all of the water has drained out of the pool next to you - when it's drained, the orb will fall into the mechanism.

This is where you need to be fast. Let go of the gate and then turn around to face the far side of the area where a large platform is.

The gates below this platform will now be open. Run over here and into the area below the platform where the water wheel is, then use Sidon's ranged ability to get the wheel moving.

Once the wheel is moving, you will have activated the first Water Temple pipe.

To activate the second Water Temple pipe in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, face the middle of the Temple on the platform you are on (the one where you unlocked the first pipe). Then, head to the left side of this platform and look down. You should see a lower area across from you with a doorway covered with fire on it.

Paraglide down here, then use Sidon's ability to cover Link in a protective bubble. While covered in the bubble, walk through the fire to get to the area behind it.

Head across the first bit of this area and jump down into the lowered section where you'll find a spiked floor and some platforms. Across the spiked floor, you should see a small orb - this is what you need to get.

Also, if you look up, you should see a chest attached to a floating platform above the spiked floor. We'll show you how to get this first. Use Ultrahand to move one of the platforms nearby to sit on the spikes directly below the platform.

Then, use an arrow to shoot the chest on the floating platform and, if you've placed it right, the chest will drop onto the platform below. If it misses the platform, it will shatter on the spikes. If this happens, you can revert to your last save and try again. This chest contains a Large Zonaite.

Now, it's time to get the orb. Place the platforms on the spikes to make a path for Link to cross on - they don't need to be floating for this. Then, once across to the other side, grab the Orb with Ultrahand and attach it to the middle of one of the platforms.

Once it has been attached to a platform, move the orb platform back across to the entrance side of this area. Then, head back over here and (if one isn't already there) place another floating platform against the far wall leading up to the entrance. Place the Orb platform next to this one then activate both.

Use Ascend to get up to the platforms and quickly use Ultrahand to move the orb platform on the floor near the entrance. Once you've done this, head over to it and hit the platform again to deactivate it. Wait for your Zonai energy to recharge.

While waiting for your energy to recharge, face the doors currently covered in fire. Use the platform to the left of the door to weigh down the pressure pad on the right, and Sidon will then join you. You'll need him for this next bit.

Once your energy has recharged, turn around until you see the circle orb lock in the wall. This is where you need to be fast again. Activate the orb platform, then place it against the circle lock so that the orb is in the hole here (sort of like a key).

Then, the gate directly opposite the lock will open to reveal a water wheel. As you did before, use Sidon's ranged ability to get the wheel moving.

Once you get this wheel moving, you will have activated the second Water Temple pipe.

To activate the third pipe in the Water Temple in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, head back to the main area of the Temple again. A Construct and a few Chu Chu's may have spawned here, you can ignore them or take them out, the choice is yours.

Face the blocked pipes in the main area of the Temple and then look to the right. You should see more floating areas here. You should also see a Zonai Bubble machine that blows out a bubble, but it doesn't really go anywhere.

To get up here, look above the Zonai Bubble machine and you should see another waterfall blocked with sludge. Use a Splash Fruit attached to an arrow to clear the sludge and then swim up the waterfall to the next area.

When in this new area, stick to the left side and cross the broken bridge pieces to the other side. When you're here, a bubble should come down to you. When it does, use Rewind on it and hop into it to ride it up to the next area.

Once in the next area, look to your right. You should see a waterfall here and a water wheel that isn't moving. Walk over here and look in the ditch below the water wheel. You should see two panels here.

Using Ultrahand, stick a panel on either side of the water wheel so that they are opposite one another. Then, still using Ultrahand, pull one of the panels (do not remove it) so that the water from the waterfall catches it. When it does, let it go and the water wheel should start moving on its own.

Once the wheel starts to move, it will send power through a power line. Follow this power line until it stops at a gap between two walls. You should see that the power line continues after the gap in the wall, but there's no power currently in it.

Behind the gap in the wall, you should see more bubbles being produced. Once a new one forms, quickly grab it with Ultrahand and pull it so that it sits between the gap so that it acts as a conductor.

The power should now flow through the bubble and to the other side, which will then open the gate to reveal the pipe water wheel. Again, use Sidon's ability to activate the wheel.

When the water wheel is moving, the third pipe will activate. You now only have one left!

To activate the fourth Water Temple pipe in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, go to the waterfall on on the platform you are on (where you made the water wheel). Stand here and walk to the edge of the platform so that you are facing the next floating area opposite you.

Thanks to the way gravity works, you can jump and glide across to this platform. Once you are on this platform, there are Zonai Constructs and Chu Chu's. If you want to, you can fight all of them to destroy them or you can sneak around them. We chose to do the latter here.

However you've chosen to deal with the enemies up here, head to this side of the platform:

From here, you should be able to safely hide behind a column (if you've chosen the stealth approach) and you can see a spinning structure in the middle of the area. Face the spinning structure and attach a Splash Fruit to an arrow. Then, jump and aim with your Bow to trigger slow motion while you are aiming.

There is a gap at the top of the spinning part of the structure that is filled with sludge. When it turns towards you, shoot the arrow into it to clear the sludge off. You then need to do this process again with a normal arrow to shoot the golden structure in the middle of the spinning section.

Once you hit the golden structure, the gate for the water wheel will be opened and remain open.

Now, before you go down to the wheel, stay where you are and look to your left. If you've gone the way we've gone, you should see another Zonai Bubble machine.

If you haven't, then check out the map below to find where to go.

Stand on the corner here and look up, you should be able to see a high up platform with a chest on it. To reach it, place a Fan on the corner of the platform and activate it. Then, turn around - you should see another bubble machine. When it produces a bubble, use Ultrahand to place it above the fan then jump into the bubble and ride it up as high as it will go.

Once you are high enough, jump and glide across to the platform to get the chest. This one also contains a Large Zonaite Charge.

Now all you need to do is head back down to the water wheel and use Sidon's ranged attack to get it moving.

Congratulations! You've now activated all of the pipes in the Water Temple. Now all you need to do is head back to the main Zonai Gate in the middle of the Temple and try to activate it.

Get ready though, before you can truly save Zora's Domain, you need to fight the Water Temple boss. Good luck!

Needing help with the other TOTK temples? Check-out our walkthrough for the Lightning Temple, Fire Temple and Wind Temple.