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[Niddhoger]

Toady has said in one of the DFtalks that aquifers aren't meant to be be breached in their vurrent state, or at least he hadn't imagined players would manage to do so. He probably intends to add some new feature in the future to make dealing with the water table a little more straightforward.

I'm of the opinion that aquifer breaching is a manly sort of endeavor which every overseer should aspire to undertake at least once during their career.

Also, if you are frustrated by 'useless' features I would quietly back away from Dwarf Fortress, and pursue some other meta-complete video game.

Yeah, what are you, an ELF!?

In all seriousness though... there are about 6 different methods to pierce an aquifer.  Only two require pumps.  Some require semi-exploits like creating edge-of-the-map drains and the fact that aquifers both endlessly create and infinitely absorb water.  You can make an easy to drain, easy to fill drowning chamber so damned easy with an aquifer it feels like cheating.  Just build one over an aquifer and you'll only need one pump to fill it and one drain to empty it. 

As mentioned, you can use them for a safe-cistern.  Just tap it from underneath and build a bridge to start/stop the flow.  Nothing will ever swim into your fort through it! They are usually clean fresh water as well, so no need to cleanse it.  If you want to cast obsidian, you have an infinite tap at your disposal. 

However, if you -really- don't want to even attempt to pierce one of them (elf), you can just not settle near lakes, rivers, and oceans.  Or go into the RAWs and find-delete every mention of "aquifers" before generating a world (elf).

[flatlander]

They are fun. I also used to play on a laptop and trust me... for laptops they are a godsend for cutting down on moving water.

[Salmeuk]

Yeah, after a few I should probably own up that once you've pierced one or two it's best to mod out the deadly AQUA FER, since the best embarks with the best minerals (those being river canyons) are almost always coupled with aquifers. I find their piercing brings me away from the tales of the fortress, instead requiring a clinical assessment of gameplay mechanics that bores me to death.

The wiki article on aquifers provides an explanation on how to do that. It's as easy as cntrl-f'ing [AQUIFER] for three different text files, and can give a DF noob some much needed respite when learning the ropes.

[PatrikLundell]

I'm partially repeating what others have said:

Aquifers are a good safe source of infinite water both for wells and for obsidian casting. In addition to that, you can also use them to power water wheels for power, either by flowing the water off the edge or into a portable drain, or through induction of flow into aquifer slits.

Aquifers are a very real phenomenon in the physical world (all wells rely on them, for instance). And, if you don't like them, just turn them off, as there's a parameter for that.

Piercing them is a bit of a pain, but there is a range of methods to do that: The double-slit, freezing, cave-in, ore/gem cluster piercing, and, of course, partial aquifers, where only a part of the embark has an aquifer, making it easy to just dig down outside the aquifer while reaping the full benefits of one.

You can also use aquifers as part of the challenge of an embark.

[taptap]

Aquifers are just so useful, that I don't understand people, who willingly embark at places without. I personally use them as 1) water source a) for plumbing b) for fluid logic c) for traps d) for obsidian casting e) for agriculture f) for happiness (mist/waterfalls), 2) playground (swimming training), 3) source of mechanical power, 4) source of fun.

In places without surface water, you really need aquifers to have a reliable water source as caverns can leave you stranded without or very limited water. Aquifers are luckily fairly common in desert areas and this is where I tend to embark. Coping with and recovering from flooding in your fortress is also a jolly good challenge. Definitely more memorable than the umpteenths goblin invasion, water was the major challenge for mining operations irl as well, one of the first areas, where steam engines saw application ...

[Aleksanderus]

I still think that getting water from caverns is better than getting it from aquifers

[BigD145]

Fact: aquifers are real

Double slit is not that hard to do, and once done you're done. They take minimal preparation and can be accomplished with fewer than 7 dwarfs. You just have to focus on the task for a bit.

[Dunamisdeos]

You kids and your groundwater. I have an aquifer that is at least 8z deep.

That aside, I usually love having a partial aquifer, as it allows for easy underground water distribution systems.

[Bumber]

I still think that getting water from caverns is better than getting it from aquifers

If you don't mind building a pump stack.

[Torrenal]

Ew, pumpstack?

I'll be setting up my barracks above the aquifer, channeling out holes into it for impromptu swimming training during class.  Tried doing that without the aquifer, the results were ~fun~.  With the aquifer I don't need to worry about dwarves getting swept around in some underground pool.

Aquifers are a nuisance to learn how to pierce, but the ideas involved are not hard.  Usually I just go around them, but when push comes to shove (or the layers don't give me any easy gaps), I muscle through with double-slit.

Other things in DF that are a nuisance to learn:

• Minecarts
• Automated FB Web farms
• Obsidian Casting
• Lava Elevators (all kinds)
• Eggs
• etc

The game is full of stuff that takes time and patience to learn.  Doesn't mean its better off without all those features.

//Torrenal