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[Aleksanderus]

Can someone tell me why aquifiers exist in dwarf fortress and on what are they used for becouse I think that they're useless

[90908]

Can someone tell me why aquifiers exist in dwarf fortress and on what are they used for becouse I think that they're useless

Aquifers  exist to make certain areas o fth egame more challenging, and because Toady probably has some form of simulation fetish.

[therahedwig]

Because it's a realistic challenge that you would come across if you dig next to a river.

The problem is just that you can't make a pump without mechanisms, and dwarves need to be trained not to drown...

[vjek]

Because it's a realistic challenge that you would come across if you dig next to a river.

The problem is just that you can't make a pump without mechanisms, and dwarves need to be trained not to drown...

Pumps only require a block, a pipe, and a giant screw.  To power them with a gear requires a mechanism, that's true, but you can power them manually with dwarves, too.  You can embark with stone, though, if you wish, as well as sand (glass) and/or wood (nether cap) to make all the components magma safe, if desired.
I prefer sites with partial aquifers (typically on the edge of the embark) as they are an infinite source of safe water and an infinite drain, without having to use the map edge, if desired.

Having said all that, sites that are completely covered in a 3+ depth aquifer?  No thank you! 

[Robsoie]

An easy way to deal with aquifer if you do not want to spend time with pump and those hellish multiple aquifer is to simply wait winter and the problem can be solved easily.

Start to channel a large hole from your surface down to the aquifer, then wait for winter.

Once winter come, every tile of aquifer exposed thanks to the hole to the surface cold will immediately freeze, allowing you to actually dig/channel through it without problem.
Do this for multiple layers of aquifer (as they will freeze as soon as they come in contact with the cold coming from the surface) and you'll be able to build stairs right through the multiple aquifer layers that were preventing you to reach deeper layers.

Just remember to wall all around your new stairs , so once spring comes the frozen aquifer tiles turning back into generating water will not go to your stairs.

[Astrid]

Can someone tell me why aquifiers exist in dwarf fortress and on what are they used for becouse I think that they're useless

Technicallynot all that useless. Aquifier are nothing else than groundwater which nowadays many on Earth use as drinking source. Yes as stated toady loves to get into that kind of details.

Yes, that doesnt change the fact that they are sometimes annoying.

[Nagidal]

An easy way to deal with aquifer if you do not want to spend time with pump and those hellish multiple aquifer is to simply wait winter and the problem can be solved easily.

Start to channel a large hole from your surface down to the aquifer, then wait for winter.

Once winter come, every tile of aquifer exposed thanks to the hole to the surface cold will immediately freeze, allowing you to actually dig/channel through it without problem.
Do this for multiple layers of aquifer (as they will freeze as soon as they come in contact with the cold coming from the surface) and you'll be able to build stairs right through the multiple aquifer layers that were preventing you to reach deeper layers.

Just remember to wall all around your new stairs , so once spring comes the frozen aquifer tiles turning back into generating water will not go to your stairs.

This method only works in climates with cold or freezing winter. Not in the milder and warmer climmates, where water does not freeze in the winter.

[Dozebôm Lolumzalěs]

Or just turn them off.

[greycat]

I've pierced aquifers using the cave-in method, but usually I prefer the double-slit method.  It's tedious, but works really well.

[Salmeuk]

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.

[greycat]

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.

Has he... ever read these forums?

[Aleksanderus]

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.

I WILL NEVER GET BACK AWAY FROM DWARF FORTRESS!!! I have played it since 2013 (mainly adventure mode where I know almost everything) I just don't like aquifiers and I'm asking what I can do with them and how to deal with them so better think before posting.

[martinuzz]

They are most certainly not useless. They provide an infinite, FPS friendly water source and water drain. People that really need every point of FPS should play on maps without any river or stream, but with an aquifer. That said, piercing them is fun once or twice, but after that it's just a repetitive drag and pain, especially multi level ones on biomes that are above freezing point all year round.

[Shűl-nak]

Many point to the great beasts of myth as the most pressing threats to our kind - the bronze colossi, the dragons, the forgotten beasts & those of night. Others to rival civilisations - the goblins, elves, or men.

Perhaps.

But my greatest enemy is inescapable. He falls from the air, lives in every ocean, and permeates the ground beneath my feet. He swallows our miners, disgusts our landscape surveyors, and repeatedly cancels the construction jobs we use to tackle his near-ubiquitous influence.

You know the creature of which I speak. The beast of the blue. The Aqua Fur.

It is my quest to become the driest dwarf in the world. I shall seek out the secrets of life and death, and like a prune, expel all the blue beast's influence from my body.

My undead legions shall work tirelessly to empty the seas, bucket by bucket if we must. All the waters of the world shall be emptied into sealed containers far beneath the earth, incinerated upon rivers of magma attended by workers who fear no blistering vapours.

I will wring every last drop of moisture from this world.

Then, and only then, shall I have truly defeated the One True Enemy of dwarfkind.

[KillzEmAllGod]

23a had it good with flooding, Do hope he changes how liquids work because in their current form its never going to allow flooding for rivers without crushing fps.