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[MetalGear]

So, despite being a complete noob, I want to embark on an aquifier so I can get water while saving some FPS. I looked up some methods of dealing with them on the wiki, but I'm not sure which one is the best. I like the pump method because it doesn't seem to require any special conditions. Assuming I embark on a site with only one aquifier layer, is there a better way?

[JarinArenos]

FPS is only an issue with rivers. I'd recommend you get water from pools, which dot nearly all areas. Embark someplace temperate, and you'll have plenty of water for farming purposes. Aquifers are not for anyone even remotely noobish. I still refuse to mess with them.

[mrbaggins]

Without having actually embarked on an aquifer, if you're going the pump method I THINK you need a non-flat area so that you can get stone as well... Or can everything pump-wise be made of wood?

[gtmattz]

Now this may simply be my personal opinion, but collapsing a block of soil/rock into a corresponding area that has been channeled out of the aquifer is extremely simple to execute, and can be accomplished with nothing more than a pick and some planning, and can be taken care of immediately upon embark.  There are some diagrams on the wiki that detail the method.

[plisskin]

I also endorse the plug method, worked great for my first aquifer and is much easier to do early-on.

Here's how in one easy piece: channel out a chunk of rock at least 6x6 in size, bigger is better I've found due to damp stone issues. Build an up staircase on stable ground and then build a down staircase or up/down staircase over that. Build a floor reaching off of the staircase construction over the square chunk of rock. Build a support between the floor, which is one Z-level up since you built it off of the side of the second level of those stairs, and the rock chunk. Channel the chunk out on all sides, and make sure it's at least 3 Z-layers thick and that it's right over the aquifer. Dig the bottom layer of it out so that it's only supported by the support-floor-stairs construction. Then hook up a lever to the support, clear all dwarves out of the area, and then pull the lever. The chunk crashes through the aquifer and you dig stairs down through the middle of it.

The wiki has diagrams if you need a visual aid, but I like to hear myself talk so here you are.

[BigD145]

I still refuse to mess with them.

You're no fun...

[shlorf]

You can make whole pumps from wood (wood block, wooden pipe section, wooden corkscrew). That said the pump method is good if the aquifer is high up (no soil layers above to collapse into the aquifer layer). If you want to use mechanical power you will need some stone. For the cave-in method you should also bring some stone (3 - enough to make mechanisms to connect a lever to a support), so you can collapse your plug from far away.
More than 1 layer (or one layer that is conglomerate), I wouldn't recommend to someone who's still new to the game. Try to beat one layer first.

[Haruspex_Pariah]

I've tackled aquifers twice; once unsuccessfully and the second time successfully.

I can only recommend the plug technique because it's the only one I used. Make sure your dorfs are far away when you drop it. Even if they're not directly under the target area, the knockback from all the dust can break limbs. My first plug attempt failed to get through and severely wounded a miner. That kind of injury can be deadly serious if your hospitals and water supplies have not been established.

[o_O[WTFace]]

Everyone should try the pump method at least once, its just so dwarfy.  Water leaks, babies get pushed into channels, stuff floods, dorfs tantrum, you run out of wood and have to clearcut the map and then the hole isn't big enough and you have to expand it.  Fun times.  Just be sure to bring wood and rocks. 

Plug or freeze is going to be easier though. 

[tolkafox]

It took me five long, grueling years of my dwarves living in offshoot sand rooms (sharing beds nonetheless) barely getting by as far as food is concerned while having nothing to offer to the caravans; when finally, finally, I found out I needed a bigger hole.

If it's one level, have at it; but remember that the pump method takes a long, long time. Never, ever, under any circumstance including fey moods, should you try to break through 3 lvls of aquifer with the pump method.

For added Fun, break through an aquifer in a desert. Bonus points if the land is flat and the aquifer is directly beneath you.