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[Xharlie]

At least the west half of my 4x4 embark has an aquifer, according to the pre-embark warnings and biome inspection.

From underground (or otherwise), how do I safely dig down into the aquifer or expose it such that I can build a well above it?

[DeusMortem]

well digging down in the area you suspect to have a aquifer using up-/down-stairways (designate one at a time) is pretty safe since it exposes the layer underneath and you can check with "k" if the stone/soil is damp.
If it is you found the aquifer and u can dig out a 5x5 area (or bigger) on the layer above the damp one. in the middle of that u can channel safely (whatever that means with dwarfs ) 3 3x1 rows (again one row at a time) so that u get a 3x3 hole into the aquifer with no ramp in the middle. It is important that the miners always have a tile to stand on when channeling down in dangerous terrain.
Now build floor over the remaining ramps and a well in the middle tile as many level above as u like.

(not sure if you could get a well to work on a ramped tile i never tried it just assumed it wouldn't work, but this way you ll have a working well for sure)

[LMeire]

well digging down in the area you suspect to have a aquifer using up-/down-stairways (designate one at a time) is pretty safe since it exposes the layer underneath and you can check with "k" if the stone/soil is damp.
If it is you found the aquifer and u can dig out a 5x5 area (or bigger) on the layer above the damp one. in the middle of that u can channel safely (whatever that means with dwarfs ) 3 3x1 rows (again one row at a time) so that u get a 3x3 hole into the aquifer with no ramp in the middle. It is important that the miners always have a tile to stand on when channeling down in dangerous terrain.
Now build floor over the remaining ramps and a well in the middle tile as many level above as u like.

(not sure if you could get a well to work on a ramped tile i never tried it just assumed it wouldn't work, but this way you ll have a working well for sure)

Ramps don't block well-use, they just ensure there's a floor that might get mud in the bucket and make it useless for hospitals.

[Xharlie]

If I channel on the layer above the damp layer, wouldn't that just leave me with an exposed layer of damp stuff?

Or is it that digging removes the current layer and channelling actually removes the layer below... along with the 'floor sublayer' between them?

[pisskop]

Yup  you don't want dwarves drinking muddy water.  ramps block well access, and wells require at least 3/7 of water below them.

In order to ensure that wells don't dreg up . . . dreg you have to use water at least two deep.  In short, aquifers alone aren't sufficient to provide wells without tampering.

Tampering may include pumping it out to make it deeper (if the aquifer is only one tile deep it should make a small infinite supply) collapsing a cork onto it, and perhaps collapsing the cork again for more depth (actually a favored method of mine, as I can just make the grand hall the above ground well-site.  It looks good and functions), or wait for it to freeze.  On fairly uneven ground or at the borders of biomes (or careful manipulation of ores) you can create a suitable location with caution.

http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2012:Aquifer#Dealing_with_aquifers

In general sandy aquifers make you hate life.

I would recommend you make a cistern of any groundwater or wait for winter in freezing biomes before trying to run a well to the aquifer, unless you feel okay making a cork.  Also a thought, if you make a (large) cistern below the aquifer, you can put a barrier up and link it up and pierce it from below.  Just as secure, if you don't mess up.  But a mistake in the planning would mean infinite water pouring into you secure fortress.

[greycat]

In order to ensure that wells don't dreg up . . . dreg you have to use water at least two deep.  In short, aquifers alone aren't sufficient to provide wells without tampering.

Honestly, I don't do these things, and it's never been a problem for me.  I've had fortresses where the wells were sitting atop single-tile Channels into an aquifer, with the hospital built nearby -- well stocked with soap -- and didn't have any dwarves dropping from infection.

[Snaake]

Possibly you haven't had problems, and 1-tile, 1-deep aquifer wells can work, because AFAIK water needs to flow to muddy the floor, and the sprinklings/piles of mud are what lace the water with.mud? The idea being that when an exposed aquifer tile creates water in an adjacent tile, no flow ever happens, so it's ok...

[Cobbler89]

If I channel on the layer above the damp layer, wouldn't that just leave me with an exposed layer of damp stuff?

Or is it that digging removes the current layer and channelling actually removes the layer below... along with the 'floor sublayer' between them?

If by "digging" you mean mining, the latter is correct. I think channelling also digs out the current layer if it hasn't already been dug out (it doesn't make any sense to remove the floor sublayer otherwise, and it would be odd to be able to channel out part of the layer below from a tile other than the one actually above it, leaving no actual opening between the two layers).

And then (not that it's relevant here) there's the little-used but occassionally invaluable "carve upwards ramp", which has the same result as channelling (two layers and the floor between them dug out, ramp between the two layers established) but is done from the lower layer rather than the upper layer.

I remember mining vs. channelling being one of the main things I had to learn when I first started the game, along with the difference between constructions and designations where they create some of the same things (such as fortifications or stairs), and the difference between making a chair at a workshop and building it at a location. I imagine DF would be a lot more accessible if there were simply in-game explanations to convey these sorts of distinctions, or what such actions and menu items actually do.