Aquifers in Dwarf Fortress are underground layers of soil or stone that produce water. There are two types of aquifers: Light and Heavy. It’s imperative to avoid Heavy Aquifers since this will cause flooding in your fortress. But if you want to use Light Aquifers, this guide will help you build and secure an indoor source of fresh water.
Easy Light Aquifers Guide in Dwarf Fortress

When building your own water source with Light Aquifers, the first thing that you need to do is gather enough wood or stone.

The next thing you need to do is find the ideal spot to make your 2×2 tile. Click and drag the tiles after pressing M to build a staircase leading you down.

The idea is to go down two layers simultaneously and create a staircase as you go down. Once you hit the water icon, delete the current staircase and go up by two layers to dig into the aquifers.

Once you dig through the aquifers, extend the tiles into a 4×4 as shown in the picture above. Then, the next you need to do is press B and go to the Construction menu and build walls around it.
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Go back up to the first layer and dig four horizontal tiles and press Channel Mining (u).

Dig around it just like how you make a Well. In time the small tile will be filled with fresh water for you to use.

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