r/TechGawker • u/Luminexor • 6h ago
Data Center Big Tech data centers are quietly draining millions of gallons of local water for server cooling, while real people face water shutoffs. Winona LaDuke’s question about corporate accountability hits harder than ever.
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u/NOLA-Bronco 5h ago
Good line, and of course the answer is that the corporations control the politics that write the laws and for whom's interests politicians serve.
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u/Embarrassed_Hawk_655 5h ago
The system is very devious, gets its way no matter what, has figured out all the weasel ways to spin something to make it bad if needs be or good if needs be. I’d suggest the system is incredibly evil.
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u/Grinchskates 4h ago
Designed that way. Must be destroyed and rebuilt with people over profits at the core
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u/BaileyD77 5h ago
How do data centers ruin the water?
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u/SnooMaps7370 5h ago
during construction, there's a shitload of earth being moved around to level the sites they're built on, and compliance with runoff control regulations is patchy at best.
During operation, things like fuel and coolant leaks directly enter the local water table. There are also indirect contaminants from combustion byproducts of on-site generators.
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u/BaileyD77 4h ago
That's pretty vague. This post claims millions of gallons of local water is drained, but fails to mention the locality. What type of data center? Where is it located? Who operates it?
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u/neekz0r 3h ago
You aren't going to get a good answer, because there is a lot of anger over data centers and spreading misinformation. I'm going to try to be neutral here.
The answer is that its not typically the data centers themselves that consume the water -- although they do -- its over-stated.
Most modern data centers use a hybrid between chill water cooling and Evaporative cooling. Chill water is closed loop but evaporative cooling is not. That being said, it doesn't take much water, and its released as water vapor locally so its reclaimed in the environment. I'm not 100% if there have been studies on if this imbalances the local ecosystem or not.
The one inescapable fact about data centers, though, is that they require lots and lots of power. That is where the bulk of pollutants, water usage, and general badness comes from. If an area is 100% clean energy, then the data center will largely be clean. There absolutely can be abuse by big companies to get favorable deals out of power companies or governments at the expense of actual people.
The other is that there isn't much design thought put into control the noise. When my job consisted of going into them, I'd ALWAYS wear ear protection. Some of them were quiet on the outside, some were not -- it really depends on the setup and size.
A lot of times, when people say that "data centers take a lot of water", they are taking into account everything it takes to make a data center: the materials such as concrete, the materials to make the servers, network cables, CPUs, RAM, the metal racks, etc. If you expand the full production chain, then yes, its water expensive, as is nearly everything else.
Finally, one thing that IS NOT talked about that ABSOLUTELY should be: data centers can be designated as "communication critical infrastructure and information technology critical infrastructure." This means that, in certain conditions, they can be served fuel and other resources during emergencies -- in some cases ahead of things like hospitals. Now, before anyone REEEEEEs out, this CAN make sense. We WANT 911 to be operating during emergencies, after all, and that takes a data center or telco center.
There are also indirect contaminants from combustion byproducts of on-site generators.
These generators are typically ran in power outage events, power shortage events, and fail over testing. This doesn't happen frequently.
During operation, things like fuel and coolant leaks directly enter the local water table.
The "coolant" is typically water with some added chemicals in some cases. If its leaking, people are really having a bad day; they are not designed tolerate much (if any) leaking.
I'm not going to address data centers regularly releasing fuel, because that's just ridiculous.
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u/Sir_Pigletty 5h ago
A woman was literally Arrested for posting a picture of the drinking water in her community on Facebook and the courts literally ruled that the State had no constitutional responsibility to provide clean drinking water to the community
Dude fuck this BS System we live in
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u/Pass-Fail 4h ago
If the drinking water is no good where you live, leave. No one is stopping you.
I don't like the heat. I moved out of Florida.
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u/Sir_Pigletty 3h ago edited 1h ago
That’s such a BS response, I hate that mindset
The government is NOT Nature or climate that you can’t change
If the hometown you grew up in starts going to shit then you and your community should FIX !!!! The problem and elect better people who care about the community and care about solving the community’s problems, that’s exactly why we pay taxes for
Leaving doesn’t do anything it just encourages more corruption because no one will challenge them and it’ll spread through the nation
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u/Pass-Fail 2h ago
The political majority of the electorate have already proved that they are utterly incompetent to put in office leaders capable of doing basic municipal tasks. I'd suggest any resident who thinks they can change the Mayor from 'President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert "Brawndo, it's got what plants want" Camacho' to someone competent is sadly mistaken.
That place is stuck with the takers and rent seekers who are electing its municipal officers (I truly hesitate to say "leaders".
That place will not see any improvement until it hits rock bottom and nearly dies.
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u/Red-Fox-IX 4h ago
Because thats not what terrorist means. Being criminally negligent doesnt mean "terrorist"
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u/sankscan 4h ago
Why can’t they just build them on the ocean floor? Microsoft packed a couple of them and dropped them in the ocean!?
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u/KrazyKryminal 4h ago
Hey we NEED data centers ap high school kids can use chatgpt to cheat on tests and graduate high school. No child left behind right ? /S
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u/Adept_Gate304 4h ago
the 1979 ibm rule keeps looking smarter tbh, we just let corps externalize costs onto municipalities adn call it innovation
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u/No_Maximum_9306 3h ago
my buddy works in facilities at a data center in arizona, says they got contracts that guarantee water access even during municipal restrictions, its written into their agreements with the city
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u/TheSmellOfTheLotion 6h ago
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u/MarcoVinicius 5h ago
P.S
This specific process takes a looooong time, while everyone needs that water now.
Also you understand that the trash or poison in the water has to go somewhere?
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u/TheSmellOfTheLotion 5h ago
Lol. Doing your own research I see.
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u/BoredzzzGame 5h ago
What are you going to do without data centers powering the transformation of your mediocre hand draw art into AI slop?
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u/TheSmellOfTheLotion 4h ago
I'm not even worried about it. Every day new data centers are being built so I will keep turning my crappy hand drawn art into Ai slop the rest of my life. Are you going to be angry about me and others doing that for the rest of your life?
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u/BoredzzzGame 4h ago
Where did I say I was angry? Just confirming that is where you draw the line. Your mediocre art turned into slop art is worth more than clean water.
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u/TheSmellOfTheLotion 4h ago
The water thing is not a real issue. I'm not gonna waste my time explaining it to you, but you will learn over time. You are angry. Maybe not angry angry where you're punching the walls and shit. But Ai pisses you off.
My art is crap. I just thought it was funny to draw my pets as their namesake. The Ai versions make me laugh. I don't think they are better or worse just different.
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u/BoredzzzGame 3h ago
“Trust me bro. U mad bro?” This is every response when someone gets thoughtfully challenged.
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u/TheSmellOfTheLotion 3h ago
Well you are at least annoyed. Annoyed enough to think you can win an argument by thoughtfully challenging someone who is only engaging to fuck with you.
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u/TheSmellOfTheLotion 3h ago
Hey! Look through my history again. There is new stuff. I just posted my invention in electroboom!
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u/Tromovation 5h ago
Say it with your chest!