Majority of water use in US is for agriculture and meat production. A significant portion of the agriculture is for producing animal feed like Alfa Alfa in water stressed regions.
Data centers use water but they are a symptom of the broken water allocation in USA
Doesn’t the water evaporate and become part of the water cycle? Water can’t just disappear? Maybe I’m missing something.
It would be good to cut down water usage… Not just for data centers but also for things like lawns and golf courses.
Yes, the hydrological cycle is global, of course none of the water just disappears. What you’re missing is that the usage is local, data servers use mains water most of the time.
Mains water must come from somewhere, the local area has limited processing capabilities, and heavy industrial consumption severely depletes local groundwater reserves faster than natural rainfall can ever replenish them, forcing nearby communities to bear both the ecological and financial costs of a utility network that was almost never designed to handle such strain.
Makes sense - thanks.
If their wastewater is clean and goes back into the usable water supply straight away then that’s fine. But if it flushes into drains or evaporates then you might have to wait a while for it to come back as fresh rain - and land in the right places to fill up the reservoirs.
It might matter how they’re designed/regulated and whether they keep the water clean and usable - which I assume costs more of other resources.
they also pollute water at some point, and the water comes out hotter, and then the datacenter needs to consume water from the area to cool down thier servers. they dont give any water back.
I do not get why evaporative cooling systems are not just forbidden. Cooling can be achieved by simple convection.
Same reason why USA is selling Alfa Alfa after growing it in the desert. It’s “cheaper”
No money for healthcare and no water for showering but endless money and water for datacenters.
what they convince people to do is “not use water or electricity at certain times”. this is pretty much the same thing oil/gas companies telling people to reduce thier emissions.
Healthcare and showers are cost centers.
It never ceases to amaze me how people justify their rent seeking and profiteering at the expense of literally everyone else.
I hope when the bubble pops the sentence for boiling the planet and killing billions is similar to the situation that brought us there.
this time AI isnt rent seeking/profiteering, they are hoping to have those. but they just wan to continue the grift taking it from shareholders.
But look how I can make a kitty wear a uniform in the white house and post it to Facebook!!!
But have you considered that people also consume water? Checkmate, Luddites.
We will just prompt the bots to generate waters
