Data center used 30 million gallons of water without initially paying

Can AI save us from the AI industry’s endless thirst for water? Outlook not so good.

See full article...

 

[quamquam quid loquor]

An investigation conducted by utility officials in Georgia’s Fayette County found that the Quality Technology Services (QTD) facility had two industrial-scale water hookups that weren’t being monitored. “One water connection had been installed without the utility’s knowledge, and the other was not linked to the company’s account and therefore wasn’t being billed,” Politico reported.

How does an industrial water connection get installed without a utility's knowledge? I've worked with thousands of utilities and none of them have ever had this problem.

Smells like good old fashioned corruption.

 

[Tridus]

The fact that they weren't even fined for this "because that's customer service" is an absolute joke and shows that the people involved are either corrupt or grossly incompetent. Voters are going to have to solve these problems by mass removal of every official involved until they get the message.

 

[msawzall]

“They’re our largest customer, and we have to be partners,” Tigert said. “It’s called customer service.”

"And did we mention they have money? We like money."

 

[Callias]

“It’s called customer service.”

Ah, no. No it is not. It’s called letting one customer NOT play by the rules but enforcing those rules on everyone else who doesn’t have briefcases of “free speech” to pass under the table.

Pretty sure our water utility slaps fines on PEOPLE who exceed their water limits. Maybe in this case, companies aren’t people?

 

[Mechjaz]

Where's that commenter that so helpfully told me data centers use less water than I do?

Meanwhile, being the biggest thief seems to be the best insurance of all. Once they start starving the water table by capturing even more of it... Time to buy cactus futures in Georgia.

 

[Collin155]

To put into perspective that’s about 240 homes usage for a year. (Assuming family of 4 with a lower than midpoint average usage)

(I think article said it was spread over 15 months)

 

[Dark Jaguar]

Where's that commenter that so helpfully told me data centers use less water than I do?

Meanwhile, being the biggest thief seems to be the best insurance of all. Once they start starving the water table by capturing even more of it... Time to buy cactus futures in Georgia.

They'll probably point out other industries are ALSO using way too much water, as if that somehow absolves these data centers. Yes, I'm upset that the coca cola bottling plants are consuming far too much water as well.

 

[Fatesrider]

How does an industrial water connection get installed without a utility's knowledge? I've worked with thousands of utilities and none of them have ever had this problem.

Smells like good old fashioned corruption.

As does this:

Additionally, QTS emphasized that after construction, the facility’s water needs will drastically drop.

I'd be REALLY interested in how a data center under construction will use MORE water than one that's actively requiring cooling to operate.

Gonna bet the water district board members all have nice, fat, off-shore, off the record accounts they can tap anytime.

 

[theparchitect]

They'll probably point out other industries are ALSO using way too much water, as if that somehow absolves these data centers. Yes, I'm upset that the coca cola bottling plants are consuming far too much water as well.

Although at least people drink most of the bottling plant water....

edit: I guess I shouldn't say most since I really have no idea, but more than the data centers water.

 

[House of Propane]

To put into perspective that’s about 240 homes usage for a year. (Assuming family of 4 with a lower than midpoint average usage)

(I think article said it was spread over 15 months)

Alternatively, the planned Rivian manufacturing plant for Georgia would use 60 data centers worth of water (4million gallons per DAY): https://www.eenews.net/articles/georgia-ev-plant-backed-by-the-climate-law-sparks-water-war/

 

[thadco]

Just in case anyone needs a reminder, Water is Life.

I love computers. I love electronics. I love technology in most forms. However, I love life even more than those other things. Does anyone disagree? I sure hope not.

While technology and life can coexist just fine and often benefit the other, one of those things matters a lot more than the other. I'm not sure that everyone involved in AI and such fully consider that undeniable fact as often as they should.

 

[numerobis]

Can AI save us from the AI industry’s endless thirst for water? Outlook not so good.

That's why I use gmail instead!

Oh wait.

 

[MlautheFilthy]

I mean, somebody did notice:

"and some reported sudden decreases in water pressure"

 

[lastskpirate]

Why not just require the data centers to use a closed loop cooling system? There's one being built near me in western Canada, and they were required to do that there.

 

[Dark Jaguar]

Although at least people drink most of the bottling plant water....

edit: I guess I shouldn't say most since I really have no idea, but more than the data centers water.

"Steve, look, when we installed the water fountain it was with a strict understanding. The workers drink the water only on odd or even days, depending on the first letter of their last name. Now, you drink that cup of water, that's on the company dime! Now, you spit that water back up, that's the computer's water! Either we're cooling it with water or with blood, your choice. Steve, Steve now don't be dramatic about this. It's the same thing we did last time, you don't need ALL of that blood now do you?"

 

[chekk]

Related story:
https://news.azpm.org/p/azpmnews/20...perly-used-tucson-water-city-has-shut-it-off/
Credit for story link to this post.

Some will say these are relatively small amounts of water relative to aggregate consumption, but the trend is on the up. Data centers in water restricted areas like Arizona (or the Middle East) seem poorly thought out and then asking other residents to conserve water? Wut?

 

[BostonJosé]

All this for hardware that depreciates drastically (fully?) in like 3 years..?

The atmosphere is retaining more water (hoter air suspends more water) and the continents are drying at a planetary scale. But we can afford "hyperscale" water usage... for data centers........ in Arizona,,,,,,,,,

This insanity is what Government is meant to be prevent. This can not be left to "the open market" to regulate, but must be oaganized from the top, systematically and quantitatively. Every watershed has a max. water capacity/flux, but these little fiefdoms seem to believe they can just permit themselves out of a water crunch?!

 

[Rirere]

Why not just require the data centers to use a closed loop cooling system? There's one being built near me in western Canada, and they were required to do that there.

As the article explains, in addition to data centers that aren't using such systems, there are one-off costs associated with construction that are significant and decidedly not closed-loop.

 

[iollmann]

Although at least people drink most of the bottling plant water....

edit: I guess I shouldn't say most since I really have no idea, but more than the data centers water.

People are the old bad way of doing things. With enough AI, we won’t need the bottling plant anymore. Humans are so last millennium.

 

[Juggernaut_408]

Ban AI it’s brought nothing but slop, corruption and grifters like the trumps.

 

[bthest]

Ban AI it’s brought nothing but slop, corruption and grifters like the trumps.

I'm so sick hearing about how the knife that's being plunged into our throats can be "still be useful in the right hands." Yeah don't care. Burn it all to the ground at all costs.

 

[Coriolanus]

Rather than having the datacenter pay $150,000, the utility should have required the datacenter to replace the 30 million gallons they used.

 

[iollmann]

But we can afford "hyperscale" water usage... for data centers........ in Arizona,,,,,,,,, [?!]

This insanity is what Government is meant to be prevent.

Here is the 2026 update for those who lost the plot: words no longer mean things. One arbitrary bit of word salad is as information content rich as the next bit of word salad. They are vibrations in the air signifying nothing. We used to say “Speak to the hand!” but we don’t bother with the hand anymore. We speak as needed to change minds of the sad creatures still stuck in the 70s, while we acknowledge that to the government, only dollars convey actually information content now. Your voice is mute.

 

[MagStone]

This is a deep red part of GA, where the residents likely voted to keep taxes low and gut services like water and planning.
Also Georgia has suffered drought conditions for decades and the state willfully ignores any opportunity to improve things. For example, by not building data centers.

Edit to add: for some idea of the local flavor, Fayetteville is where Hosea Williams had a brick thrown at his head during a civil rights march. In the 1980s, not the 1960s.

 

[numerobis]

Why not just require the data centers to use a closed loop cooling system? There's one being built near me in western Canada, and they were required to do that there.

It would make billionaires slightly less rich.

 

[Seraphiel]

People would probably not be opposed to these things if they were required to

a) supply their own power via renewable sources
b) properly recycle their used water
c) mitigate the noise

But the parasites trying to poison everything with LLM slop were too greedy and too short-sighted.

And, we're just starting to learn many of them have been entering into (totally illegitimate and unenforceable) confidentiality agreements with local governments, so the humans trying to live in the areas blighted by datacenter sprawl aren't even allowed to know the terms under which they've been sold out by their own supposed representatives.

 

[OtherSystemGuy]

To avoid disastrous consequences for the country’s water supply, groups recommended that Congress pass laws requiring comprehensive environmental reviews prior to construction.

They also want Congress to commit to rejecting “any legislation that would fast-track permitting and development for hyperscale, artificial intelligence, and other conventional data centers” through the end of this legislative session.

With the current administration? Not gunna happen.

 

[Argent Claim]

I like how we get data centers poorly concealing their resource issues like this, as it releases us from the obligation of thinking they'll be honest with anything else.

 

[plugh]

I see two issues here:
On one: the data center not paying for water until it was billed for it doesn't seem like something that should result in a fine.

On the other: the data center got a water connection "without the utility’s knowledge." That seems pretty strongly on the illegal side and counter to any sane utility policies. I'm guessing it's the company going the "ask for forgiveness rather than permission" route. I'm pretty sure if I did that I would get fined and more.

 

[arsisloam]

But, but, if we don't use all the portable water to cool datacenters, I won't be able to keep using AI to build my personal website as quickly. That nobody but me and my friends look at.

/S

 

[frau koujiro]

Also Georgia has suffered drought conditions for decades and the state willfully ignores any opportunity to improve things. For example, by not building data centers.

As a lifelong resident of this state, I implore anyone else reading this to go out and vote in the state supreme court election on May 19 (early voting ends on May 15), as well as in the general election in November!

A lot of key offices (including 2 spots on the Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities state-wide) are being contested, not to mention the countless local offices which have a real impact on whether or not we stand up to these parasitic companies.

Edit: this also applies to anywhere else in the states with these positions being contested in this year's elections. While the national elections are vitally important, state and local elections are also huge!

 

[nimble]

Why not just require the data centers to use a closed loop cooling system? There's one being built near me in western Canada, and they were required to do that there.

Because it's every corporation's God-given right to leech off public resources, and anything else would be business-hating socialism.

 

[Wheels Of Confusion]

This is a deep red part of GA, where the residents likely voted to keep taxes low and gut services like water and planning.
Also Georgia has suffered drought conditions for decades and the state willfully ignores any opportunity to improve things. For example, by not building data centers.

TFA:

However, residents are likely still stinging after receiving county notices recommending they restrict their water consumption due to ongoing drought conditions in the area. And some have lost trust in both QTS and the county.
[...]
For residents in embattled areas like Fayette County, questions about water remain.
Although QTS plans to use a closed-loop cooling system that does not consume water for cooling when the data center is online, construction, which is draining far more water, is expected to continue for up to five more years, Politico reported.
Additionally concerning to residents, data centers relying on “electricity-hungry equipment” for cooling “often entails a trade-off,” Politico noted.

The Politico story:

The neighbors of a data center in Georgia are steaming after they discovered the facility had sucked up nearly 30 million gallons of water — without initially paying for it.
Outrage started bubbling up last year when residents of an affluent subdivision named Annelise Park in Fayetteville, Georgia, noticed their water pressure was unusually low.
[...]
The incident became public last week when a county resident obtained the 2025 letter to QTS through a public records request and posted it on Facebook, prompting outrage from residents concerned about the data center’s water consumption.
[...]
One resident said frustration with data centers boiled over after local officials told community members to scale back their water usage.
“We get this notification from Fayette County water system saying you need to stop watering your lawns to help conserve water,” said James Clifton, an attorney and property rights advocate who obtained and shared the 2025 letter to QTS.
“So the first thing they do is lean on the individuals and the citizens to stop water consumption when we have QTS that’s just absolutely draining us — most months it’s the No. 1 consumer of water in the county,” said Clifton, who is also running for a seat on the Fayette County Board of Commissioners.
[...]
While the utility charged the data center a higher construction rate for the unapproved water consumption, Tigert confirmed the utility did not penalize or fine the data center.
That decision has some residents stewing.
“It’s just frustrating to see them come into our community and run all over us like the citizens don’t matter, and then they’re above the law when they do break it,” Clifton said.

Let's give them some credit for now and leave open the possibility they may vote out the bastards based on the sting of this demonstration.

I kinda wish point of references would be mentioned when talking about this stuff. 30 million gallons of water is about the amount of water in 45 olympic size pools.

But what is that in Rhode Island Units?

 

[Dumb Svengali]

“They’re our largest customer, and we have to be partners,” Tigert said. “It’s called customer service.”

Yeah you wouldn't want to lose them as customers. If they get mad at us for enforcing the laws they could pack up their 615 acres of campus and 65 buildings and skedattle!

 

[Dark Jaguar]

I'm so sick hearing about how the knife that's being plunged into our throats can be "still be useful in the right hands." Yeah don't care. Burn it all to the ground at all costs.

Agreed. We get called Luddites, here on a tech site where we're usually pretty excited about upcoming tech. But, this is in the same bin as cryptocurrency, NFTs, and... heck the Kinect? Remember when MS considered that such an important pillar of the XBox One they included one in every box and said it was mandatory, couldn't work without it? They later revealed it wasn't so mandatory. I'm so happy the carbonite is gone. Anyway, I accept the Kinect as the quirky accessory it was because THAT thing didn't involve destabilizing the entire planet.

 

[bthest]

This is a deep red part of GA, where the residents likely voted to keep taxes low and gut services like water and planning.
Also Georgia has suffered drought conditions for decades and the state willfully ignores any opportunity to improve things. For example, by not building data centers.

Edit to add: for some idea of the local flavor, Fayetteville is where Hosea Williams had a brick thrown at his head during a civil rights march. In the 1980s, not the 1960s.

I get it, a lot of people do deserve to live next to a data center and worse but focusing on local civic failures at this late stage is shifting the responsibility away from the world destroying primary actors and forces (capitalism) that is doing this.

 

[anon11472]

I'm so sick hearing about how the knife that's being plunged into our throats can be "still be useful in the right hands." Yeah don't care. Burn it all to the ground at all costs.

I have no patience for people who are excusing the major downfalls of ai because it could, theoretically, maybe, have upsides, somewhere.

The "cure cancer" mantra is the one I hear most often but of course if you even dig into that as an upside what they mean is, "Help doctors screen patients to aid in early detection," which is good...but that's not a cure.

But honestly, even if we engage with ai's most positive exaggerations as true the reality is that the people bragging aren't working on those things. Grok is not working on cancer research. Nano Banana won't heal grandma. The overwhelming majority of time, effort, and capital is going towards ai projects that exist only as a way to generate capital, steal data, and fend off competing products.

Those grandiose claims are required to try to convince people to ignore the very real negatives. If you make a tool that helped people write code faster, it should sell itself; you don't need to exaggerate. But when your tool manages to disrupt global consumer electronics prices and can also generate CSAM on request suddenly you need to claim it's going to cure cancer to fend off the bad PR.