Thread

1. motionlessveloc · 1791146077 · focus · HN ↗

   I don't really understand the hand-wringing about data centers and water. Unlike fossil fuels, when you "use" water, it doesn't go away, it goes back out into the environment. And since DCs use it for cooling, not some industrial process, it doesn't even contaminate the water in any meaningful way.

   The one exception is if they're using fossil water pumped from aquifers, which doesn't renew (back into the aquifer that is), but nobody seems to bother to make the distinction.

   1. bix6 · 1791146777 · focus · HN ↗

      IMO the water thing is a distraction. It gets people quibbling over water instead of asking bigger questions about the data center.

      1. 0xbadcafebee · 1791146885 · focus · HN ↗

         Fresh water supply has been on a downward trend for years. We are already looking at a future without enough fresh water, before the new datacenters come into play. The datacenters are being installed in some of the driest areas of the country that were already water stressed. In some cases they can also contaminate local water systems.

         1. bix6 · 1791147766 · focus · HN ↗

            I’m not disagreeing with that but it fundamentally feels like a misdirection. It’s easily hand waved away eg “it uses less than a golf course” and yet it’s still a constant media talking point.

            1. [deleted] · 1791174493 · focus · HN ↗

               [deleted]

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