Thread

1. aliasxneo · 1791145670 · focus · HN ↗

   I lived in a smaller rural town near a Google datacenter. During my career there I had routinely come across some outlandish accusations made about our water/power usage from the locals. But for obvious reasons I could never dispute them. I remember we hired a local who'd grown up in the town and he was "really surprised" when he started to see what we were doing to remain efficient.

   The current data center craze just feels like the same thing but on a bigger scale.

   1. bix6 · 1791146583 · focus · HN ↗

      Ok and? This wouldn’t be an issue if google et al would just share the numbers instead of hiding behind NDAs and whatever else.

      1. fastball · 1791146906 · focus · HN ↗

         Are you sure? People think water for data centers is "consumed", like the output is sewage or something. Giving those people concrete numbers is not gonna change such misconceptions (and that's assuming they look at such numbers in reasonable relative terms in the first place).

         1. collingreen · 1791148130 · focus · HN ↗

            Seems easy enough to report multiple numbers and be clear on what water comes in (can even separate initial filling/construction from ongoing usage) vs what gets lost and what comes out as waste. I think people can understand this and it isn't a good enough reason to not share the numbers.

            1. TehCorwiz · 1791148857 · focus · HN ↗

               There are so many facets that numbers alone don't cover:

               Are they drawing from a flowing source or an aquifer? Is it depleting a limited resource?

               Is it evaporative or does the waste get discharged?

               Is the waste water treated for the metal that it leaches from the cooling system?

               Is it allowed to reach thermal equilibrium first or is the water discharged warm which can cause algae blooms or other problems?

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