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. tzs · 1791150619 · focus · HN ↗

            The majority of current large data centers use open-loop evaporative water cooling which does in fact consume water.

            Most of the consumer water is evaporated but that leaves behind dissolved solids and minerals and so some of the water is used to clean that out. That water also often contains additives like biocides, anti-scale agents, and corrosion inhibitors.

            This water is discharged into the sewer system or to municipal wastewater treatment facilities.

            Here's an article on the various ways data centers can be cooled and what effect each has on water usage [1].

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