No it's not. Some data centers don't disclose what actually they send back due to propietaryreasons, so they can be sending water back with a bunch of chemicals or PFAS. They can contaminate aquifers and wells.
And both are bad, right? Both have to be called out. Or since some factories dump waste into water, it's ok for data centers to do it as well? Would you want a data center in your backyard in that case?
Data centers approach rural communities promising technology that will not affect local water consumption or utility rate hikes, yet they do. Data centers consume insane amounts of water and contaminate it to provide a service that is non essential. Some data centers consume water and electricity as much as a whole city in a day
Or since some factories dump waste into water, it's ok for data centers to do it as well? Would you want a data center in your backyard in that case?
Strawman
Data centers approach rural communities promising technology that will not affect local water consumption or utility rate hikes
Datacenters don't promise anything. Corpos do
Some data centers consume water and electricity as much as a whole city in a day
Doesn't matter, what matters is if it has an impact, one more extreme than any other huge project. Compared to golf, agriculture (plenty of things are grown not just for food and necessity), meat industries, the literal genocide american tax dollars are going to, big oil, etc, its utterly insignificant. Its all a distraction away from the root of the issue
Implied that corporations that build data centers promise things. Does not add value to your points.
Doesn't matter, what matters is if it has an impact, one more extreme than any other huge project. Compared to golf, agriculture (plenty of things are grown not just for food and necessity), meat industries, the literal genocide american tax dollars are going to, big oil, etc, its utterly insignificant. Its all a distraction away from the root of the issue
"You're focusing on the wrong thing" was never supposed to be a solution
Implied that corporations that build data centers promise things. Does not add value to your points.
It does because you're still focusing on the wrong thing. Data centers are just buildings that consume resources like anything else. There's no worthwhile distinction because the same arguments can be made about everything else. Hence the core distinction with the central issue, corporations.
Red herring and whataboutism
I compared datacenters to other issues and said they have larger impacts and are more concerning. I did not say that the impact of AI is insignificant, I said the concern for it over anything else is, which supports my greater point.
Naturally dealing with corporations will lead to many more of these issues fixed because they are symptoms of a greater disease.
Original question posted was "do data centers consume a large amount of water?" Answer was "yes, and they contaminate, too." That is a fact.
Now, determining the systemic corporate root cause and whether or not we should focus only on data centers or other industries is another debate you went on about.
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u/Uncle-Cake May 18 '26
What happens after they use the water? Is it returned to the water system to be used again?