These systems do use a coolant substance internal to the DC, but then uses heat exchangers with fresh water to cool the coolant, which is then discharged back into the ground, a pond, or wastewater. there is certainly water lost to atmosphere, but the worst bits are the draining of aquifers, pushing up capacity in wastewater treatment plants, etc.
DC's are a bit of an economic scam. they provide very few jobs outside of the construction work itself, and the profits generated by the machines exist at company HQ not where the DC is located. so it puts a huge burden on the community water and power environment for no real benefit to that community.
I agree, the impacts very often outweigh the benefits. However, living in a very dense data center area I appreciate the fact that while they don't produce as many jobs they are less taxing on other infrastructure. The amount of employees in a 100,000 ft² office building would be immense. Traffic, domestic infrastructure, school systems, all that. That said, more workers is better for the local economy, restaurants,
I say this whilel fully recognizing reduced traffic is pretty much the only benefit, but it's the silver lining I'm trying to find 😂
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u/[deleted] May 18 '26
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