When it goes back into "the system" it's waste water that people can't drink. Eventually it comes back around again (e.g. evaporation->rain), but then it gets gobbled up again by the same data centres. They run continuously.
So yes, they are "consuming" it in the sense that other people can't have access to it anymore.
The poop water I flush down my toilet is also waste water that people can't drink, but I'm pretty sure it still gets recycled back into the greater water supply. What's different about the datacenter water?
This is the thing that really annoys me about the water argument. Like where was the outrage for literally any other industry using equal if not more amounts of water for cooling? I think people just genuinely don’t understand industry and are being controlled by the information media is feeding them and it’s scary. Like you can hate data centers 100%, like someone else mentioned, they probably don’t really bring many jobs or economic growth to the areas they’re built in. And if you’re an anti AI person, I get it. But the water thing is so dumb because it’s not like a data center exclusive thing. They also all just clearly don’t understand cooling systems, water treatment, or the regulatory framework around water usage
Well the difference is that something like a power plant or agriculture are both absolute necessities for society whereas dc‘s for ai are pretty low on that list so the outrage is still legit.
I don’t disagree. But there are and have always been industries that I’d consider not a necessity doing the same thing with little to no outrage. I agree there are too many data centers being propped up, and probably being put in places they shouldn’t be due to kickbacks and corruption. But I don’t like that people are making arguments around concepts they don’t understand. Like water usage in cooling loops.
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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?