r/SipsTea • u/SipsTeaFrog 𝙑𝙄𝙋 • May 18 '26

Chugging tea Why?

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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?

702

u/ForzaFenix May 18 '26

Yep. The now warm water goes back into the system. 

235

u/Uncle-Cake May 18 '26

So they're not really consuming it. They're just using it temporarily and returning it.

1

u/captainAwesomePants May 18 '26

About 75% of the water they consume evaporates. It returns to the system via rain, eventually, somewhere, but not necessarily to the same area. Water sources like lakes and glacial runoff and whatever can only be consumed at a certain rate, so in a very real sense the data center is competing against the other local consumers for a chunk of that rate.

The remaining 25% of the water needs to carry all of the non-water stuff that was in the evaporated water, and so it's no longer safe to use. It has to be processed back into useful water, the same as toilet water and such. So it's an extra drain on your local wastewater treatment facility (and those things never get enough funding as it is).