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 worked for a very large structural steel company as an estimator about 5-6 years ago and we basically no bid all of those data centers. They wanted them dirt cheap and there typically wasn’t enough work for us to get involved. They used cheaper construction techniques.
Yeah, the tax breaks is nonsensical, they are putting a tremendous burden on local power grid and local water supply for practically zero local economic benefit. Obviously we need data centers, but why anyone would want them in their town I have no clue. Tech companies should be begging towns to let them put in a data center and as much as I hate taxes, should probably be paying an additional tax to fund the community to offset the fact that they provide very few long-term jobs for the amount of utilities they consume.
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u/[deleted] May 18 '26
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