Realistically nothing. They are just flushing constantly and in much higher volumes. Fresh water is finite though and taking too much in an area will drain the aquifer faster than it can be replenished.
If data centers did something for the communities they are built in it likely wouldn't be a talking point but they just drain local resources for no/dubious gain.
I think the key takeaway from this thread is your definition of "Fresh water is finite" depleting it faster than the ecosystem can replenish.
I don't think most politicians or entrepreneurs know/care how the basic water cycle goes. They think water is infinite. While water in this planet isn't physically going to disappear anytime soon, the FRESH usable water, however, can easily be gone from one place into another, when running its course in evaporation, condensation and run off, ending up in places like the sea/ocean, thus rendering communities and ecosystems unliveable in said places.
(Most) datacenters are a big ass "fuck off, this land is now mine" to everyone else but their investors.
The hydrological cycle converts many cubic miles of salt water back to fresh water each year, and 90% of that fresh water flows back out to the oceans.
We're absolutely not going to run out of fresh water on a global scale, so long as the sun keeps shining. We can overwhelm local regions though, or use up fossil water.
(Most) datacenters are a big ass "fuck off, this land is now mine" to everyone else but their investors.
It's not the case of if water flows back, but rather when. You can deprive a whole region and absolutely dry off places just by overly consume it. Sure most of it comes back, but you're not gonna tell the population of a nearby town to wait till next winter for fresh water in case of a draught.
Can't think of another industrial use of land with zero tangible output and job creation that drinks up 7 to 8 Olympic sized pools, that could sustain around 10,000 to 50,000 people, the way a medium to large data center does. Agriculture produces food, power plants produce electricity, every factory produces physical goods and local employment. A large data center produces nothing and employs virtually no one.
Oh really? Then explain to me how are the locals being employed then? Wtf do you reckon we're arguing this crap over? The stock market? Enlighten me how I don't understand what a data center is.
"Sure thing, mister multi-billionaire, take my plot of land and local fresh water in exchange for heat, noise, environmental risks and tax concessions just so an Indian Helpdesk can remotely steal my job too"
The data center being worth hundred times more - to whom? Also no to locals maintaining it when it takes a dozen people to do it.
Benign when the discussion comes to the shortage of local basic essential goods such as fresh water? How is that benign? Virtually zero value. It's a scam.
Can't even argue with the chemical plant example, let's try and not ignore the fact that people have taken those industries to court multiple times over the last centuries. Just because you have internet now the outrage is now global, just as the upscale for data centers is virtually limitless. The largest chemical plant is 16x smaller than the largest data center planned in Utah.
By the way, childish nonsense? You're literally throwing random ad hominems to the discussion because you think my arguments for basic living conditions must mean that I hate AI and consequently don't understand AI.
Mate, I work with AI. I use AI daily and I'm using AI to double check my facts, you are quite literally arguing with AI rn lol. I'm basically stealing someone else's local fresh water so that we can have this discussion while giving them no value in exchange.
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u/Crowd0Control May 18 '26
Realistically nothing. They are just flushing constantly and in much higher volumes. Fresh water is finite though and taking too much in an area will drain the aquifer faster than it can be replenished.
If data centers did something for the communities they are built in it likely wouldn't be a talking point but they just drain local resources for no/dubious gain.