Bending the Curve: Are Data Centers Really Water-Guzzling Monsters?

In Episode 6 of our YouTube series, Bending the Curve: Positive Progress on the Environment, we examine data centers for AI. They’re expanding fast, raising concerns about water, energy, jobs, and community impacts. But are these digital giants really environmental fiends?

A new environmental monster has entered the public imagination: artificial intelligence.

Its lairs are windowless, warehouse-like data centers that can cover hundreds of acres. They hum day and night, like an out-of-tune set of bagpipes. Across the United States, especially in rural areas, communities are demanding answers from their local elected officials: What in hell do these facilities mean for water supplies, jobs, energy use, and our quality of life?

Opposition across the country

According to Data Center Watch, at least 75 major projects worth $130 billion have been slowed or blocked by local opposition. Interconnected Capital’s moratorium tracker shows 300 active moratoria across the United States.

At a public meeting attended by hundreds of people in Ann Arbor, Michigan, 24-year-old Bella pleaded with officials.

“Your children are disappointed in you,” she said. “I’m basically begging you. Please do not do this to our community.”

Worry about water use

Water is one of the biggest concerns. On a podcast produced by the New Yorker magazine, environmental activist Erin Brockovich made this claim about the data centers designed for AI.

“The amount in the consumption of water is almost staggering,” she said. “Hyperscale [data centers] can use anywhere from one to seven, possibly eight million gallons of water per day.”

That’s a frightening number. But water consumption varies enormously by facility. Recent research found that some hyperscale data centers consume up to five million gallons per day, while enterprise-grade centers may use 300,000 to 500,000 gallons per day. One report found median use of around 121,000 gallons per day.

Cooling technology matters, too. Data centers use water to remove heat from chips running artificial intelligence, email, messaging, and countless other digital services. Many newer facilities use recirculating closed-loop systems designed to reduce water losses.

Debunking the myths

Independent researcher and physics teacher Andy Masley debunks many data centers myths. He told Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle that contrary to public perception, one ChatGPT prompt does not consume a bottle of water. On his blog, he noted that data centers used .008 percent of the country’s water for cooling data centers running AI.

Masley argues that public discussion often misses this complexity.

“This is a really weird place where most educated adults that I agree with on most other questions in society, I think are just completely in the dark about this,” he said. “They have very confident, very wrong takes across the board about like the nature of data centers and how they work.”

Farming uses far more water

Scale also matters. Agriculture remains a much larger water user nationally. Consider Quincy, Washington, a desert community of about 8,500 people. It’s also home to 56 data centers. The facilities consume about 12 percent of the local utility’s water supply, while food processors, such as french-fry makers, use roughly 57 percent.

Of course, a new data center in a city without other data centers might consume more water in proportion to other businesses. But seen from 30-thousand feet, data center water consumption isn’t the main problem.

Trade-offs are inevitable

It doesn’t help that AI’s billionaire boosters boast about all the jobs that will be lost in the name of efficiency. No one wants an AI factory that kills jobs, rather than creates them. But history shows that new tech often results in more jobs, not less, in the long run.

From an environmental perspective, local skirmishing over water resources are part of a larger battle over the future of the economy, and even humanity. The actual facts of the case matter less than who has the most leverage over the decision-makers: tech billionaires peddling a toxic product, or a pitchfork-waving mob afraid of the dark.

Watch Episode 6 of Bending the Curve on YouTube.

What do you think? Are data centers good, bad, or an indifferent factor when it comes to protecting the environment?

Image: Internet Archive