5 ms·

They're taking raw untreated river/lake/aquifer water, purifying it to an incredible degree for the fab. When they use the water it gets cleaned again. Now tha

They're taking raw untreated river/lake/aquifer water, purifying it to an incredible degree for the fab. When they use the water it gets cleaned again. Now that water can either be returned to the river/lake/aquifer or if you clean it sufficiently well it can go straight into municipal drinking water supplies. That's how this fresh water comes out of nowhere.

arcticfox 5y ago
That doesn't seem right. As far as I know, rivers/lakes/aquifers are pretty much the definition of fresh water.
- hunterb123 5y ago
  Yes they are the definition of fresh water, not purified water. Running fresh water is relatively clean, but it doesn't mean there isn't giardia or other microbes / impurities.
  - reissbaker 5y ago
    Okay, but Intel promised to return more freshwater than it used. So it can't simply take freshwater, purify it, and return it at a surplus.
- caeril 5y ago
  Maricopa and Pinal counties have lots of agricultural water that either comes directly off the Colorado river via canal, or is pumped from shallow alfalfa field runoff groundwater that is too full of nitrates to be even remotely potable. We also, unlike the CA Central Valley or the Midwest who are apparently cool with depleting their resources as fast as humanly possible, are acutely aware of our groundwater supply constraints, given that we live in a desert, and practice a lot of aquifer recharge and management. Intel cleans it, uses it, and dumps it into aquifer recharge, which cleans it even further.
  - bluGill 5y ago
    The midwest gets more than enough water via rain, so nobody worries about water. Farmers don't irrigate crops, they just accept lower profits in drought years. You might be thinking of the west where water is a problem.
    - caeril 5y ago
      I'm pressing 'X' to doubt, right now: https://www.climate.gov/news-features/featured-images/national-climate-assessment-great-plains%E2%80%99-ogallala-aquifer-drying-out https://www.climate.gov/news-features/featured-images/nation... edit: Maybe I should have said Great Plains, which overlaps, but is not precisely the same as, the Midwest.
      - bluGill 5y ago
        The great plains does have issues. The rest of the midwest doesn't.

arcticfox 5y ago

That doesn't seem right. As far as I know, rivers/lakes/aquifers are pretty much the definition of fresh water.

hunterb123 5y ago
Yes they are the definition of fresh water, not purified water. Running fresh water is relatively clean, but it doesn't mean there isn't giardia or other microbes / impurities.
- reissbaker 5y ago
  Okay, but Intel promised to return more freshwater than it used. So it can't simply take freshwater, purify it, and return it at a surplus.
caeril 5y ago
Maricopa and Pinal counties have lots of agricultural water that either comes directly off the Colorado river via canal, or is pumped from shallow alfalfa field runoff groundwater that is too full of nitrates to be even remotely potable. We also, unlike the CA Central Valley or the Midwest who are apparently cool with depleting their resources as fast as humanly possible, are acutely aware of our groundwater supply constraints, given that we live in a desert, and practice a lot of aquifer recharge and management. Intel cleans it, uses it, and dumps it into aquifer recharge, which cleans it even further.
- bluGill 5y ago
  The midwest gets more than enough water via rain, so nobody worries about water. Farmers don't irrigate crops, they just accept lower profits in drought years. You might be thinking of the west where water is a problem.
  - caeril 5y ago
    I'm pressing 'X' to doubt, right now: https://www.climate.gov/news-features/featured-images/national-climate-assessment-great-plains%E2%80%99-ogallala-aquifer-drying-out https://www.climate.gov/news-features/featured-images/nation... edit: Maybe I should have said Great Plains, which overlaps, but is not precisely the same as, the Midwest.
    - bluGill 5y ago
      The great plains does have issues. The rest of the midwest doesn't.