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> There is already a great way to do this: prices! The market isn't perfect, but with commodities it really does seem to function. That's absolutely insane. D

> There is already a great way to do this: prices! The market isn't perfect, but with commodities it really does seem to function. That's absolutely insane. Don't worry poor people, you won't be able to drink water because Amazon is being lazy with pumping tap water to cool it's data centers, but it's okay because markets have deemed you irrelevant!

someplaceguy 3y ago
Water consumption can be taxed/priced progressively at the source to address that concern. i.e. The more you consume, the higher you pay per gallon.
shamwow_ 3y ago
It's not insane. Open markets work for every other type of commodity, and there is little reason to think it won't work for water usage as well. Also data centers don't use water for cooling. They primarily use air cooling, and last time i checked air conditioning doesn't require a constant supply of water.
- happymellon 3y ago
  > Also data centers don't use water for cooling. Some do, some don't. https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/27/thames_water_to_datacenters_cut/ https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/27/thames_water_to_datac... > Not all datacenters use water for cooling, but of those that do, a large facility might use anywhere between 1 million and 5 million gallons of water a day
- korse 3y ago
  Your home AC, sure. However... pretty much every facility with a physical plant (hospitals, universities, data centers, skyscrapers, factories etc.) uses cooling towers to dump heat from their internal systems into the environment. Nearly all cooling towers require a constant water supply. Some water is recycled, but it is not anywhere near a closed loop system.
Veserv 3y ago
GP literally said start by reserving water for residential and sustainability use and only sell the rest on the market (i.e. the portion currently used for commercial activity such as power and agriculture). If you demand extreme pedantry, you can expand the reserved quantity to whatever arbitrary domestic carveout usage you desire as profit-seeking, commercial water depletion is >80% of water usage, so any non-commercial carveout is largely irrelevant to depletion.

someplaceguy 3y ago

Water consumption can be taxed/priced progressively at the source to address that concern. i.e. The more you consume, the higher you pay per gallon.

shamwow_ 3y ago

It's not insane. Open markets work for every other type of commodity, and there is little reason to think it won't work for water usage as well. Also data centers don't use water for cooling. They primarily use air cooling, and last time i checked air conditioning doesn't require a constant supply of water.

happymellon 3y ago
> Also data centers don't use water for cooling. Some do, some don't. https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/27/thames_water_to_datacenters_cut/ https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/27/thames_water_to_datac... > Not all datacenters use water for cooling, but of those that do, a large facility might use anywhere between 1 million and 5 million gallons of water a day
korse 3y ago
Your home AC, sure. However... pretty much every facility with a physical plant (hospitals, universities, data centers, skyscrapers, factories etc.) uses cooling towers to dump heat from their internal systems into the environment. Nearly all cooling towers require a constant water supply. Some water is recycled, but it is not anywhere near a closed loop system.

Veserv 3y ago

GP literally said start by reserving water for residential and sustainability use and only sell the rest on the market (i.e. the portion currently used for commercial activity such as power and agriculture). If you demand extreme pedantry, you can expand the reserved quantity to whatever arbitrary domestic carveout usage you desire as profit-seeking, commercial water depletion is >80% of water usage, so any non-commercial carveout is largely irrelevant to depletion.