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I would like to know how much water is taken by a datacenter vs. the same size space of apartments. I can see why it could be considered a bad choice for commun

I would like to know how much water is taken by a datacenter vs. the same size space of apartments. I can see why it could be considered a bad choice for communities long term if a datacenter takes more.

jeffbee 1y ago
Some quick napkin math using averages (data center designs vary). One of Google's larger and thirstier data centers, in Oklahoma, is said to use 833 million gallons per year (that's about 2500 acre-feet, in useful terms). It occupies about 250 acres, most of which looks to be parking lots but whatever. The number of households that can be supported on 1 acre-foot per year ranges from 2 to 6 depending (Las Vegas on one end, San Francisco on the other). You said apartments specifically and this urban form usually starts at 50 dwellings per acre, minimum, which would lead me to say the apartments use more water. The break-even point in this equation is 2-5 households per acre.
NegativeLatency 1y ago
Apples and oranges, you can compare the water usage, but places for people to live aren't in the same category as datacenters.
- orthoxerox 1y ago
  Yes they are. Both can be built in areas with abundant water supply.
azemetre 1y ago
The government in The Dalles, Oregon were suing local newspapers that were questioning Google's water usage in the city: https://www.rcfp.org/dalles-google-oregonian-settlement/ https://www.rcfp.org/dalles-google-oregonian-settlement/ Apparently Google uses nearly 30% of the city's water supply: https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2022/12/googles-water-use-is-soaring-in-the-dalles-records-show-with-two-more-data-centers-to-come.html https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2022/12/googles-wa... I highly doubt any apartment block comes close to taking 30% of a city's water supply.
- Aurornis 1y ago
  I’ve driven through The Dalles. It’s a very small town. A search shows a population of 15,000 and declining annually. It’s also right on a big river. The article you linked said that Google was spending nearly $30 million to improve the city’s water infrastructure so there are no problems. Talking about this in terms of percentages of a small town’s water supply while ignoring the fact that the city is literally on a giant river and Google is paying for the water infrastructure is misleading.
  - grafmax 1y ago
    2/3rds of new data centers are built in areas of existing water scarcity.
  - watwut 1y ago
    The question was water spendinf per square meters compared to household. That question was answered and does not depend on proximity to river.
- jeffbee 1y ago
  That's because it's a large industry and nobody lives there. This pattern appears all over the place. The paper mills in the pacific northwest consume large multiples of the water used by their little towns.
  - azemetre 1y ago
    That's not the point, the question was whether an apartment building would use the same amount of water and clearly an apartment would consume substantially less water.
    - jeffbee 1y ago
      If you replace the area of that data center with apartments, as the question suggested, it would add half again to the local population, which could indeed use 30% of the city water.

jeffbee 1y ago

Some quick napkin math using averages (data center designs vary). One of Google's larger and thirstier data centers, in Oklahoma, is said to use 833 million gallons per year (that's about 2500 acre-feet, in useful terms). It occupies about 250 acres, most of which looks to be parking lots but whatever. The number of households that can be supported on 1 acre-foot per year ranges from 2 to 6 depending (Las Vegas on one end, San Francisco on the other). You said apartments specifically and this urban form usually starts at 50 dwellings per acre, minimum, which would lead me to say the apartments use more water. The break-even point in this equation is 2-5 households per acre.

NegativeLatency 1y ago

Apples and oranges, you can compare the water usage, but places for people to live aren't in the same category as datacenters.

orthoxerox 1y ago
Yes they are. Both can be built in areas with abundant water supply.

azemetre 1y ago

The government in The Dalles, Oregon were suing local newspapers that were questioning Google's water usage in the city: https://www.rcfp.org/dalles-google-oregonian-settlement/ https://www.rcfp.org/dalles-google-oregonian-settlement/ Apparently Google uses nearly 30% of the city's water supply: https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2022/12/googles-water-use-is-soaring-in-the-dalles-records-show-with-two-more-data-centers-to-come.html https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2022/12/googles-wa... I highly doubt any apartment block comes close to taking 30% of a city's water supply.

Aurornis 1y ago
I’ve driven through The Dalles. It’s a very small town. A search shows a population of 15,000 and declining annually. It’s also right on a big river. The article you linked said that Google was spending nearly $30 million to improve the city’s water infrastructure so there are no problems. Talking about this in terms of percentages of a small town’s water supply while ignoring the fact that the city is literally on a giant river and Google is paying for the water infrastructure is misleading.
- grafmax 1y ago
  2/3rds of new data centers are built in areas of existing water scarcity.
- watwut 1y ago
  The question was water spendinf per square meters compared to household. That question was answered and does not depend on proximity to river.
jeffbee 1y ago
That's because it's a large industry and nobody lives there. This pattern appears all over the place. The paper mills in the pacific northwest consume large multiples of the water used by their little towns.
- azemetre 1y ago
  That's not the point, the question was whether an apartment building would use the same amount of water and clearly an apartment would consume substantially less water.
  - jeffbee 1y ago
    If you replace the area of that data center with apartments, as the question suggested, it would add half again to the local population, which could indeed use 30% of the city water.