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1 in 400 buckets of water. And it’s a non uniform tightly clustered spread. That’s a lot.

by brador 3mo ago

vitalyan8184 3mo ago
[dead]
- brador 3mo ago
  Why would you use a national aggregated statistic for a local regional issue? If that 1 bucket is 1 of 2 available to you then it’s a huge issue with climate change increasing risk of draught and extreme weather events. And cheap water is a very tiny factor in locating a data centre.
- JohnFen 3mo ago
  > they're being built where water is cheap. water is cheap where it's abundant. Certainly not all of them. Several AI data centers in my state have been built near small communities where water is scarce. Those communities believed the companies building them about how the water impact would be limited and wouldn't result in a serious impact. That has turned out not to be the case. The water usage of these centers has been terrible and is increasing, and the cost of trying to find and develop alternate water sources (this means trucking water in) is being placed squarely on the shoulders of the community -- and these are small towns without a great deal of financial resources.
- danaris 3mo ago
  > they're being built where water is cheap. water is cheap where it's abundant. [citation needed] There have already been stories about residents in some areas having to ration water due to drought, but the recently-built datacenters still guzzling water. And, AIUI, the only reason they use up any water, rather than using a completely closed-loop system, is because it's cheaper that way.
  - vitalyan8184 3mo ago
    [dead]
    - danaris 3mo ago
      Water price is only one consideration for where to build a data center. "The data center can get water cheap" is not the same as "water is generally cheap in the area the data center is built." "Water is cheap in the area" is not the same as "water is plentiful in the area." You talk like you think economics in the real world works like "spherical-economy-in-a-frictionless-vacuum" Econ 101 terms. I assure you, it does not. There are lots and lots of exceptions. > evaporative cooling takes way less power to operate. So build the datacenter with a bunch of extra solar panels and batteries. Or will that cut too deeply into the poor, starving billionaires' bonuses?

1 in 400 buckets of water. And it’s a non uniform tightly clustered spread. That’s a lot.

by brador 3mo ago

1 in 400 buckets of water. And it’s a non uniform tightly clustered spread. That’s a lot.

vitalyan8184 3mo ago

[dead]

brador 3mo ago
Why would you use a national aggregated statistic for a local regional issue? If that 1 bucket is 1 of 2 available to you then it’s a huge issue with climate change increasing risk of draught and extreme weather events. And cheap water is a very tiny factor in locating a data centre.
JohnFen 3mo ago
> they're being built where water is cheap. water is cheap where it's abundant. Certainly not all of them. Several AI data centers in my state have been built near small communities where water is scarce. Those communities believed the companies building them about how the water impact would be limited and wouldn't result in a serious impact. That has turned out not to be the case. The water usage of these centers has been terrible and is increasing, and the cost of trying to find and develop alternate water sources (this means trucking water in) is being placed squarely on the shoulders of the community -- and these are small towns without a great deal of financial resources.
danaris 3mo ago
> they're being built where water is cheap. water is cheap where it's abundant. [citation needed] There have already been stories about residents in some areas having to ration water due to drought, but the recently-built datacenters still guzzling water. And, AIUI, the only reason they use up any water, rather than using a completely closed-loop system, is because it's cheaper that way.
- vitalyan8184 3mo ago
  [dead]
  - danaris 3mo ago
    Water price is only one consideration for where to build a data center. "The data center can get water cheap" is not the same as "water is generally cheap in the area the data center is built." "Water is cheap in the area" is not the same as "water is plentiful in the area." You talk like you think economics in the real world works like "spherical-economy-in-a-frictionless-vacuum" Econ 101 terms. I assure you, it does not. There are lots and lots of exceptions. > evaporative cooling takes way less power to operate. So build the datacenter with a bunch of extra solar panels and batteries. Or will that cut too deeply into the poor, starving billionaires' bonuses?