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The other day I was talking with two friends—one programmer, one musician, both of fairly conservative political persuasion—and the topic of “AI data centers” c

The other day I was talking with two friends—one programmer, one musician, both of fairly conservative political persuasion—and the topic of “AI data centers” came up. I said something to the effect of, “y'know, all that talk about how they just use all up all the water from wherever they're built is total propaganda nonsense, right?” and both were genuinely taken aback by this statement. As far as they were concerned, “AI data centers” were something a Captain Planet villain would build, just absolute ecological disasters, inherently. I'm relatively neutral when it comes to this stuff but man, the propaganda against “AI data centers” really works!

1970-01-01 3mo ago
Your two friends are factually correct. You somehow misinterpret how much water they consume. https://spectrum.ieee.org/ai-water-usage https://spectrum.ieee.org/ai-water-usage
- adamrezich 3mo ago
  The energy grid use seems far more worrisome than water use. Why would anyone build an AI data center in a specifically “water-stressed region”?
  - 1970-01-01 3mo ago
    A: Because they can get away with it.
    - adamrezich 3mo ago
      [flagged]
      - 1970-01-01 3mo ago
        I don't know what agenda you're going with, but it isn't reality. They're destroying water tables. I'll leave this link here for you to read if you're brave enough to step outside your Captain Planet cartoon narrative and have an actual look at the water consumption problem. https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2025-ai-impacts-data-centers-water-data/ https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2025-ai-impacts-data-cent... Or if you prefer; a much deeper non-vibecoded, scientific source with lots of citations: https://www.amazon.com/Growth-Centers-Impact-Global-Resources/dp/B0H8FTW3TZ https://www.amazon.com/Growth-Centers-Impact-Global-Resource...
        adamrezich 3mo ago
        Why am I supposed to take a janky-ass web visualization, completely devoid of citations as far as I can tell, and which was, itself, almost certainly vibecoded, at face value, as a valid argument? I love how you went from posting links to articles to make arguments for you, to then editing your comment to link to a $250 book that I should buy and read, so it can make your argument for you.
        1970-01-01 3mo ago
        Refusing to acknowledge sources is pathetic. The information directly refutes your cartoonish take on the problem if you're brave enough to pull yourself into reality.
        adamrezich 3mo ago
        Trust the Experts who have done Studies and written Papers in Committees their objective view of reality not to mention their morality is superior to yours yadda yadda heard it all before
        1970-01-01 3mo ago
        How could you have heard it all before if you've never bothered to look at the information?
        stonogo 3mo ago
        I'm starting to think you don't actually love the things you claim to love? But yes, several communities are having trouble with these things. Here's one: https://lakelandgazette.info/news/2026/07/05/meta-data-center-water-discharges-suspended-after-contaminating-the-citys-reclamation-water-supply-with-bacterium-system-offline-for-months-for-cleaning-closed-loop-cooling-system-purge-s/ https://lakelandgazette.info/news/2026/07/05/meta-data-cente... and here's another: https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2026/03/amazon-will-pay-205-million-to-settle-oregon-data-center-pollution-allegations.html https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2026/03/amazon-wil...
- yellowapple 3mo ago
  If every American skipped a single burger per year, that'd entirely offset the combined water use of all American datacenters. Datacenters, in other words, do not consume all that much water in the grand scheme of things. There are many, many better targets if water conservation is a genuine concern.
saratogacx 3mo ago
You don't need to put in a lot of effort to convince people that creepy, deceitful, generally unlikable, rich folks are doing things you won't like and are lying to get away with it.

1970-01-01 3mo ago

Your two friends are factually correct. You somehow misinterpret how much water they consume. https://spectrum.ieee.org/ai-water-usage https://spectrum.ieee.org/ai-water-usage

adamrezich 3mo ago
The energy grid use seems far more worrisome than water use. Why would anyone build an AI data center in a specifically “water-stressed region”?
- 1970-01-01 3mo ago
  A: Because they can get away with it.
  - adamrezich 3mo ago
    [flagged]
    - 1970-01-01 3mo ago
      I don't know what agenda you're going with, but it isn't reality. They're destroying water tables. I'll leave this link here for you to read if you're brave enough to step outside your Captain Planet cartoon narrative and have an actual look at the water consumption problem. https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2025-ai-impacts-data-centers-water-data/ https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2025-ai-impacts-data-cent... Or if you prefer; a much deeper non-vibecoded, scientific source with lots of citations: https://www.amazon.com/Growth-Centers-Impact-Global-Resources/dp/B0H8FTW3TZ https://www.amazon.com/Growth-Centers-Impact-Global-Resource...
      - adamrezich 3mo ago
        Why am I supposed to take a janky-ass web visualization, completely devoid of citations as far as I can tell, and which was, itself, almost certainly vibecoded, at face value, as a valid argument? I love how you went from posting links to articles to make arguments for you, to then editing your comment to link to a $250 book that I should buy and read, so it can make your argument for you.
        1970-01-01 3mo ago
        Refusing to acknowledge sources is pathetic. The information directly refutes your cartoonish take on the problem if you're brave enough to pull yourself into reality.
        adamrezich 3mo ago
        Trust the Experts who have done Studies and written Papers in Committees their objective view of reality not to mention their morality is superior to yours yadda yadda heard it all before
        1970-01-01 3mo ago
        How could you have heard it all before if you've never bothered to look at the information?
        stonogo 3mo ago
        I'm starting to think you don't actually love the things you claim to love? But yes, several communities are having trouble with these things. Here's one: https://lakelandgazette.info/news/2026/07/05/meta-data-center-water-discharges-suspended-after-contaminating-the-citys-reclamation-water-supply-with-bacterium-system-offline-for-months-for-cleaning-closed-loop-cooling-system-purge-s/ https://lakelandgazette.info/news/2026/07/05/meta-data-cente... and here's another: https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2026/03/amazon-will-pay-205-million-to-settle-oregon-data-center-pollution-allegations.html https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2026/03/amazon-wil...
yellowapple 3mo ago
If every American skipped a single burger per year, that'd entirely offset the combined water use of all American datacenters. Datacenters, in other words, do not consume all that much water in the grand scheme of things. There are many, many better targets if water conservation is a genuine concern.

saratogacx 3mo ago

You don't need to put in a lot of effort to convince people that creepy, deceitful, generally unlikable, rich folks are doing things you won't like and are lying to get away with it.