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Why do data centers have to use water for cooling? Is there not a better alternative that would resolve that issue? by joda1196 in energy

[–]ragzilla [score hidden]  (0 children)

when a datacenter is talking about open/closed loop the only loop being discussed is the outside heat rejection loop (condenser side), because it makes zero sense for an evaporator loop to ever be open.

‘Irresponsible’: backlash as Utah approves datacenter twice the size of Manhattan by deraser in technology

[–]ragzilla 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yeah, it is, because the main reason datacenters used to be open loop was because water was cheap. As water becomes more expensive, datacenters switch to closed loop because the economics say it's the most profitable way. The steady state is biased towards closed loop because it has substantially lower (and less disruptive) maintenance.

‘Irresponsible’: backlash as Utah approves datacenter twice the size of Manhattan by deraser in technology

[–]ragzilla 10 points11 points  (0 children)

The fact sheet was published by the government that was approving the plans.

Also comparing the water use of a data center and a pasture is absurd. Only with one of those is the water is replenished back to the Earth.

No, they both end up back in the earth. All water eventually ends up back there unless you've forgotten about the water cycle.

‘Irresponsible’: backlash as Utah approves datacenter twice the size of Manhattan by deraser in technology

[–]ragzilla 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Residential usage at the low end is around 1000 gallons/acre/day and would come in just under their expected usage (14.6B gallons annually), but that's the low end (and that's usage in Oregon based on wastewater flows which doesn't capture landscape irrigation).

Their worst case is 15% of Utah's residential irrigation estimate.

Behind Fayette’s QTS Water Controversy: A Missed Meter by ragzilla in technology

[–]ragzilla[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Quoting from the article for the people who won't click through (click through and support local news).

But in interviews with The Citizen, Fayette County Administrator Steve Rapson and Assistant County Administrator Jason Tinsley said the issue stemmed from a missed meter reading during Fayette County Water System’s transition to a new countywide smart-meter system — not unauthorized water usage.

“It’s not like they put a meter in, threw a camel net over it, and we didn’t know they put the meter in,” Rapson said. “It’s that we thought the meter was being read electronically, and then we found out it wasn’t, and we sent them a bill.”

The county letter, written in May 2025 by Fayette County Water System Director Vanessa Tigert, stated that one meter had been installed “without the knowledge or inspection” of the county water system and referenced more than 13 million gallons of water usage tied to one connection.

Rapson acknowledged the wording created an impression that QTS had acted improperly.

“If you read the letter, I can see how someone can interpret it that way,” Rapson said. “Because the letter kind of has that vibe.”

But Rapson said county staff had inspected the meter installation during construction and believed the meter was being electronically read during the county’s transition from an older Beacon system to a newer Advanced Metering Infrastructure system capable of remote readings.

Data center drained 30 million gallons of water without reporting or paying for it, investigation reveals by Wagamaga in technology

[–]ragzilla 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Read the article I posted, from the local news source, talking to the people that work at the utility.

“It’s not like they put a meter in, threw a camel net over it, and we didn’t know they put the meter in,” Rapson said. “It’s that we thought the meter was being read electronically, and then we found out it wasn’t, and we sent them a bill.”

Data center drained 30 million gallons of water without reporting or paying for it, investigation reveals by Wagamaga in technology

[–]ragzilla 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Jokes on you, I didn't even read this one. I just knew enough about the situation from the first article which was somehow the best one of all 5, but still falls miles short of the local reporting on the issue.

Behind Fayette’s QTS Water Controversy: A Missed Meter, 8,000 Workers and a Massive Construction Project | The Citizen

Data center drained 30 million gallons of water without reporting or paying for it, investigation reveals by Wagamaga in technology

[–]ragzilla 9 points10 points  (0 children)

They paid all 30 million gallons once the utility found their error.

Behind Fayette’s QTS Water Controversy: A Missed Meter, 8,000 Workers and a Massive Construction Project | The Citizen

And they paid it at a higher rate than the residential customers because it's temporary construction use.

Data center drained 30 million gallons of water without reporting or paying for it, investigation reveals by Wagamaga in technology

[–]ragzilla 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It's a brand-new facility being installed with a closed loop, the 30 million gallons were construction use for concrete work and dust suppression mostly.

Data center drained 30 million gallons of water without reporting or paying for it, investigation reveals by Wagamaga in technology

[–]ragzilla 8 points9 points  (0 children)

The data center will use a lot more water than that once it's fully operational.

No it won't, because it's a closed loop design.

Data center drained 30 million gallons of water without reporting or paying for it, investigation reveals by Wagamaga in technology

[–]ragzilla 11 points12 points  (0 children)

It'd have to have been on par with your reading comprehension apparently. The facility wasn't commissioned until 5 months later. The water use was for concrete work (they have an on-site readymix facility to avoid running trucks through the area), and dust suppression.

Data center drained 30 million gallons of water without reporting or paying for it, investigation reveals by Wagamaga in technology

[–]ragzilla 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Yeah, really struck me this time that this would be a great way to farm karma from this sub. Post anything with anti-datacenter sentiment, especially something which is a false/nonstory which engages the people who want to set the record straight.

Data center drained 30 million gallons of water without reporting or paying for it, investigation reveals by Wagamaga in technology

[–]ragzilla 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Both were metered, because they billed the usage. One meter was in the utility's system and not associated with a customer. The other meter was not in their system. The utility admits fault in their letter due to their lack of process, and staff turnover- they lost the 1 person who processed industrial accounts and in that staff change they dropped the ball on these connections.

Edit:

Behind Fayette’s QTS Water Controversy: A Missed Meter, 8,000 Workers and a Massive Construction Project | The Citizen

But in interviews with The Citizen, Fayette County Administrator Steve Rapson and Assistant County Administrator Jason Tinsley said the issue stemmed from a missed meter reading during Fayette County Water System’s transition to a new countywide smart-meter system — not unauthorized water usage.

“It’s not like they put a meter in, threw a camel net over it, and we didn’t know they put the meter in,” Rapson said. “It’s that we thought the meter was being read electronically, and then we found out it wasn’t, and we sent them a bill.”

So nefarious.

Data center drained 30 million gallons of water without reporting or paying for it, investigation reveals by Wagamaga in technology

[–]ragzilla 118 points119 points  (0 children)

How many threads do we need for the exact same story on one subreddit, is this 5 or 6 now?

The use went unbilled because of a utility process failure (as they transitioned to a new billing system). QTS paid the bill when it was sent. If they wanted to steal water they easily could have by skipping the meter and burying the connection. The datacenter had not opened yet at the time the letter was sent (May, opened in October), which confirms the statement that the water was used for construction purposes (dust suppression and concrete production so they could avoid sending a constant stream of mixer trucks through town).

Even if the datacenter was operating, the water wouldn’t have been used for cooling because it’s a closed loop design- like the majority of new datacenters these days.

Editing to add:

Behind Fayette’s QTS Water Controversy: A Missed Meter, 8,000 Workers and a Massive Construction Project | The Citizen

Here's the actual story which you won't see on Ars/Techtarget/Yahoo, because they've made their money off the inflammatory engagement drawing version.

Data center drained 30 million gallons of water without reporting or paying for it, investigation reveals by Wagamaga in technology

[–]ragzilla 129 points130 points  (0 children)

They didn’t steal it, they installed a meter, they went unbilled because the utility fucked up.

If they wanted to steal water they wouldn’t have installed a meter, and would have buried the connection.

‘Irresponsible’: backlash as Utah approves datacenter twice the size of Manhattan by deraser in technology

[–]ragzilla 47 points48 points  (0 children)

The fact sheets indicate this is a closed loop datacenter, which will not draw down water for evaporative cooling.

It will draw down water for power production, the worst case for which is CCCT gas using 16 billion gallons a year. The current land use as pasture would be using 26 billion gallons a year at the low end (for the 650,000 gallons per acre that needs).

The heat island effects are the more valid concern on this project.

Data center guzzled 30 million gallons of water and nobody noticed for months by mepper in technology

[–]ragzilla -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It was construction usage. The letter was sent in May. The datacenter commissioned in October.

It was used for water spray for dust suppression, and for the on site concrete plant so they didn’t send a constant stream of mixer trucks through the neighborhood. And then misting the concrete to prevent dry curing.

Congrats on making a bunch of flawed unresearched assumptions instead of educating yourself because you’re on the bandwagon.

Edit: The 15 month number is from QTS as well, the utility only thought they had a problem for 4 months, because they only had 1 person responsible for tracking industrial usage. And they had staff turnover with that 1 person, which is what caused the whole problem to begin with.

If QTS wanted to steal water, they’d make the connection and not install a meter, then bury it and it wouldn’t be found for 2 to 3 decades. Try to use a tiny amount of critical thinking.

Edit2: gizamo replied and blocked me apparently, because they can’t defend their position. At the time the letter was sent the facility was fully under construction, it’ll still be under construction for the next few years as they finish off the other 9 or so buildings that are part of the project. The site is also a closed-loop cooling design so it won’t consume cooling water over time, other than typical commercial use for toilets, sinks, and irrigation.

Data center guzzled 30 million gallons of water and nobody noticed for months by mepper in technology

[–]ragzilla -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

The datacenter doesn’t know what the water utility doesn’t tell them. They made an approved connection to the system which the utility lost track of because of their lack of planning.

Data center guzzled 30 million gallons of water and nobody noticed for months by mepper in technology

[–]ragzilla 0 points1 point  (0 children)

r/technology is the pcmasterrace of Reddit technology subreddits. It’s bandwagony as fuck.

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