lets get something strait about the scale off data centers, and how they compare to any OTHER mega INDUSTRIAL project, bieng done in a massive rush backed by massive amounts of capital with a lax, very lax, regulatory environment

we strait now?

or is it thissy that, footsy, look LOOK!, over there!

CHINA!

OutOfHere•about 1 hour ago

Most of these AI datacenters need to be moved to space. For many AI uses, the resulting latency would be altogether acceptable.

ecshafer•about 1 hour ago

That doesn't make any sense. Data centers just use some water for water cooling of cpus, there isn't anything to pollute. If this isn't fake, its probably a broken line.

yfw•about 1 hour ago

Rushed construction affecting well water https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy8gy7lv448o

yepyoukno•about 1 hour ago

Love how the haters conclude decisively there could not be any justification other than she’s wrong. They’ve thought of everything.

arrowleaf•about 1 hour ago

Overdrawing water from an aquifer can disturb sediment. There are many second-order effects to consider.

tech_ken•about 1 hour ago

> its probably a broken line

Per her website (which is hosting the transcript of the interview here: https://ocasio-cortez.house.gov/media/press-releases/ocasio-...) seems that the cause is known and acknowledge to be construction

"""

...A few weeks ago, while Congress was in recess, I visited Morgan County, Georgia, where Meta is building a massive data center campus. They are clear cutting forests and began heavy construction, including explosive blasting, and families in the area are starting to see not only their water pressure decrease, to your point about water availability, but their appliances have all stopped working because it is decimating their water quality.

They now rely on bottled water to drink and prepare meals, and nearby residents' water bills are expected to increase by 33%. In fact, I have a jar right here. This is the current drinking water in Morgan County, Georgia, right after a data center was constructed, the Meta data center was constructed. ...

"""

maerF0x0•41 minutes ago

It seems like you didnt watch the source video. The water is allegedly contaminated by the construction of a new datacenter.

sroussey•about 1 hour ago

It’s cheaper to use lots of water for cooling than to make a closed system where you have to cool it yourself. Easy solution is to only give them a small pipe for restrooms.

shimman•about 1 hour ago

Makes plenty of sense to me, the company that profited off of the Myanmar genocide likely also doesn't care about local regulations either or the impacts on American civilians either.

rho138•30 minutes ago

Burma

markdown•about 1 hour ago

> Data centers just use some water for water cooling of cpus, there isn't anything to pollute.

I wonder why they're using up and dumping all the water then. If the water was clean they'd consume none... it'd just flow through their CPU's, into tanks, and back into municipal water supply.

perching_aix•about 1 hour ago

Isn't the water used for evaporative cooling? Not much to return then I'd assume.

Edit:

Upon looking into it, looks like a portion of it (tens of percents) becomes a concentrated fluid called "blowdown", filled with minerals from the water source, and various treatment additives used for ensuring that the thing keeps flowing and doesn't become a growth media. This does need to be flushed out periodically, and is apparently supposed to be directed towards a water reclamation plant (e.g. via the sewage system).

I don't necessarily find it a reasonable suggestion that it should be cleaned in place, although it does look like a number of DCs actually do, but obviously I do agree it should not just be dumped yolo.