Stopping the data centers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anybody ever driven out to northern VA to see all the data centers.

It’s eerie and creepy looking.

It’s sad they took all this beautiful land and destroyed it.

Now VA has a SERIOUS power problem.

The cost of power went up 25% in 2021. It’s only going up more.

AI required fast and hot computers that need water too cool it. There is going to be a water problem soon. Right now the water use is unsustainable.

It doesn’t even provide jobs to the area.

Virginia has some nuclear reactors with plans to expand.

Data centers consume less water compared to other sectors. They use about 3.3% of the water consumed by golf courses. So let's shut down the golf courses first.

One data center (currently) uses 3x more water than 1 golf course. That is currently, with AI and high performance computing the water consumption is going to go up 4x by 2028.

Golf courses return water to the environment filtered so the water returned is cleaner than the water that enters. Data center don’t return water to the environment at all there is and 80% loss of local water.

Data center return methane gas to the environment, golf courses do not.

Both should be regulated to ensure neither hurt the environment.

Are the data centers burning the water? It has to be returned to the environment. Methane gas? Hilarious.

The data centers are not returning water to the environment as groundwater.

In Northern Virginia, the water comes from the Potomac. The data centers return that water back to the Potomac.

That is literally not true. Most data centers use evaporative cooling. It is cheaper not to reuse the water because it costs money collect the steam and let it cool down again to reuse the water another time. Much of this water does not come from the Potomac, a substantial amount of it is coming from groundwater or reservoirs that people need for drinking water. Most of it is not returned back to the water supply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anybody ever driven out to northern VA to see all the data centers.

It’s eerie and creepy looking.

It’s sad they took all this beautiful land and destroyed it.

Now VA has a SERIOUS power problem.

The cost of power went up 25% in 2021. It’s only going up more.

AI required fast and hot computers that need water too cool it. There is going to be a water problem soon. Right now the water use is unsustainable.

It doesn’t even provide jobs to the area.

Virginia has some nuclear reactors with plans to expand.

Data centers consume less water compared to other sectors. They use about 3.3% of the water consumed by golf courses. So let's shut down the golf courses first.

One data center (currently) uses 3x more water than 1 golf course. That is currently, with AI and high performance computing the water consumption is going to go up 4x by 2028.

Golf courses return water to the environment filtered so the water returned is cleaner than the water that enters. Data center don’t return water to the environment at all there is and 80% loss of local water.

Data center return methane gas to the environment, golf courses do not.

Both should be regulated to ensure neither hurt the environment.

Are the data centers burning the water? It has to be returned to the environment. Methane gas? Hilarious.

The data centers are not returning water to the environment as groundwater.

In Northern Virginia, the water comes from the Potomac. The data centers return that water back to the Potomac.

That is literally not true. Most data centers use evaporative cooling. It is cheaper not to reuse the water because it costs money collect the steam and let it cool down again to reuse the water another time. Much of this water does not come from the Potomac, a substantial amount of it is coming from groundwater or reservoirs that people need for drinking water. Most of it is not returned back to the water supply.

Northern Virginia is supplied by the Fairfax Water Authority. Where do you think that water comes from?

Evaporative cooling means the water comes out of the sky at some point as rain. It's not lost. Also, there's no steam involved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anybody ever driven out to northern VA to see all the data centers.

It’s eerie and creepy looking.

It’s sad they took all this beautiful land and destroyed it.

Now VA has a SERIOUS power problem.

The cost of power went up 25% in 2021. It’s only going up more.

AI required fast and hot computers that need water too cool it. There is going to be a water problem soon. Right now the water use is unsustainable.

It doesn’t even provide jobs to the area.

Virginia has some nuclear reactors with plans to expand.

Data centers consume less water compared to other sectors. They use about 3.3% of the water consumed by golf courses. So let's shut down the golf courses first.

One data center (currently) uses 3x more water than 1 golf course. That is currently, with AI and high performance computing the water consumption is going to go up 4x by 2028.

Golf courses return water to the environment filtered so the water returned is cleaner than the water that enters. Data center don’t return water to the environment at all there is and 80% loss of local water.

Data center return methane gas to the environment, golf courses do not.

Both should be regulated to ensure neither hurt the environment.

Are the data centers burning the water? It has to be returned to the environment. Methane gas? Hilarious.

The data centers are not returning water to the environment as groundwater.

In Northern Virginia, the water comes from the Potomac. The data centers return that water back to the Potomac.

That is literally not true. Most data centers use evaporative cooling. It is cheaper not to reuse the water because it costs money collect the steam and let it cool down again to reuse the water another time. Much of this water does not come from the Potomac, a substantial amount of it is coming from groundwater or reservoirs that people need for drinking water. Most of it is not returned back to the water supply.

Northern Virginia is supplied by the Fairfax Water Authority. Where do you think that water comes from?

Evaporative cooling means the water comes out of the sky at some point as rain. It's not lost. Also, there's no steam involved.

It doesn’t come out of the sky in the same location. Water vapor gets carried away by the wind. Taking water from the ground and reservoirs causes the water table to go down. This causes people’s wells to go dry, and it causes subsidence which damages buildings and increases the risk of flood damage to homes. You don’t know what you are talking about. Taking groundwater and putting in into the air as water vapor does not magically mean that the net impact on water resources is zero.

[Anonymous]

What's wrong with datacenters. The only thing is that I would cut deals that they would help with infra and power like they install mini nuke power plants

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's wrong with datacenters. The only thing is that I would cut deals that they would help with infra and power like they install mini nuke power plants

The local residents don't want anything hear except remote work government jobs that involve filling out a spreadsheet for an hour a day. That's the only acceptable job in their eyes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anybody ever driven out to northern VA to see all the data centers.

It’s eerie and creepy looking.

It’s sad they took all this beautiful land and destroyed it.

Now VA has a SERIOUS power problem.

The cost of power went up 25% in 2021. It’s only going up more.

AI required fast and hot computers that need water too cool it. There is going to be a water problem soon. Right now the water use is unsustainable.

It doesn’t even provide jobs to the area.

Virginia has some nuclear reactors with plans to expand.

Data centers consume less water compared to other sectors. They use about 3.3% of the water consumed by golf courses. So let's shut down the golf courses first.

One data center (currently) uses 3x more water than 1 golf course. That is currently, with AI and high performance computing the water consumption is going to go up 4x by 2028.

Golf courses return water to the environment filtered so the water returned is cleaner than the water that enters. Data center don’t return water to the environment at all there is and 80% loss of local water.

Data center return methane gas to the environment, golf courses do not.

Both should be regulated to ensure neither hurt the environment.

Are the data centers burning the water? It has to be returned to the environment. Methane gas? Hilarious.

The data centers are not returning water to the environment as groundwater.

In Northern Virginia, the water comes from the Potomac. The data centers return that water back to the Potomac.

That is literally not true. Most data centers use evaporative cooling. It is cheaper not to reuse the water because it costs money collect the steam and let it cool down again to reuse the water another time. Much of this water does not come from the Potomac, a substantial amount of it is coming from groundwater or reservoirs that people need for drinking water. Most of it is not returned back to the water supply.

Northern Virginia is supplied by the Fairfax Water Authority. Where do you think that water comes from?

Evaporative cooling means the water comes out of the sky at some point as rain. It's not lost. Also, there's no steam involved.

It doesn’t come out of the sky in the same location. Water vapor gets carried away by the wind. Taking water from the ground and reservoirs causes the water table to go down. This causes people’s wells to go dry, and it causes subsidence which damages buildings and increases the risk of flood damage to homes. You don’t know what you are talking about. Taking groundwater and putting in into the air as water vapor does not magically mean that the net impact on water resources is zero.

https://reason.com/2026/03/07/the-joys-of-data-centers/

"Most data centers use about the same amount of water or less than an average large office building, although a few require substantially more, and some require less than a typical household," notes a research report prepared by the Virginia General Assembly's Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission. These facilities consume water in two ways: directly, as a means of cooling their equipment, and indirectly, via the water used in generating the power they consume.

Neither makes much of a dent in America's fresh water supply. Data centers' water consumption is a tiny portion of overall U.S. water usage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anybody ever driven out to northern VA to see all the data centers.

It’s eerie and creepy looking.

It’s sad they took all this beautiful land and destroyed it.

Now VA has a SERIOUS power problem.

The cost of power went up 25% in 2021. It’s only going up more.

AI required fast and hot computers that need water too cool it. There is going to be a water problem soon. Right now the water use is unsustainable.

It doesn’t even provide jobs to the area.

Virginia has some nuclear reactors with plans to expand.

Data centers consume less water compared to other sectors. They use about 3.3% of the water consumed by golf courses. So let's shut down the golf courses first.

One data center (currently) uses 3x more water than 1 golf course. That is currently, with AI and high performance computing the water consumption is going to go up 4x by 2028.

Golf courses return water to the environment filtered so the water returned is cleaner than the water that enters. Data center don’t return water to the environment at all there is and 80% loss of local water.

Data center return methane gas to the environment, golf courses do not.

Both should be regulated to ensure neither hurt the environment.

Are the data centers burning the water? It has to be returned to the environment. Methane gas? Hilarious.

The data centers are not returning water to the environment as groundwater.

In Northern Virginia, the water comes from the Potomac. The data centers return that water back to the Potomac.

That is literally not true. Most data centers use evaporative cooling. It is cheaper not to reuse the water because it costs money collect the steam and let it cool down again to reuse the water another time. Much of this water does not come from the Potomac, a substantial amount of it is coming from groundwater or reservoirs that people need for drinking water. Most of it is not returned back to the water supply.

Northern Virginia is supplied by the Fairfax Water Authority. Where do you think that water comes from?

Evaporative cooling means the water comes out of the sky at some point as rain. It's not lost. Also, there's no steam involved.

It doesn’t come out of the sky in the same location. Water vapor gets carried away by the wind. Taking water from the ground and reservoirs causes the water table to go down. This causes people’s wells to go dry, and it causes subsidence which damages buildings and increases the risk of flood damage to homes. You don’t know what you are talking about. Taking groundwater and putting in into the air as water vapor does not magically mean that the net impact on water resources is zero.

https://reason.com/2026/03/07/the-joys-of-data-centers/

"Most data centers use about the same amount of water or less than an average large office building, although a few require substantially more, and some require less than a typical household," notes a research report prepared by the Virginia General Assembly's Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission. These facilities consume water in two ways: directly, as a means of cooling their equipment, and indirectly, via the water used in generating the power they consume.

Neither makes much of a dent in America's fresh water supply. Data centers' water consumption is a tiny portion of overall U.S. water usage.

That is also a lie. There are individual data center campuses in VA that have contracts with local utilities to use 5-10 million gallons of water each day. That is equivalent to the daily water usage of 20,000-40,000 households. Data centers typically use at least 5,000 gallons of water per MW each day for cooling. Virginia has at least 24,000 MW of data centers that have been approved, which equals a minimum of 120M gallons of water consumption per day to cool the data centers. That is equivalent to daily water consumption of around 200,000 households. A very significant amount that can overburden local infrastructure.

[Anonymous]

Something rose to worry about: Data centers in Northern Virginia could make those of us that live nearby vulnerable to terrorist attacks or other disasters. Iranian drones damaged three Amazon data centers: two in the UAE and one in Bahrain.

Iranian strikes on Amazon data centers highlight industry’s vulnerability to physical disasters
https://apnews.com/article/amazon-aws-data-center-uae-iran-bahrain-71066b0a822c4cfd88b61e3fe79af917

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anybody ever driven out to northern VA to see all the data centers.

It’s eerie and creepy looking.

It’s sad they took all this beautiful land and destroyed it.

Now VA has a SERIOUS power problem.

The cost of power went up 25% in 2021. It’s only going up more.

AI required fast and hot computers that need water too cool it. There is going to be a water problem soon. Right now the water use is unsustainable.

It doesn’t even provide jobs to the area.

Virginia has some nuclear reactors with plans to expand.

Data centers consume less water compared to other sectors. They use about 3.3% of the water consumed by golf courses. So let's shut down the golf courses first.

One data center (currently) uses 3x more water than 1 golf course. That is currently, with AI and high performance computing the water consumption is going to go up 4x by 2028.

Golf courses return water to the environment filtered so the water returned is cleaner than the water that enters. Data center don’t return water to the environment at all there is and 80% loss of local water.

Data center return methane gas to the environment, golf courses do not.

Both should be regulated to ensure neither hurt the environment.

Are the data centers burning the water? It has to be returned to the environment. Methane gas? Hilarious.

The data centers are not returning water to the environment as groundwater.

In Northern Virginia, the water comes from the Potomac. The data centers return that water back to the Potomac.

That is literally not true. Most data centers use evaporative cooling. It is cheaper not to reuse the water because it costs money collect the steam and let it cool down again to reuse the water another time. Much of this water does not come from the Potomac, a substantial amount of it is coming from groundwater or reservoirs that people need for drinking water. Most of it is not returned back to the water supply.

Northern Virginia is supplied by the Fairfax Water Authority. Where do you think that water comes from?

Evaporative cooling means the water comes out of the sky at some point as rain. It's not lost. Also, there's no steam involved.

It doesn’t come out of the sky in the same location. Water vapor gets carried away by the wind. Taking water from the ground and reservoirs causes the water table to go down. This causes people’s wells to go dry, and it causes subsidence which damages buildings and increases the risk of flood damage to homes. You don’t know what you are talking about. Taking groundwater and putting in into the air as water vapor does not magically mean that the net impact on water resources is zero.

https://reason.com/2026/03/07/the-joys-of-data-centers/

"Most data centers use about the same amount of water or less than an average large office building, although a few require substantially more, and some require less than a typical household," notes a research report prepared by the Virginia General Assembly's Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission. These facilities consume water in two ways: directly, as a means of cooling their equipment, and indirectly, via the water used in generating the power they consume.

Neither makes much of a dent in America's fresh water supply. Data centers' water consumption is a tiny portion of overall U.S. water usage.

That is also a lie. There are individual data center campuses in VA that have contracts with local utilities to use 5-10 million gallons of water each day. That is equivalent to the daily water usage of 20,000-40,000 households. Data centers typically use at least 5,000 gallons of water per MW each day for cooling. Virginia has at least 24,000 MW of data centers that have been approved, which equals a minimum of 120M gallons of water consumption per day to cool the data centers. That is equivalent to daily water consumption of around 200,000 households. A very significant amount that can overburden local infrastructure.

+1000
The even more concerning issue is the power consumption. 24,000 MW is equal to 80% of the summer peak electricity generation capacity for VA. Only around 6,000 MW of data centers have been built in VA. Virginia will need to increase electricity production capacity by more than 50% to power these data centers and this will drive electricity prices through the roof. Powerline to infrastructure capacity will also need to be increased by 30-40% to accommodate the data centers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Something rose to worry about: Data centers in Northern Virginia could make those of us that live nearby vulnerable to terrorist attacks or other disasters. Iranian drones damaged three Amazon data centers: two in the UAE and one in Bahrain.

Iranian strikes on Amazon data centers highlight industry’s vulnerability to physical disasters
https://apnews.com/article/amazon-aws-data-center-uae-iran-bahrain-71066b0a822c4cfd88b61e3fe79af917

I'm in the industry. Indeed Ashburn is within the "blast radius" of DC, and that's why companies set up secondary locations outside of it. Other parts of VA (Richmond, Harrisonsburg) used to be popular back when there was still a need to have the customer's IT staff drive out and service their equipment. Now it's more likely the cloud infra is owned by the operator, so less of a need to visit and they are spread even further out.

That said, if the enemy can get their drones to Ashburn, they might as well instead hit high-profile political targets in DC itself. It'll barely make the news if a datacenter in Ashburn powering your Netflix is hit, since Netflix has redundancy and they'll just flip to serving your latest episode of reality TV from one of their other datacenters.

[Anonymous]

The data centers may end up the way the suburban strip mall or giant mall did - outdated behemoths.
Companies are furiously building because they are afraid of falling behind on AI. The mass demand for AI is still largely undefined but nobody wants to be left behind in that race.
The state of VA has allowed NOVA to become a suburban hellscape of office parks and gutted downtown DC for commercial businesses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anybody ever driven out to northern VA to see all the data centers.

It’s eerie and creepy looking.

It’s sad they took all this beautiful land and destroyed it.

Now VA has a SERIOUS power problem.

The cost of power went up 25% in 2021. It’s only going up more.

AI required fast and hot computers that need water too cool it. There is going to be a water problem soon. Right now the water use is unsustainable.

It doesn’t even provide jobs to the area.

Virginia has some nuclear reactors with plans to expand.

Data centers consume less water compared to other sectors. They use about 3.3% of the water consumed by golf courses. So let's shut down the golf courses first.

One data center (currently) uses 3x more water than 1 golf course. That is currently, with AI and high performance computing the water consumption is going to go up 4x by 2028.

Golf courses return water to the environment filtered so the water returned is cleaner than the water that enters. Data center don’t return water to the environment at all there is and 80% loss of local water.

Data center return methane gas to the environment, golf courses do not.

Both should be regulated to ensure neither hurt the environment.

Are the data centers burning the water? It has to be returned to the environment. Methane gas? Hilarious.

The data centers are not returning water to the environment as groundwater.

In Northern Virginia, the water comes from the Potomac. The data centers return that water back to the Potomac.

That is literally not true. Most data centers use evaporative cooling. It is cheaper not to reuse the water because it costs money collect the steam and let it cool down again to reuse the water another time. Much of this water does not come from the Potomac, a substantial amount of it is coming from groundwater or reservoirs that people need for drinking water. Most of it is not returned back to the water supply.

Northern Virginia is supplied by the Fairfax Water Authority. Where do you think that water comes from?

Evaporative cooling means the water comes out of the sky at some point as rain. It's not lost. Also, there's no steam involved.

It doesn’t come out of the sky in the same location. Water vapor gets carried away by the wind. Taking water from the ground and reservoirs causes the water table to go down. This causes people’s wells to go dry, and it causes subsidence which damages buildings and increases the risk of flood damage to homes. You don’t know what you are talking about. Taking groundwater and putting in into the air as water vapor does not magically mean that the net impact on water resources is zero.

https://reason.com/2026/03/07/the-joys-of-data-centers/

"Most data centers use about the same amount of water or less than an average large office building, although a few require substantially more, and some require less than a typical household," notes a research report prepared by the Virginia General Assembly's Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission. These facilities consume water in two ways: directly, as a means of cooling their equipment, and indirectly, via the water used in generating the power they consume.

Neither makes much of a dent in America's fresh water supply. Data centers' water consumption is a tiny portion of overall U.S. water usage.

That is also a lie. There are individual data center campuses in VA that have contracts with local utilities to use 5-10 million gallons of water each day. That is equivalent to the daily water usage of 20,000-40,000 households. Data centers typically use at least 5,000 gallons of water per MW each day for cooling. Virginia has at least 24,000 MW of data centers that have been approved, which equals a minimum of 120M gallons of water consumption per day to cool the data centers. That is equivalent to daily water consumption of around 200,000 households. A very significant amount that can overburden local infrastructure.

Any evidence to support this bold assertion about contracts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Something rose to worry about: Data centers in Northern Virginia could make those of us that live nearby vulnerable to terrorist attacks or other disasters. Iranian drones damaged three Amazon data centers: two in the UAE and one in Bahrain.

Iranian strikes on Amazon data centers highlight industry’s vulnerability to physical disasters
https://apnews.com/article/amazon-aws-data-center-uae-iran-bahrain-71066b0a822c4cfd88b61e3fe79af917

Northern Virginia is already a massive target due to the various DoD scattered through the area. No one is more than a few miles from a spooky organization.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anybody ever driven out to northern VA to see all the data centers.

It’s eerie and creepy looking.

It’s sad they took all this beautiful land and destroyed it.

Now VA has a SERIOUS power problem.

The cost of power went up 25% in 2021. It’s only going up more.

AI required fast and hot computers that need water too cool it. There is going to be a water problem soon. Right now the water use is unsustainable.

It doesn’t even provide jobs to the area.

Virginia has some nuclear reactors with plans to expand.

Data centers consume less water compared to other sectors. They use about 3.3% of the water consumed by golf courses. So let's shut down the golf courses first.

One data center (currently) uses 3x more water than 1 golf course. That is currently, with AI and high performance computing the water consumption is going to go up 4x by 2028.

Golf courses return water to the environment filtered so the water returned is cleaner than the water that enters. Data center don’t return water to the environment at all there is and 80% loss of local water.

Data center return methane gas to the environment, golf courses do not.

Both should be regulated to ensure neither hurt the environment.

Are the data centers burning the water? It has to be returned to the environment. Methane gas? Hilarious.

The data centers are not returning water to the environment as groundwater.

In Northern Virginia, the water comes from the Potomac. The data centers return that water back to the Potomac.

That is literally not true. Most data centers use evaporative cooling. It is cheaper not to reuse the water because it costs money collect the steam and let it cool down again to reuse the water another time. Much of this water does not come from the Potomac, a substantial amount of it is coming from groundwater or reservoirs that people need for drinking water. Most of it is not returned back to the water supply.

Northern Virginia is supplied by the Fairfax Water Authority. Where do you think that water comes from?

Evaporative cooling means the water comes out of the sky at some point as rain. It's not lost. Also, there's no steam involved.

It doesn’t come out of the sky in the same location. Water vapor gets carried away by the wind. Taking water from the ground and reservoirs causes the water table to go down. This causes people’s wells to go dry, and it causes subsidence which damages buildings and increases the risk of flood damage to homes. You don’t know what you are talking about. Taking groundwater and putting in into the air as water vapor does not magically mean that the net impact on water resources is zero.

https://reason.com/2026/03/07/the-joys-of-data-centers/

"Most data centers use about the same amount of water or less than an average large office building, although a few require substantially more, and some require less than a typical household," notes a research report prepared by the Virginia General Assembly's Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission. These facilities consume water in two ways: directly, as a means of cooling their equipment, and indirectly, via the water used in generating the power they consume.

Neither makes much of a dent in America's fresh water supply. Data centers' water consumption is a tiny portion of overall U.S. water usage.

That is also a lie. There are individual data center campuses in VA that have contracts with local utilities to use 5-10 million gallons of water each day. That is equivalent to the daily water usage of 20,000-40,000 households. Data centers typically use at least 5,000 gallons of water per MW each day for cooling. Virginia has at least 24,000 MW of data centers that have been approved, which equals a minimum of 120M gallons of water consumption per day to cool the data centers. That is equivalent to daily water consumption of around 200,000 households. A very significant amount that can overburden local infrastructure.

Any evidence to support this bold assertion about contracts?

https://www.roanokerambler.com/water-authority-releases-google-data-center-records-ahead-scheduled-contempt-hearing/

Data center contract with utility in Roanoke VA has an agreement to provide up to 8 million gallons a day for a 200 acre data center campus. One of the few contracts that has been made public due to a lawsuit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anybody ever driven out to northern VA to see all the data centers.

It’s eerie and creepy looking.

It’s sad they took all this beautiful land and destroyed it.

Now VA has a SERIOUS power problem.

The cost of power went up 25% in 2021. It’s only going up more.

AI required fast and hot computers that need water too cool it. There is going to be a water problem soon. Right now the water use is unsustainable.

It doesn’t even provide jobs to the area.

Virginia has some nuclear reactors with plans to expand.

Data centers consume less water compared to other sectors. They use about 3.3% of the water consumed by golf courses. So let's shut down the golf courses first.

One data center (currently) uses 3x more water than 1 golf course. That is currently, with AI and high performance computing the water consumption is going to go up 4x by 2028.

Golf courses return water to the environment filtered so the water returned is cleaner than the water that enters. Data center don’t return water to the environment at all there is and 80% loss of local water.

Data center return methane gas to the environment, golf courses do not.

Both should be regulated to ensure neither hurt the environment.

Are the data centers burning the water? It has to be returned to the environment. Methane gas? Hilarious.

The data centers are not returning water to the environment as groundwater.

In Northern Virginia, the water comes from the Potomac. The data centers return that water back to the Potomac.

That is literally not true. Most data centers use evaporative cooling. It is cheaper not to reuse the water because it costs money collect the steam and let it cool down again to reuse the water another time. Much of this water does not come from the Potomac, a substantial amount of it is coming from groundwater or reservoirs that people need for drinking water. Most of it is not returned back to the water supply.

Northern Virginia is supplied by the Fairfax Water Authority. Where do you think that water comes from?

Evaporative cooling means the water comes out of the sky at some point as rain. It's not lost. Also, there's no steam involved.

It doesn’t come out of the sky in the same location. Water vapor gets carried away by the wind. Taking water from the ground and reservoirs causes the water table to go down. This causes people’s wells to go dry, and it causes subsidence which damages buildings and increases the risk of flood damage to homes. You don’t know what you are talking about. Taking groundwater and putting in into the air as water vapor does not magically mean that the net impact on water resources is zero.

https://reason.com/2026/03/07/the-joys-of-data-centers/

"Most data centers use about the same amount of water or less than an average large office building, although a few require substantially more, and some require less than a typical household," notes a research report prepared by the Virginia General Assembly's Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission. These facilities consume water in two ways: directly, as a means of cooling their equipment, and indirectly, via the water used in generating the power they consume.

Neither makes much of a dent in America's fresh water supply. Data centers' water consumption is a tiny portion of overall U.S. water usage.

That is also a lie. There are individual data center campuses in VA that have contracts with local utilities to use 5-10 million gallons of water each day. That is equivalent to the daily water usage of 20,000-40,000 households. Data centers typically use at least 5,000 gallons of water per MW each day for cooling. Virginia has at least 24,000 MW of data centers that have been approved, which equals a minimum of 120M gallons of water consumption per day to cool the data centers. That is equivalent to daily water consumption of around 200,000 households. A very significant amount that can overburden local infrastructure.

Any evidence to support this bold assertion about contracts?

https://www.roanokerambler.com/water-authority-releases-google-data-center-records-ahead-scheduled-contempt-hearing/

Data center contract with utility in Roanoke VA has an agreement to provide up to 8 million gallons a day for a 200 acre data center campus. One of the few contracts that has been made public due to a lawsuit.

Currently, the contract calls for 2 million gallons a day. More importantly.

Google intends to build three hyperscale data centers, totaling nearly 1 million square feet, in Botetourt County’s Greenfield industrial park, permits filed last month show. The tech giant would spend at least $3 billion and employ at least 150 workers at the campus, which would lie across 312 acres that Google purchased last summer.

Are there any other businesses planning to drop $3 billion in Roanoke? I know Fairfax County could make that up with a few small mom and pop grocery stores, but Roanoke doesn't have that option.