FYI: 🇺🇸 A massive data center campus in Fayetteville, Georgia, secretly drained nearly 30 million gallons of water bef

[riversedge]

DulceBiatch
@BiatchDulce
·
3h
FYI: 🇺🇸 A massive data center campus in Fayetteville, Georgia, secretly drained nearly 30 million gallons of water before residents noticed a drop in their own water pressure.

The "unaccounted-for" consumption has sparked a local firestorm:

Illegal Hookups: Utility investigators discovered two industrial water connections feeding the QTS campus that were either installed without permission or not linked to a billing account.

Massive Waste: The facility used enough water to fill 44 Olympic-size swimming pools, totaling $147,474 in retroactive charges that went unbilled for months.

Citizen Outrage: Residents in the Annelise Park subdivision were told to stop watering their lawns to conserve water while the data center, the county's #1 water consumer, was draining the system for free.

"Partnership" Over Penalties: Despite the breach, the county utility declined to fine the developer, calling the company a "partner" and citing a lack of staff to monitor the site.

Total Ban: In response to the scandal and ongoing drought conditions, the Fayetteville City Council voted last month to ban new data centers in every zoning district across the city.

The developer, owned by Blackstone, claims the high usage was for temporary construction, but local advocates argue the facility is "above the law" while the state faces severe wildfire risks.

Link to tweet

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Link to tweet

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[Takket]

1. don't like it? vote for Democrats.

[Matthew28]

2. Time for them

To be built on floating rafts on the ocean with solar on top. It needs to be over water and not sucking up fresh water near our cities.

I like tech and use a.i but these need to be over oceans far away from land.

[NBachers]

3. Who's getting paid off over this one?

[Matthew28]

4. I think

over the ocean is a perfect place for solar. We could simply put datacenters beneath some of them.

[fujiyamasan]

10. I guess China tried this recently

I don’t know what success they had with it. An earlier effort by Microsoft failed, I believe and they scrapped the project.

I don’t think they used solar, but the intention was to use the water for cooling purposes.

[flvegan]

5. "the county utility declined to fine the developer, calling

the company a partner"

Time to check the county utility chiefs' bank accounts for deposits/transfers.

[FormerOstrich]

6. Something simiar just

happened in Tuscon.

Here is an article about how they did an end run and used drinking water for dust abatement.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/5/8/800035668/community/tucson-shuts-off-water-supply-for-data-center/

[RussBLib]

7. Does anybody expect these data centers to be on the up-and-up?

Coming from billionaires? Most of them probably didn’t get rich by playing by the rules.

https://russblib.blogspot.com/?m=1

[dalton99a]

8. Kick

[bif]

9. Dupe

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100221229243

[Diraven]

11. Billionaire-funded Republicans will see this and say

"This is why we need to shield AI companies from liability".

[nuxvomica]

12. Why don't they ask the AI how to solve the problem?

Seriously, if it's as wonderful as they say, it should be able figure out how to reduce its own use of water and power. Otherwise, it might be just another expensive bright and shiny object.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

13. I hope its far from.homes

Those things generate a continuous buzzing sound