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Daniel Aldrich
@danielaldrich.bsky.social

Google was really trying to hide its water use figures, to the degree that it got the council to try to keep its water use figures secret. The community finally got the actual numbers and found out Google was using 29 percent of the water in the community. www.wired.com/story/what-t...

wired.comWhat the US Movement Against Data Centers Can Learn From AbroadParis Marx, author of Hyperscale, has been tracking global data center development for years. The US has a lot to learn from what’s happened everywhere from Ireland to New Zealand.

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Oden
@odense.bsky.social

This is my single biggest reason to oppose hyperscale LLMs and data centers. And the worst part is that they will not turn into AGI, and are at best a step along the way, so it’s consuming a ton of clean water and way too much power for very little overall return.

Spike Prime [Art Comms Open]
@spikeprime.bsky.social

Not just very little, actively negative returns. Not only is it poisoning literally through toxins, and figuratively through disinformation, but it loses it's investors and broader economies billions. FFS Anthropic lost 80 billion in six months! And that's just one of these companies.

False Prophets
@falseprophets.bsky.social

These old school designs unfortunately used a lot of water for cooling. Every modern data center built within the past 6 months and all built into the future are closed loop systems using no outside water.

ibeenhacked.bsky.social
@ibeenhacked.bsky.social

And the data centers are running advertisements claiming they don't use all that water. With a picture of the Columbia river in the foreground. The stupid PR. People in Oregon do not get their water from the Columbia River. That water is used for agriculture and is not fit for Data Centers.

ibeenhacked.bsky.social
@ibeenhacked.bsky.social

Other reports of nearly 40 percent. 550 million gallons in 2025. oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2026/01/19/a...

oregoncapitalchronicle.comAs Google’s water demands grow, The Dalles aims to pull more from Mount Hood forest • Oregon Capital ChronicleOregon Public Broadcasting first published this article. The Dalles is trying to expand its water reservoir — and it’s turning to Congress in a quest to acquire part of the Mount Hood National Forest ...
ibeenhacked.bsky.social
@ibeenhacked.bsky.social

Data centers need city water, not irrigation water. Data center designs are not zero water users. The ones that will use coolant will need to be flushed regularly. Google was reportedly recycling water but it is cheaper to take the water from city. And so it is. Tragedy of the commons.

The Literate Lizard
@theliteratelizard.bsky.social

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theliteratelizard.comHyperscale: The Ambition and Excess of Big Tech's Data EmpiresLONGLISTED FOR THE 2026 FINANCIAL TIMES & STANDARD CHARTERED BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD“A tremendous contribution to a debate that is of existential importance to us all.” —Naomi Klein, bestselli...