this post was submitted on 12 May 2026

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312

AI data center project secretly sucked 29 million gallons of water over 15 months before detected by residents complaining about low water pressure — officials refuse to fine (www.tomshardware.com)

submitted 2 weeks ago by sanitation@lemmy.radio to c/technology@lemmy.world

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[–] oh_@lemmy.world 41 points 2 weeks ago

Stole. The correct word is stole. Nice to know the officials got the proper bribes. Nothing to see here.

[–] Eternal192@anarchist.nexus 30 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Because their pockets are full of bribes, they need to spend some of it before they can do anything and "officials" that refuse to fight and protect those that they represent should be removed from office.

[–] myrmidex@belgae.social 5 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

I'd go one further: If ~~bribing~~ lobbying was proven, the politicians should not only be removed, they should also be just as liable for damages as the company is/should be.

[–] Eternal192@anarchist.nexus 4 points 2 weeks ago

That's why so many laws and a lot of intentional loopholes were created so they can protect themselves and the best way to fight this kind of corruption is the Luigi way, the infestation is serious, time to call pest control.

[–] db2@lemmy.world 30 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

If there's no law then there's no law. Act accordingly.

[–] meco03211@lemmy.world 11 points 2 weeks ago

I'll siphon millions of gains of water myself then. Then I can sell it to the data center at a premium markup! It's foolproof.

[–] melsaskca@lemmy.ca 18 points 2 weeks ago

"Let's see...oh...sorry, but all of the officials in this area have already been paid off."

[–] zebidiah@lemmy.ca 15 points 2 weeks ago

People elect clowns and then act surprised when they get a pie in the face....

[–] SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world 10 points 2 weeks ago

Profits for me, fines for thee.

[–] yggstyle@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

Sounds like the residents are free and clear to start a lawsuit of their own and name both the officials and the datacenter as the targets of it. A little something to say fuck you to the datacenter and a reminder to the civil servants as to who they serve.

[–] goatinspace@feddit.org 3 points 2 weeks ago

[–] treadful@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Remember when datacenters were cool?

[–] hume_lemmy@lemmy.ca 8 points 2 weeks ago

They're still cool! Because of the water they stole for their cooling systems.

[+] Sandbar_Trekker@lemmy.today -8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Some important context here:

QTS told Politico the 29 million gallons were consumed during temporary construction activities, including concrete work, dust control, and site preparation. The company markets a "closed-loop" cooling system for its data centers, which recirculates the same water rather than drawing from the municipal supply.

[–] nublug@piefed.blahaj.zone 17 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

construction projects don't usually use secret unmetered hookups the water company doesn't know about, bud.

some important context here: almost every comment from above user is correcting the record in ai posts like this.

[–] Sandbar_Trekker@lemmy.today 1 points 1 week ago

Nothing in that comment should have been construed as trying to defend the company from trying to weasel their way out of paying their water bill.

[–] joe@lemmy.world -5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

That context isn't important at all, unless you're implying that the correction is wrong or misleading.

I think it's useful to bring attention to the fact that this isn't water being used by the data center for operations, but for its construction.

And let's be real, there's a ridiculous amount of misinformation surrounding co-called "AI", both pro and con. Someone providing context and clarification isn't something I'd complain about. (With the caveats above.)

[–] snooggums@piefed.world 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I think it’s useful to bring attention to the fact that this isn’t water being used by the data center for operations, but for its construction.

Oh, I guess them stealing 29 million gallons of water is fine because it was during construction then. Great point, not completely ridiculous.

[–] joe@lemmy.world -1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Calm down, pal. No one said that at all. If all you have is strawmen maybe sit this one out.

[–] snooggums@piefed.world -2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

No one said the words I quoted?

Ok.

[–] joe@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

No one said it was "fine".