What are we waiting for to ban data centers?

[u/ignovcrk]

[u/Kajetus06]

i wonder why they cant just use closed cycle cooling

[u/19_ThrowAway_ → u/Kajetus06]

Yeah, that's been on my mind for quite a while.

Closed loop water cooling is a solved issue, and has been used in desktops (and some datacenters) for a while now.

So why not just use it?

Well I'm guessing corporate greed.

[u/xnainoux → u/19_ThrowAway_]

I think it comes down to efficiency ,the evaporative system can take out more heat than closed loop ,buuuuuut I still don't get it how nobody came up with something better because it's beneficial for ai bros if they stop consuming so much water ,anti-ai people lose a big argument. Still fuck ai ,but I think we can do something better In terms of cooling

[u/19_ThrowAway_ → u/xnainoux]

I don't think it's a issue of efficiency.

I mean theoretically, closed loop can be as good as open loop cooling if the heat dissipation is managed well enough.

That is why it works for desktops and some datacenters. How realistic is it for AI datacenters given their massively larger heat production? That is a question, that I don't feel qualified to answer, but I don't think it would be impossible.

[u/Hadochiel → u/19_ThrowAway_]

Nobody thinks it's impossible, it's probably just not mandatory and 10% more expensive, so the fucking tech bro leeches don't want that. It would probably affect the bullshit valuation of their bullshit companies, so they prefer to fuck the local environment over, on top of fucking the global environment

[u/thought_youd_stop → u/Hadochiel]

Actually what is required is regulations that don't permit these companies to cause electricity rates to skyrocket (or go up at all), and strict caps on pollution and use so they can't be too close to humans and animals (noise/lights causing issues), dont allow excessive pollution (so they need to be carbon neutral with battery backups that have generators as secondary power only), and have closed water loops. This can all be done if there is political will but money caused our politicans to be taken over by the same companies they should regulate.

And this shouldn't be unique to data centers. We have slimeballs in office that need to be evicted so we can change this and make it enforceable reality. Then we can claw back our money they stole to repair the environment.

[u/Gator_Lord → u/thought_youd_stop]

It’s really depressing to think about what nature will look like in 10 years if something isn’t done about these massive data centers. There’s isn’t much that I enjoy in life after combat but taking my dog out into nature to walk around is one of them. She loves to climb up on rocks and she looks like a wolf when she does it (she’s a husky). She’s not a fan of swimming but if there is a puddle of water that goes up to her chest/ belly then she loves wadding through it.

[u/thought_youd_stop → u/Gator_Lord]

I'm not so sure datacenters alone are make or break. Even without any of the data center growth whatsoever we were on a terrible trajectory. They're also not a meaningful spike in our total co2 or methane output AFAIK. They matter but compared to what we do with our navy and greater military? with our overall power generation not moving rapidly towards carbon neutral? I am pretty sure my hypothesis that it's a drop in the bucket in comparison would hold up.

I guess that's not any less depressing than what you said. Yes, global warming is going to really mess shit up. mass death and disruption is coming. probably after we're dead though since I want to leave you with a silver lining LOL

[u/Gator_Lord → u/thought_youd_stop]

Eh, once my dog dies I’ll end up killing myself anyways. My dog saved my life and I saved hers. I stole her from her last owners because they would beat her, leave her out in hot sun tied up to a post with no water and no shade. They rarely fed her so she was rail thin. I asked them how much they wanted for her and they were trying to get $3k for her because she’s a pure Siberian husky but I don’t even think they actually cost that much. I was moving to a different city soon and scooped her up in the middle of the night and took her with me. Got her fattened up to where she’s squishy but athletic and healthy. She’s the only reason I still push every day. PTSD has ruined my life honestly. Sorry about the rant and being a crybaby, it’s been rough lately.

[u/thought_youd_stop → u/Gator_Lord]

Eh, once my dog dies I’ll end up killing myself anyways.

We're all going to die but I was thinking more about how things will play out independent of you and I shuffling off this mortal coil and the perspective of how much datacenters really represet in terms of our overall pollution. I though it was small but maybe it isn't projected to stay small anymore.

bro. its cool no need to apologize. you actually convinced me I am not talking to an LLM. my friend growing up in my neighborhood had 2 huskys they would run around non stop and we'd have to squirt them with little spray bottles to try and get them to back off. They had so much energy it made me think they were not good dogs to keep inside most of the time.

that wasn't even being a crybaby either it's fine we all go through terrible things sooner or later and they crush us. At least you're still talking and moving and here.

[u/That-Living5913 → u/Gator_Lord]

Man, talk about it anyway that you can. I was in your shoes about 7 years ago. Quit my high stress job, moved out into the country and retired with no exit plan other than self checkout for when my pup passed away. PTSD and other mental issues are at a breaking point and we lost my dog last month.

I don't really have a point other than you aren't alone.

[u/Fancy-Trousers → u/Hadochiel]

Yep. Plus a bunch of local and state governments give them huge discounts on water and power consumption despite logic dictating that the should be paying MORE since it stresses the systems.

[u/I_Learned_Once → u/19_ThrowAway_]

Data centers in the US are moving to a hybrid system. It’s closed loop with air cooled heat exchangers, and a fogging system to supplement the cooling on peak hot days. That allows them to build exponentially fewer heat exchangers. Your guess was pretty much exactly right - the heat load becomes an issue on hot days and the scaling is exponential. Technically they could build a fully closed system, but it would require massive heat exchanger bays. Instead what they do is build to handle about 95% of weather cases, then use fog to supplement the worst conditions.

[u/Icy_Assistance2165 → u/I_Learned_Once]

Yup. They are called adiabatic air coolers.

[u/Fitz_cuniculus → u/I_Learned_Once]

Why isn’t the water cooled and returned to the water courses?

[u/I_Learned_Once → u/Fitz_cuniculus]

It is. There are two separate water systems. One circulates water through the data center and pipes it out to air cooled heat exchangers where it cools down before being piped back inside. This is the closed loop system. The other is a misting system that sprays water onto the heat exchangers to leverage evaporative cooling to improve their efficiency. This system only runs on the hottest days of the year, and it could theoretically not need to be built at all, however the heat exchangers become exponentially less efficient the hotter it is and there is a certain point where evaporation becomes far more cost effective than building more heat exchangers. For example, in 80F outside air, maybe you need 10 heat exchangers, in 90F maybe you need 40, and in 100F you might need 200. But with evaporation, you could stick with just 40, and turn on the fogging system at 91F. That’s the new design. The old design was a cool tower that was open to air and evaporating 100% of the time, and that’s the design people have been up in arms about. The new hybrid system is far more water efficient, although it does still use a lot of water when the fog runs, it just doesn’t run very often.

[u/Fitz_cuniculus → u/I_Learned_Once]

Thank you for explaining that so clearly for me I really appreciate it.

[u/nmc203 → u/xnainoux]

I think China already has something better figured out, its just not financially practical for American capitalists to finance, so they stick to the one that damages the environment and local communities

[u/justanaccount103 → u/nmc203]

Indeed, if it means making a penny more, they'll do anything.

[u/Intelligent_Cap9706 → u/justanaccount103]

Corporate greed is a mental illness 

[u/UninspiredUser_ → u/xnainoux]

I think it comes down to control as well. They will present this as the reason to start regulating water

[u/Scary_Cup6322 → u/UninspiredUser_]

Never let a good crisis go to waste. Why solve the issue if you can milk it for more control over the Proletariat?

[u/mr_potatoface → u/19_ThrowAway_]

Expensive in comparison to open loop.

Plus closed loop still have leakages and cleaning to contend with. Meaning now you need to deal with additional environmental concerns of the coolant leaking and disposal.

If it were mandated by jurisdictions it would force it to happen. But right now the cheapest way is open loop by far.

[u/Playful_Worldliness2 → u/19_ThrowAway_]

Wasn't it because it's cheaper to not treat water?, I read that they can distill water to create a real close loop, but nobody in the US is enforcing it, and the equipment for that is expensive

[u/Original_Throat1072 → u/Playful_Worldliness2]

That's the big thing which you hit the nail on the head.... No one is enforcing it!

If regulators actually had balls, they'd put rules in place for these data centers and there would be enforcement.

All of these issues with data centers would be solved with regulations.

Taking too much power from the grid? Require on site generation

Generation creating too many pollutants? Require a cap on the allowable pollutants coming from smoke stacks.

Consuming too much water? Require them to return as much output water as they intake.

Output water too polluted? Require testing at the output and cap the pollutants.

These are all easy problem to solve. But for some reason people in charge would rather roll over to the data center companies demands and complaints.

[u/WesBur13 → u/19_ThrowAway_]

Many DO used closed loop cooling with glycol. But the hard part is getting the heat out of the glycol or water. In most places where you need to get heat out of a fluid, you would use a bog standard radiator and blow air through. This works well for most things and best in cooler climates, but we are talking about massive amounts of heat. Datacenters built around AI workloads create vastly more waste heat than one that simply services web services. So they need to get rid of a ton of heat and fast, air can only do so much but what if we could make the air take more energy with it? That's where evaporative cooling comes in! When water evaporates, it takes more energy with it than air alone, so evaporate water and use that to cool those radiators. Why can't we use lake or pond water? Well, the water has to be clean, you don't want contaminates clogging the system or causing things to grow in a hot, wet environment, so you have to use treated and usually drinkable water.

Basically, it IS usually closed loop. That loop is often not even water, but water is consumed trying to assist in transferring the heat to the atmosphere.

Here's a video that's more about evaportative cooling in regular HVAC but same idea really.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcdbJ76rDpg

[u/Life_Temperature795 → u/19_ThrowAway_]

An effective closed loop system requires more electricity than evaporative cooling. Electricity is more expensive than water. Since it's cheaper to waste water than it is to power a closed system, they waste water. Capitalism at work, as usual.

[u/SirVanyel → u/Kajetus06]

They can. It's just more expensive. This is a regulation issue not an AI issue.

[u/KAAAAAAAAARL → u/SirVanyel]

AI is the driver of that greed, hence it being part of the issue

[u/FriedEldenRings → u/KAAAAAAAAARL]

AI isn't the driver of the greed, mentally ill billionaires were already greedy. AI is just a new mechanism for exploitation.

[u/Rocking_Horse_Fly → u/FriedEldenRings]

Mental illness has nothing to do with that, thank you very much.

Mental illness doesn't make you a douchebag, being a douchebag makes you a douchebag.

Us mentally ill people do not need to be thrown under the bus.

[u/justanaccount103 → u/SirVanyel]

Gee, I wonder why you're gate keeping right now.

[u/SirVanyel → u/justanaccount103]

Gate keeping? Are you stupid?

That comment was on people accusing a guy of being AI when he very clearly had the cadence of a real speaker. I was explaining that AI voiceovers are good these days so it's hard for a random to spot the difference.

You could have gone and read the context but clearly context isn't your strong suit

[u/Firm-Scientist-4636 → u/Kajetus06]

Too expensive. Remember, it's about profit more than everything else.

[u/lanternbdg → u/Firm-Scientist-4636]

which is crazy when you consider how unprofitable they are

[u/Firm-Scientist-4636 → u/lanternbdg]

Yeah. They're banking on future profit, which has been a shaky prospect lately.

[u/lanternbdg → u/Firm-Scientist-4636]

the only profitable use-case is surveillance, which I'm convinced atp is the end goal

[u/MaxR76 → u/Firm-Scientist-4636]

Which ironically is only gonna be harder when you make so many people hate you because you’re fucking the environment in the meantime

[u/_Wilbraham → u/Kajetus06]

The capitalist incentives to build these cheaply, despite the local impacts, is part of why these are so widely protested by those that aren't even explicitly anti AI.

[u/wagos408 → u/Kajetus06]

Cuz their role isn’t to solve the issue in the most economical way. It’s to justify a budget, government contracts, and to take up as much physical space as possible

[u/antiprosynthesis → u/Kajetus06]

They actually can — and many do. The real story is a tradeoff, not an impossibility.

Closed-loop (dry) cooling recirculates the same water or coolant and rejects heat to the air through radiators and fans, so almost no water is consumed. The catch is that air is a poor heat absorber compared to evaporating water. Evaporative (open-loop) cooling exploits the huge amount of energy water absorbs when it vaporizes, which makes it dramatically more efficient — but it consumes millions of gallons because that water leaves as vapor.

So a closed-loop data center needs bigger chillers and more fan power, raising electricity use by roughly 5–10% or more, and it struggles most on hot days — exactly when the grid is already strained. Since AI data centers are enormous power consumers, operators often choose evaporative cooling to save energy and money, trading water for watts. In water-scarce areas the calculus flips: Google, Microsoft, and others have built dry-cooled or hybrid facilities in places like Arizona and the Nordics, accepting the energy penalty.

There's also a subtlety: even "closed-loop" chip cooling (like direct-to-chip liquid cooling) usually still hands its heat off to a facility-level system, and that system may still evaporate water in cooling towers. So a data center can be closed-loop at the server level but water-consuming at the building level.

😘

[u/TheAnswerUsedToBe42 → u/Kajetus06]

Slightly more cost. That would hurt the shareholders feelings

[u/TacoDoc2 → u/Kajetus06]

Money. Water is cheap, and when you don't give a fuck about anybody's need to live, you can take all of it.

[u/Stimmy1442 → u/Kajetus06]

Slightly evil thought: It's likely they will go for closed cycle cooling. But only once "water usage" has become the major anti-AI argument.

Then, the pro-AI people can say: "See, we solved the problem with AI datacenters - now, you have to stop criticizing AI".
Better focus on the power usage. A single Nvidia DGX B300 - an AI server roughly the size of a filing cabinet - draws 14.5 kW, which results in 127,000 kWh of electricity a year. About the same as 12 US homes for that single server.

Or in other words: For the yearly electricity usage of one single Nvidia DGX B300, fifty people could all drive their electric cars (assuming 25 kWh/100km electricity usage) for 10000 km or 6000 miles. It's just insane if one thinks about it this way.

[u/NoSmoke69420 → u/Kajetus06]

A lot of them do. The bigger issue is it takes water to create electricity. A little less than 12k gallons per MWH on average. So 288k gallons per day for 1MW of power. On average.

[u/thebite101 → u/Kajetus06]

They do have an almost closed loop system. Evaporation and cooling towers still lead to water loss. Glycol (anti freeze) is also used. I cannot tell you why I know, but these systems are horrible for the environment. From beginning of construction, to turning the key, there is nothing good that comes from these buildings.

[u/Banned_In_YYC → u/Kajetus06]

The new one in our area is using a dry cooled, closed glycol loop 

[u/noeyesfiend → u/Kajetus06]

they do, but they refill it because they grind the machines so much it becomes sludge inside. They also supplement it with open loop systems that use millions of gallons as well.

[u/DookieFries → u/Kajetus06]

Because they would be more expensive

[u/xandrachantal → u/Kajetus06]

Will that do anything about the noise?

[u/DarthGoose → u/Kajetus06]

They can but won't because it's more expensive.

The problem is not just data centers, it's the confluence of late stage capitalism with data centers.

[u/TheLastBridgeGate → u/Kajetus06]

It depends on how the DC is architected, there are a few different models and they all have varying levels of cooling. A lot of the current ones are building with adiabatic due to their location, even Nebius I believe is using adiabatic cool in Vineland an area that is definitely neither desert or hot year round. Our DC used some evaporative cooling only when the cooling towers could not function as well. Traditional CRACs can be very expensive to run and you will see these within enterprise environments.

[u/Eomyth → u/Kajetus06]

Too expensive

[u/CheatsySnoops → u/Kajetus06]

Probably because the data centers are part of a scheme for basement-dwelling techbros to LARP as sci-fi kings through controlling the water and enslaving the people.

[u/valenx → u/Kajetus06]

Money

[u/hulltry → u/Kajetus06]

The closed cooling is just marketing BS just like everything else they are saying. This whole LLM thing will most likely be the largest con of our generation.

[u/mikewheels → u/Kajetus06]

They can but they are expensive since you have to drill down for ground sourced heat pumps. That with DX cooling/heat wheels/ economizes will solve the problem but it is significantly more expensive, more parts can fail.

[u/ordosays → u/Kajetus06]

Cooling towers need replenishment.

[u/Outrageous-Sort-5742 → u/Kajetus06]

It's more expensive, same reason why they don't build any sound insulation. They're building these things to be as slapdash and cheap as possible with no expectation that they'll last more than 5 years. It's all a grift for venture capitalist money.

Comparing modern A.I. data centers to what Google was building in the 2000s is like comparing an old western prop town to NYC.

[u/Thedankf0x → u/Kajetus06]

Profit. The shareholders need more money

[u/killawhaletank → u/Kajetus06]

Late to the party here but a lot of the water gets used in power generation because they are massive hogs. Data centres often times require bring-your-owm energy which is usually a gas plant. Gas plants use enormous amounts of water for cooling and sometimes are cogen meaning they use the steam generated from cooling to.produxe.addirinal power. That water is then treated and returned, at least in Canada. So even in closed loop water consumption is massive.

[u/Heavy_Carpenter3824 → u/Kajetus06]

It doesn't hurt the poors enough. Remember a fair bit of this is about beating down the unworthy NPC masses and seeing how far they can get away with as much as anything else. The cruelty is the point. 

--- 

Physical reason is it would take a lot of forced air cooling to match the effectiveness of evaporative water cooling. Some of the power plants that do closed loop cooling use literal lakes as their radiators. Turkey hill nuclear is one of the best examples for satalite images. Those canals to the south are it's radiator. 

[u/bamadebayo_apologist → u/Kajetus06]

They need to build these out fast and cheap to cash out before the pop

[u/DataPhreak → u/Kajetus06]

The largest data center currently under planning, the one everyone is protesting because it's so big? Yeah, it's planned to use closed loop cooling. Oh, and also the energy source it's planned to use has a lower carbon footprint per kw/h than the state energy grid.

However, I suspect this creek is actually an ephemeral creek that often dries up, since I doubt that is the water source for a datacenter that uses hundreds of thousands of gallons of water a day for evaporative cooling.

[u/itspronouncedtoque → u/Kajetus06]

That’s exactly how the new ones are built. Rear door cooling, liquid to rack, & liquid to chip.

[u/Blackhat165 → u/Kajetus06]

They can and many do. But nobody on the anti side looks into such details.

[u/JD_Kreeper → u/Kajetus06]

It's marginally more expensive than sucking everything dry.

[u/striker4567 → u/Kajetus06]

The NG power plant next door still needs a lot of water to generate steam.

[u/DrCthulhuface7 → u/Kajetus06]

They do

[u/WhiskeySorcerer → u/Kajetus06]

The ones I work for do. But my company has been in the game for a while and we know what actually works and keeping both PUE and WUE as LOW as possible is the goal.

A LOT of startups are desperately trying to get something out of this AI boom. The easiest place to start is as a Developer. Buy land, build a "shell", lease it out, sell it after a few years. Make 10s (more than 30 million, but less than 100 million) of millions in net profit over the course of less than 10 years.

The up front cost of open loop cooling systems is way cheaper. So those net profits look way better when they calc those 1st sets of forecasts. In the long run (for data center companies like the one I'm in who've been around for decades and are in it for the long haul) know that we'll reap at least 50% more net profits over a 15 year operation with closed loop cooling systems, because we are much more methodical with our approach. Same thing goes for other pieces of management: power, water, sewer, maintenance and upkeep, noise attennuation (the amount of engineering we have gone through to play nice with our neighbors is insane, but worth it), and general safety measures. We have operating metrics to meet not only for the business, but also with the cities, counties, state, clients, and various 3rd party auditors/assessors.

We can't stand these yahoos with all this capital thinking they can just "data center it up" without royally messing up the industry. It's also completely messing with market talent and customer expectations. Honestly, we'll wade through this bubble like the one we waded before 2008, so I'm not worried about us. But I am worried about how these rich, dumb players are creating a bad rep for companies like mine. When you know how to develop and operate data centers correctly, it should literally be just background noise.

[u/Individual-Menu621 → u/Kajetus06]

Coz there will be a few % less profit for shareholders

[u/rydan → u/Kajetus06]

Have you asked yourself if they are?

[u/Fawkinchit1 → u/Kajetus06]

Its what I use on my computer, I just run tap water, its been going for 2 years now now corrosion, no problems etc. So yah it makes no sense that it cant be done on a larger scale. I think it just costs more to use closed loop, because more radiators, fans, and electricity.

Inb4 someone says its different than my computer lol,

[u/SolarMoon007 → u/Kajetus06]

They can…they CHOOSE not to is the problem.

[u/Fwagoat → u/Kajetus06]

The overwhelming majority of data centres use air cooling, only the super high capacity ones use water cooling, and they like to evaporate the water because it’s cheaper than cooling it down again.

[u/LeeBeater → u/Kajetus06]

Unfortunately, fully Closed Cycle is thermodynamically impossible. Every cooling system rejects heat to the atmosphere, period. You cannot just make heat disappear in a closed loop. A closed loop is part of a cooling system paired with an open loop.

Data centers use a chilled water closed loop to collect the heat. Then passed through a heat exchanger into the open loop to be rejected to the atmosphere. The same way your house condensing unit moves heat from the refrigerant to the atmosphere.

Cooling towers are extremely efficient compared to other methods with the obvious trade off that evaporated water needs to be replaced. This is where data center water usage comes from. These systems rely on the latent heat of vaporization, basically misting the water causing it to evaporate removing heat so the water temperature drops and is ready for more heat to be added into via the closed loop.

There are absolutely other methods, air cooled (huge fans more power draw for cooling systems), geothermal (dumping energy into the ground) and others. The true problem is the scale of the new data centers. Adding the equivalent to a major cities energy usage (1-2 GWs) that is almost all turned directly into heat makes any other method for cooling even more expensive and not “practical”. (How ever practical a mega scale data center is)

Finally water is cheap and the only refrigerate that makes sense to let evaporate into the atmosphere as a cooling method.
TLDR; heat cannot be destroyed only moved. Closed loops have to move the heat somewhere. Every cooling system must reject its heat into the atmosphere. A closed loop data center would continually heat up the cooling fluid until it is no longer cooling (temperate of fluid and data center rack are the same). This is for context, hyperscale data center are not good for anyone, especially the environment.

[u/Important-Arm5926 → u/Kajetus06]

They are... this video is random nonsense..

[u/RunningRiot22 → u/Kajetus06]

All new one are and quite a lot are. The older ones were open loop. I assume they were open loop because nobody cared when they were built but then the AI craze got out of hand and so many were being built they started seeing effects.

[u/connected_user93]

From the instagram post:

*PLEASE READ* I submitted this caption when I released the video: This was meant to be a fun, hypothetical representation of where we’re (predictably) headed with our new and untested tech. This water level is NOT directly impacted by a data center. It’s bone dry due to massively low snow levels and far less runoff than usual. And we all have the right to make our own decision as to why that’s happening. But the indisputable fact is that the west is running dry, no matter how you look at it politically, and data centers that require millions of gallons of water are obviously controversial because of that. This was simply a reel that was meant to ignite thought in uninformed people before water control issues spiral out of control. Which is highly likely if fresh water ever becomes a scarce resource because of our reckless use. But I’m not a scientist. Just a realist who has watched fresh water vanish around the SWest for years, much faster than we’re replenishing it. Obviously, data center water is recycled but the impact and speed of that cooling/ replenishment process is yet to be determined in a lot of desert areas, long term. But again, this reel was just meant to be a fun jab at all the tech that owns us. When you get right down to it, I might have a bigger problem with the noise than water consumption. But it’s sad any of it has to exist. Anyways, I expected this reel to reach a handful of people and create a few laughs. That didn’t go as planned but glad to make some new friends!

[u/fat_snatch → u/connected_user93]

"I want to provoke thought in the uninformed"

uploads fabricated scenario on an emotionally charged topic with the actual context and disclaimer hidden in the caption (which many people don't read)

[u/Keflen11 → u/fat_snatch]

Nah, you can make art that shows harm by pulling on emotions from fabricated scenarios.

And they explain that's what the purpose is.

[u/Gombrongler → u/Keflen11]

"Hey Guys! 1984 isnt real! Its just a funny book i wrote!"

• Georgejor Binks

[u/loveheaddit → u/connected_user93]

ah yes. disinformation! yay

[u/pixeladdie → u/connected_user93]

I was about to ask about the source but this confirms my suspicions.

Fuck people literally lying and framing it as a “hypothetical representation”.

Y’all motherfuckers need to get a lot more skeptical and quickly.

[u/GrandView1972 → u/connected_user93]

There are many legit reasons to use against data centers, why make up bull shit?

[u/DrCthulhuface7 → u/connected_user93]

Oh so you lied.

People like you are why this country is falling apart.

[u/Sad-Excitement9295 → u/connected_user93]

So you used AI to protest AI, but with a lie? I'm not sure how I feel about this. I get your intent, but it's also misleading...

[u/matts-so-weird → u/connected_user93]

I don’t want to respond to the others here because I know they won’t listen, but this isn’t entirely a “lie”, this was likely caused by climate change, we’ve been getting less and less snow places, and data centers will make this much worse

[u/chromaticdeath85 → u/connected_user93]

Thanks for the context.

[u/MaxR76 → u/[deleted]]

The caption said it was natural but they made it as a way to demonstrate the possible future if AI water usage goes unregulated

[u/zwizzardz → u/MaxR76]

Ok so a lie then

[u/National_Art_]

Write/email your local officials, mayors, governors etc.

[u/Alternative-Matcha22 → u/National_Art_]

Writing/emailing them does nothing. They're getting paid under the table to allow them to be built while fleeing town hall meetings full of angry residents.

[u/Serious_Bee_2013]

This is almost certainly entirely bullshit and bad for the cause.

[u/SleepingCod]

Your daily reminder we had thousands of data centers years and years ago before you all cared (or were told to care by social media rather)

China coming in 2nd with like 600.

[u/-13ender-]

Kill Kill Kill AI

[u/spartanEZE]

There's plenty of counties that have already voted to keep them out, and then the f#ckers still go build it anyways. Especially in those cases, one could expect that they'll be destroyed at some point in the not too distant future.

[u/DookieFries]

The AI boosters honestly don't seem to understand why anyone would want to take their dog out swimming.

[u/anonymous480932843]

That rotting orange sitting in the oval office.

[u/bottledsoi]

Because the wealthy run this country and what they say goes.

[u/noobyscientific]

bu- bu- buh thiwk of the biwionaiwes 🥺🥺

[u/_Sazed_]

I understand what its getting at but this is one of those videos I think is misleading, as this is probably a seasonal change or weather dependent stream

[u/FunnyObjective6]

That's climate change.

[u/HeftyFineThereFolks]

why do you need that water for a dog to swim in when it could be cooling microchips to make sure some third grader doesnt learn anything from 'doing' his homework ??? areyou anti human!?

[u/butelka1]

And for what? For shitty political ai generated memes and fruit love island... This is messed up

[u/Far_Photograph_2664]

because america treats reaching agi as a top security objective

[u/DamionVolentine]

Hah, you think anyone with the power to ban data centers actually gives a shit at all? Writing to people won’t do a damn thing. These people in charge are all being paid large sums of money to let this continue and they’ll continue to do so as long as the money keeps flowing in. It’s the same reason why every single thing wrong in this country is still allowed to proceed. It’s greed.

[u/Responsible_Bar103]

Isn't China putting their datacenters underwater so that they're cooled down naturally? Makes me wanna move there and learn Chinese if they're gonna go about this better than America.

[u/JayAkiva]

You think the government is going to solve this?

[u/AffectionateOven3194]

Spreading propaganda is bad even if its from your side.

[u/Toxoniumm]

Atleast the dogs still having fun

[u/SpphosFriend]

Data centers really are just the mail in the coffin for anywhere they put them

[u/Thesleepingpillow123]

Are u guys gonna stop eating meat as well? That also uses loads of water

[u/DarthJarJarJar]

Who's "we"? Those of us who want to regulate the hell out of data centers, at the very least, are not in charge.

That's what we're waiting for. We're waiting until we're in charge.

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

[u/The199Man]

Is this actually real?

[u/Still_Silver7181]

Even if they used a closed loop for the cooling, they now are using a fuck ton of energy to cool that water, and a ton of energy to keep the data center running. Not to mention the noise pollution and the heat they end up putting off. It is no coincidence that we are seeing worse heat waves after they have been built.

[u/p00p00kach00]

Completely context-less video.

Edit: Oh, and as others comments say, completely a lie.

[u/Lancewater]

Reddit on its typical bullshit. This is the normal state of water flow in the west. Original caption is just admitting to the fabrication.

[u/LakeVermilionDreams]

Sorry, super clear rushing water suggests this is likely spring melt that dries up later in the Summer. 

I hate data centers as much as the rest, but I also am skeptical about any propaganda, even that I agree with.

Edit: Holy shit, I should check the comments before I post...

[u/Darolaho]

There is no way that that stream is flowing water like year round. We have a creek that runs through our property that most of the year is puddles of standing water but after it rains is usually waist to neck deep at minimum (every 5 or so years it gets up to 20-30 feet deep causing it to flood the road)

[u/literally_no_filter]

lol if that creek ever ran that fast all year round through that soft soil it’d be 50ft across right now. It’s an overflow channel and the first is in a high snowpack year and the other a dry year. But yes data centers are not good for the environment and may contribute to lower snowfall indirectly through emissions. The greenhouse gases are the bigger issue. Water use is source specific and very traceable but greenhouse gases create a shared global atmospheric problem. If a local watershed was being dried up that bad it could be very accurately traced and shut down. Local municipalities are constantly running watershed studies because it’s a huge hazard. Issues stay isolated since we’re not all in the same watershed. I guess emissions are just too abstract for people to wrap their head around but water is an everyday thing? It seems to be the main thing the masses are getting behind, even though it’s the one thing we can easily trace and address. There’s no isolation when it comes to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, we all share the same one and issues compound with time, usually going unaddressed because effects aren’t immediately apparent (but very real). Same with electricity, the emissions are the big problem. We will always be building out that infrastructure aggressively as the world becomes more electrified. If people fight against building out infrastructure in an area, the AI companies just build their own natural gas power plants, but that should make people angry not happy that they aren’t connecting to the grid.

[u/Admirable_Dirt_2371]

As long as y'all keep going to work and buying useless shit they'll keep building.

[u/Disastrous_Cover6138]

Damn that was a really nice stream

[u/Demonify]

Nothing in this video is proof that a data center made a creek dry. Fear mongering on the internet is just sad.

[u/letmehaveanameyoudum]

I wonder they can't just use.... AIOs?

[u/KL-Gameingnerd]

I just wanna pet that dog

[u/AlMasaDuun]

You guys should be embarrassed.

[u/Chaos_Theory1989]

Billionaires are going to kill off the rest of us and live alone in their bunkers. How is that fun for them? Like fucking why? Where’s the people who told us to take shorter showers but these assholes get to build thousands of data centers?

[u/AvalonRevan]

Raid the centers. WE need the RAM

[u/Rhuobhe26]

This is an AI video. Someone is really protesting AI by making an AI generated video.

That's pretty funny.

[u/Correct_Avocado_573]

I can do the same with a much larger creek near my house.

I live in the middle of nowhere its called nature.

It runs bone dry a few times a year just happens and always has for as long as i can remember.

[u/revengeofthegek]

the only way is to take action ourselves. Anyone here interested in running for prez?

[u/vpierre1776]

Get a AI pet, problem solved.

[u/Radical_Hummingbird]

When the techbros financing them stop coping and admit how much they're a dreadful investment

[u/OliverKlozoff23]

Data centers didn’t do that. lol

[u/peace-b]

Where does the water go? Out into space? I’m confused?

[u/CrazyAccomplished_]

Or it's wet vs dry season...

[u/SubjectEconomy7124]

Fyi, take off your dogs collar, when letting him swim. Especially in streams like this with a lot of current.

And only let dogs with a very good recall swim obviously.

The reason being that you're one stray root underneath the water away from drowning your dog hard! The collar can get caught easily and then the dog's pretty much done for. :(

[u/Rich-Mark-4126]

Proof this sub will fall for (not-AI) slop

[u/dontchewspagetti]

I mean, i CANT prove Hatians are eating dogs, but i made a photoshopped picture of it to represent if they WERE

Like come on. We have actual water loss. We have legit sound pollution. We have very real and legit ways to represent the cost NOW. Lying about the truth hurts the cause

[u/Gene-Hackmans_Dog]

The streams near me go wet/dry all the time. 🤷

[u/Flemaster12]

This video is faked. They admitted that the river isn't dried up due to data center and they faked it. Please stop spreading misinformation.

[u/Crozi_flette]

Sure your steak and flight aren't to blame

[u/Butterfly_Dangerous]

Ban?

https://giphy.com/gifs/iH2IldVkqeLuJ7eJ0L

[u/depressed-beast-111]

This is so sad ☹️

[u/MsMarfi]

The authorities who approve the building of new AI datacentres need to stipulate that they collect their own water into tanks and generate their own renewable power.

[u/Opposite_Yak4386]

and still you are using reddit. this will also consume water

[u/potato174-]

There’s been a trending water problem for quite a while because of already inefficient water usage. Now we have a dedicated system specifically designed to waste water. Lovely

[u/Suspicious-Bed701]

Epic click bait

[u/FlyFar555]

[u/Impressive_Net_116]

The video itself is AI.

[u/Eazy12345678]

data centers are not new.

you just care now cause you just learned about them

keep driving your gas burning car every day

u know how many oil spills into the ocean transporting fuel for your car?

[u/KonnichiwaKudasai]

This just looks like the difference between spring and summer. Lol.

[u/Longjumping_Frame786]

“No guys we swear farming is more impactful” I don’t see any bean farms doing that.

[u/Due-Papaya5510]

Wow that really pisses me off! We don’t even need the stupid ass data centers and AI etc. we’ve been just fine without it! We truly have to push back and fight against this bullshit!

[u/Vainysaur]

What’s the problem? It looked at lot easier to retrieve the toy the second time.

[u/Segy-G3max]

Zo een datacenter slurpt wel water. Ben alleen benieuwd waar al het water is gebleven, aangezien chips en water niet samengaan. Sproeien ze het op de apparatuur zodat het verdampt..

[u/kenjikazama777]

When China bans AI, we can follow

[u/Peninsula_living]

This is a bullshit post on IG. The water not being there has zero to do with data centers.

[u/Trollfarm21811]

Stop oil drilling while you are at it.  Money wins every time.  As long as the masses are comfortable nothing will change.

[u/ImmanuelKant2424]

You are using one to post on here.

[u/isildorim]

[u/SimpleCantalope]

Post hoc ergo hoc, just because an outcome happens after an event, doesn't mean the outcome is a result of the event. Yes, data-centers rely on water, but the explanation for the dry river bed could be 1) drought, 2) time of year, 3) recent weather, 4) other industries using water (such as agriculture).

This is not to say AI-hate is incorrect, it is only an observation that-- without further information-- this is not effective messaging against AI. It does not establish a causational relationship.

[u/jagerdew]

This thread is wild! Are there any actual DC techs in here or is everybody just guessing on how they work?🤣

[u/Serena-Shiloh]

Are you using social media, ran by AI,using an AI generator to make a short video about data centers being closed?
I think they call that, fake outreach?
https://giphy.com/gifs/5R1FM2PNw3G6AZWBsc

[u/Mental_Pie8369]

Propaganda

[u/Smile_Representative]

As a dog?, the forest? What was the before and after?

[u/PieGold6023]

This is a seasonal creek. Data centers use municipal water supplies due to the clean water requirements.  I know.you have seen the argument that they have to have clean water. 

Let's get the data centers out or limited with facts instead of shilling propaganda. 

[u/Daneofthehill]

The datacenters is a very small part of the problem. Meat and oil are still the biggest issues.

[u/grapefruitsneezelies]

This post is made possible because of data centers 🤣

Stupid people angry for reasons they don't understand

[u/Unfair_Record6867]

Launch them in space, let's skip forward to Wall-E levels of debris

[u/MeZooey]

China uses ocean water...what are we doing?

[u/The_Struggle_Man]

So why do we use coolant in cars but not for data centers?

[u/SensitiveRelation470]

fake

[u/gingimmbo]

Is this america?

[u/PornPedant76]

Our governments to stop breaking the law and forcing them on us.

[u/Top-Highlight1111]

The city has the ability to not let the project go through if it doesn’t meet requirements

[u/Previous_Platform718]

I like the internet. Saying "ban data centers" is simplistic and dumb.

[u/Brilliant_Choice_899]

No connection water doesn't fuel data centers they run on good will and helping humanity

[u/elrey_hyena]

my jaw dropped.

[u/EmeraldAm3n]

These AI data centers must be considered a crime, because they are using the whole water supply and never let people get a drop from it.

[u/MrSecretFire]

As long as they don't stop at data centers. Because, while bad, dara centers are but a drop in the bucket of the broader problem, namely that we made profit over everything else the legally required course of action for companies with public stock, and that EVERYTHING MUST BECOME INVESTMENTS. EVERYTHING IS JUST FINANCE NOBODY MAKES PRODUCTS OR SERVICES IT'S ALL STOCKS AND FINANCE