alt Hacker NewsWhat exactly are you getting at? Datacenters do use potable water from municipal sources for evaporative cooling. Are you claiming that's not true?
Here's a recent source: https://pacinst.org/publication/how-much-water-do-data-cente...
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Yeah, it’s one thing when SV runs the Uber script (ignoring the law to build big enough to buy politicians) to hurt cab drivers. It’s very different when it’s your neighborhood.
golf courses use much more. But you don’t see massive resistance against new golf courses being planned.
Farms use an order of magnitude more than either. You don’t see any demands whatsoever on agriculture to reduce water usage.
Some do, some use closed-loop systems that are essentially 'charge once'. higher energy use, but less water
Why and how would they contaminate the water supply though? Sounds like a municipality problem, a water consumer shouldn't be feeding back into the system, or is it being caused by poorly executed construction practices? Maybe when they first pipe in or something is being left open during construction, this seems like it shouldn't happen if things are being done properly, water supply systems are not a new technology so who is dropping the ball?
They do use water, and the numbers look very large which makes for big scary headlines. However people who actually know how water is used in a city are used to numbers much larger than that.