Drowning in Data: The Hidden Cost of Living Next to a U.S. Data Centre

Beverly Morris believed she had found her peaceful retirement home in rural Georgia until a large data centre owned by Meta (formerly Facebook) was built just 400 yards from her porch. Her dream of country living turned into a nightmare as she experienced water quality issues, blaming the construction for affecting her private well. Morris contends that the excessive sediment build-up has made her tap water unsafe to drink. Despite her concerns, Meta maintains that their operations have not negatively impacted local groundwater, embarking on a groundwater study to support their position.

This situation is not unique, as the surge in data centres across the U.S. is causing growing tensions in communities. The physical infrastructure behind the cloud—which many view as an invisible entity—requires substantial resources, particularly water for cooling the servers. As online activities escalate due to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), the demand for such facilities and the water they consume presents an alarming challenge, with projections that AI-driven data centres could use 1.7 trillion gallons of water worldwide by 2027.

In Georgia, a key player in the data centre boom due to its favorable climate, there is increasing activism against the environmental impact of construction and water usage. Local organizations are raising alarms about sediment runoff and chemical pollution worsening local water conditions. Meanwhile, achieving a balance between community rights and corporate development remains a contentious issue.

Companies like Amazon Web Services are now committing to water sustainability initiatives, promising to return more water to communities than they extract. There are efforts to implement smart cooling systems and rainwater harvesting, though residents remain skeptical of these initiatives as they face the immediate effects of nearby developments.

As technology continues to evolve and data centres become entrenched in national infrastructure plans, the conflict between community needs and corporate expansion intensifies. Prof Rajiv Garg, an expert in cloud computing, underscores that a shift towards more sustainable practices is necessary, but for many homeowners, like Beverly Morris, the challenges posed by the ever-growing tech industry are an ever-present reality. The future of tech in places like Georgia is marked by an unyielding demand for water and infrastructure, leaving residents caught between their dreams and the demands of a digital world.