• ramenshaman@lemmy.world
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    16 hours ago

    By that logic, it’s not losing water, it’s just heating it. I’m not defending data centers but I feel like most of the info regarding data center water consumption isn’t accurate. It’s still bad, it’s contributing to global warming among other things but warm water doesn’t necessarily seem like waste water to me. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

    Again, I’m not defending data centers. I am personally willing to learn how to build an EMP and detonate it inside one.

    • thebestaquaman@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      I think it’s unfair to downvote you for playing devils advocate here, especially when you’re making it obvious that that’s what you’re doing. People should do better and rather challenge themselves to explain why you’re wrong in a way that can convince the devils advocate. It serves as a nice exercise for re-thinking your position and arguments.

      For my attempt: They’re “wasting” water in the sense that liquid water at ambient conditions is a limited resource. They’re taking that water, and either turning it into steam, or heating it a lot before releasing it back to the environment. Both uses reduce the amount of liquid water at ambient conditions available in reservoirs connected to infrastructure made to extract it for public use. That is the resource we use for everything from drinking water, to showering and cleaning, to making food and filling radiators.

      You could say that “wasting water” is imprecise, but I would argue that it serves as a convenient shorthand for “wasting liquid water at ambient conditions accumulated in reservoirs that are connected to extraction and treatment infrastructure”, which becomes a mouthful when you say it often.

      • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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        8 hours ago

        Furthermore liquid water at ambient conditions is needed by wildlife. Fish, amphibians, waterfowl, etc don’t like being in bath temperature water, and most plants and mammals don’t want to drink it.

    • SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world
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      13 hours ago

      Well some data centers are taking water from a source and move it somewhere else like into the air. Now people who use that source for their water needs have less water. Since the data centers take more water than what gets replenished back into the source naturally.

    • Archangel1313@lemmy.ca
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      15 hours ago

      Many of them use what are called “evaporative cooling systems”, that consume massive amounts of water, and simply release it into the air, as steam. It is a very “energy efficient” method of cooling…meaning it uses less electricity, but a fuck-ton of water.

      • ramenshaman@lemmy.world
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        15 hours ago

        As far as I know, a portion of all water always evaporates.

        Edit: I feel like people are misinterpreting my comments as defending data centers… Oh well

        • saimen@feddit.org
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          12 hours ago

          It’s because you seem like not wanting to understand.

          They simply take water out of the public water system and it then either evaporates or goes into the waste system like in every normal household.

          Of course it COULD be used to heat houses or fed back into the system but that’s not what’s happening simply because it would be too complicated.

          It’s a bit like saying you are not wasting water when letting your tap running without doing anything because it would still be clean and could be used again.

        • athatet@lemmy.zip
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          8 hours ago

          Well in this case it isn’t a portion. It’s fucking all of it. That’s how evaporative cooling works.

        • 13igTyme@piefed.social
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          14 hours ago

          There’s been more influxes of dumb people joining fediverse and just following others and down voting. Good news is none it fucking matters.