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bobbacringo on scored.co
3 days ago 5 points (+0 / -0 / +5Score on mirror ) 4 children
The water in question needs to be distilled and then purified heavily before going into a chilled water loop and mixed at a 50/50 ratio with glycol. These are closed loop systems, meaning that once the system is filled, it does not use more. Which means that once a system is filled, it doesn't use anymore resources, which means the aquifers refill.


Where does this protect the water thing come from?
Losferwords on scored.co
3 days ago 6 points (+0 / -0 / +6Score on mirror ) 1 child
They aren't using any closed-loop systems. That's the point. Too expensive.
bobbacringo on scored.co
3 days ago 2 points (+0 / -0 / +2Score on mirror ) 1 child
Explain to me how they're going to cool a data center without a carefully controlled glycol mix?
ScallionPancake on scored.co
3 days ago 1 point (+0 / -0 / +1Score on mirror ) 1 child
Once-through water cooling.

It’s to get rid of all the heat from the facility, not literally run river water over a GPU lol.
bobbacringo on scored.co
3 days ago 2 points (+0 / -0 / +2Score on mirror ) 1 child
It is suicidal to run untreated water thru a chiller to reach 40F. That is the temperature the water needs to be to flow into CRAH units to chill a data center. At above 48F, water is no longer able to work against the heat load in a data center. If a datacenter reaches 80F, the hard drives start failing as the temperature of the air is not able to offset the heat load.


How do you think cooling systems work in datacenters?
ScallionPancake on scored.co
3 days ago 1 point (+0 / -0 / +1Score on mirror )
None of this is relevant, I don't even know what point you're trying to make.

Jewgle's datacenters use water, period. By their own admission:

> In 2024, we consumed a total of approximately 8.1 billion gallons (31 billion liters
or 31 million cubic meters) of water across our data centers (excluding those operated by third parties)

https://www.gstatic.com/gumdrop/sustainability/google-2025-environmental-report.pdf
kalerg_plan on scored.co
3 days ago 2 points (+0 / -0 / +2Score on mirror ) 1 child
Where does the closed loop dump it's heat?

The cheap solution is a heat exchanger to normal water fed into an evaporative cooling tower.
bobbacringo on scored.co
3 days ago 0 points (+0 / -0 ) 1 child
That water needs to be treated and screened to prevent damage to the other equipment.
kalerg_plan on scored.co
3 days ago 1 point (+0 / -0 / +1Score on mirror ) 1 child
There is a secondary loop which is not closed. It only has to run through a heat exchanger which doesn't have special requirements.
bobbacringo on scored.co
2 days ago 0 points (+0 / -0 ) 1 child
If that's the configuration, why would they not be set up for a geothermal heat pump configuration where they could dump the water in a different end of the aquifier?
kalerg_plan on scored.co
1 day ago 0 points (+0 / -0 ) 1 child
Geothermal heat pumps are meant to be reversed for part of the year, to extract heat during the winter.

Eventually any reservoir will become saturated and won't be able to store any more heat.

They're also very expensive. An evaporative cooling tower is cheap.
ScallionPancake on scored.co
3 days ago 1 point (+0 / -0 / +1Score on mirror )
> Where does this protect the water thing come from?

Google's own admission: https://www.gstatic.com/gumdrop/sustainability/google-2025-environmental-report.pdf

> To operate smoothly, these facilities rely on cooling systems that frequently use water due to its energy
efficiency. This dependency highlights a critical balance between technological needs and responsible
environmental stewardship. In 2024, we consumed a total of approximately 8.1 billion gallons (31 billion liters
or 31 million cubic meters) of water across our data centers


Stop spreading retardation.
LesboPregnancyScare on scored.co
3 days ago 0 points (+0 / -0 ) 1 child
these centers do use combined cycle power plants as a power source, which do use water. its not the equipment itself that requires the water, but the power plant. However there are systems now adays that minimize the use of water, that recycle the water and produce solid waste instead.
bobbacringo on scored.co
3 days ago 1 point (+0 / -0 / +1Score on mirror ) 1 child
So the problem is not the datacenter, it's the lack of power generation.
LesboPregnancyScare on scored.co
2 days ago 0 points (+0 / -0 )
its not the "lack" of power generation, its that datacenters have their own private power sources, which do require water, but that water is not "consumed" as the general public thinks. Its cycled through multiple times. either way something is amiss with the general public sentiment vs reality. I dont know which is correct.
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