AI-related data centres use vast amounts of water. But gauging how much is a murky business

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AI-related data centres use vast amounts of water. But gauging how much is a murky business

CBC
Jonathan Montpetit, Yvette Brend
Oct 18, 2025



On a dry, hot day this summer, Kathryn Barnwell, a retired English professor, marched up the road from her home in Nanaimo, B.C., to take another crack at the mayor.

Leonard Krog, a longtime friend of Barnwell’s, was standing by the entrance to a parched wooded lot, the proposed site for a data centre Krog has been backing.

“I really, really enjoin you to think about what this [data centre] could mean for your political career,” Barnwell said, barely looking him in the eye.

Krog, who has been mayor since 2018, sees the project as a chance to modernize the city’s economy.

“The kind of jobs that would be attracted to this kind of facility are the jobs of the future,” he said.

Until three years ago, Barnwell knew little about data centres, which house the computer servers that power much of the online world. But when the plot of land near her home was rezoned for one, she began researching. She’s now one of the loudest opponents of the project in Nanaimo.

(more)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/ai-data-centre-canada-water-use-9.6939684

[Sighlass]

So they are picking Canada because it has access to cooler air (so they can use some more frigid air to cool the system). Odd others are picking Texas which seems to bake for 2/3rds of the time. I can't be just any water, it has to be treated (and retreated) water.

Surely someone could move it more north and build a dedicated power plant and keep a river from freezing over during the winter months.

I guess smarter folks than myself are plotting, all this for AI that seems to me to just be harvesting information to spy and sway voters.

Personally, I never never used AI to answer anything, and plan to keep it that way.

[Idiot]

I've been using ChatGPT for repetitive tasks and it works quite well.  I have a friend using it for technical mapping and it does a great job.  I for see a lot of people losing their jobs in the not too distant future.

[Smokin Joe]

So they are picking Canada because it has access to cooler air (so they can use some more frigid air to cool the system). Odd others are picking Texas which seems to bake for 2/3rds of the time. I can't be just any water, it has to be treated (and retreated) water.

Surely someone could move it more north and build a dedicated power plant and keep a river from freezing over during the winter months.

I guess smarter folks than myself are plotting, all this for AI that seems to me to just be harvesting information to spy and sway voters.

Personally, I never never used AI to answer anything, and plan to keep it that way.

There are supposedly  few coming to this neck of the woods. The more I learn about (and how it 'learns') the less I like it. Too much consensus based 'fact', and not enough of the real thing.

I'd rather use MY brain. And I don't need AI yipping at everything I do like some sort of electronic spy puppy.

[Sighlass]

Guess they are gearing up for all the AI that Window's 11 is pushing.... I can't imagine letting AI share everything you do on a computer.

[Smokin Joe]

Guess they are gearing up for all the AI that Window's 11 is pushing.... I can't imagine letting AI share everything you do on a computer.

That level of snooping requires a lot of infrastructure. No thanks. When 10 doesn't work, I'm done.