Tech Giants’ Data Centers Drain Water in Drought Zones — SkimNews
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- ChatGPT's training required 185,000 gallons of water, according to a 2023 University of California study, highlighting the hidden environmental cost of large language models.
- Google faced public backlash in Chile over its $200 million Cerrillos data center project, which was projected to use 169 liters of water per second—equivalent to the annual drinking water of 80,000 residents.
- Residents of Cerrillos rejected Google’s data center in a 2019 referendum, with 49% voting against it, citing strain on a drought-affected aquifer under extraction restrictions since 2005.
- Microsoft encountered opposition in Quilicura, Santiago, where locals feared its planned data center would worsen water shortages amid existing rationing rules.
- Google’s planned data center in Canelones, Uruguay was found to require 2 million gallons of water daily, prompting legal action by researcher Daniel Pena to uncover usage details.
- In Caucaia, Brazil, at least four major data centers are planned near Fortaleza—a region in drought for 16 of 21 years—including a $10 billion facility developed for TikTok.
Why it matters: Tech companies gain computing capacity while water-stressed communities in the Global South bear the cost of depleted aquifers and broken promises of economic return. The 2 million gallons per day Google plans in Uruguay exceeds the daily needs of entire municipalities, turning infrastructure deals into existential threats where drought is already emergency-level.
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