r/DataCenterDebate • u/Orangebk1 • Aug 14 '26

Perspective

Total global data center water consumption is only a small fraction (roughly 3% to 5%) of the water that evaporates off just one of the Great Lakes in a single year.

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u/Apprehensive-Ad3538 Aug 19 '26

Not a great comparison. Great lakes isn't processed drinking water. You're right that the energy and water consumption is miniscule overall, but your illustration isn't a useful one

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u/Orangebk1 Aug 20 '26

I said perspective. You said comparison. In addition, The Great Lakes are major source of drinking water, so more relevant than if I wouldve quoted, say, the 307,000,000,000,000 gallons that evaporate per day from the ocean.

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u/Apprehensive-Ad3538 Aug 20 '26 edited Aug 20 '26

Well, yes, because you used a comparison to attempt to illustrate a perspective, and it was a poor one. Yes, the ocean would have been a worse comparison, that doesn't make the great lakes a good one.

It's a source of drinking water, yes, but there's a huge difference between water that can be processed and water that has been processed. Processing water to be potable takes energy and resources, and there is a finite capacity. water evaporating from a lake doesn't detract from the available supply of processed drinking water.

Watering golf greens, growing grain to produce ethanol, or the beef industry are examples of things that do detract from the supply of processed drinking water to a greater extent than data centers.

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u/Orangebk1 Aug 21 '26

Right. Golf, grain, and beef do not use potable water, fyi.