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[–] 115 points 5 months ago (21 children)

They did get billed ~$150k and paid for the water. Questions have not been answered about how the two connections were made without the water authority's knowledge. Seems difficult for a water main to just spontaneously form but maybe, I am not a pipe expert

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  • [–] 58 points 5 months ago (2 children)
  • [–] 41 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    My father worked for the city's utilities and he said they could see when an ad break was during a big TV event because everyone was going to the toilet at the same time. They usually knew when someone had a broken pipe in their cellar before the owner did because of the change in pressure at that location.

    No way did the city not know where the water was going.

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  • [–] 9 points 5 months ago

    I hadn't thought of this, but it's definitely a thing. They've been searching for missing pipes here since we got a data center our landlord emails about looking for leaks that don't exist

    This is one of those civilization ending things. Use of food and water in Palestine has been pretty awful.

    Public utilities is woke socialism.

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  • [–] 6 points 5 months ago

    Certainly they knew, but did the same people who saw that knew it wasn't supposed to be going there? Like you see millions going to a datacenter, but maybe you just assume that's normal and have no idea that they aren't being billed for it?

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  • [–] 21 points 5 months ago (9 children)

    ~$150k and paid for the water

    Can someone put that into perspective for me? I also have a hard time figuring how much 30 mil gallons actually is, like how many households for how long etc.

    In any case, honest mistake sounds like a blatant lie, but hey, if POTUS does it why shouldn't they?

    People should provide article links.

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  • [–] 25 points 5 months ago* (7 children)

    According to the EPA, the average American family of four uses about 400 gallons of water per day, or 12,000 gallons per month. This feels high to me, but we'll use that.

    So, 30 million gallons is roughly the monthly usage of 2,500 four-person households, or the daily usage of 75,000 homes.

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  • [–] 7 points 5 months ago* (3 children)

    That definitely feels high, mine is a household of two but I know exactly how much water I use because I'm off grid and I have to go haul it myself from the city my tank on my trailer holds 275 gallons and that's generally enough to last me anywhere between a week to two weeks depending on how much laundry I need to do.

    I shower daily, do dishes all the usual stuff so what the fuck is the average family doing with all that water that they are using more in a day than I do in a week

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  • [–] 1 point 5 months ago (2 children)
  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    I feel like you missed the part where I said that I'm showering daily, I have a dishwasher, do laundry with a standard front load washing machine i may not be connected to a city water but I have everything plumbed in i have all the usual stuff in a household. The only thing that was relevant about being off grid is that I have an exact understanding of how much water I go through at any given moment

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago

    No no I understand, I wasn't meaning to be rude but just by virtue of the fact you are aware of every bit of water you're using and need to plan ahead means you're likely a lot more conservative with your usage, even if you're going buck wild

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  • [–] 5 points 5 months ago

    I feel like they're adding in water usage to manufacture goods and deliver services. We're a family of four allotted 2k gal a month for a base rate, over that is charged extra. We've never gone over that 2k, and we're using normally (dishes, laundry, bathing, watering plants, etc).

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  • [–] 5 points 5 months ago*

    Looking up the average for New Zealand, I see everything from 250l per family to 275l per person quoted as average.

    Much of New Zealand doesn't meter their water, so all they can do is measure the water put into the system and divide by the number of households/estimated people (minus commercial/industrial use that is metered).

    In the area I live in, they are working on putting in meters because they suspect they lose a huge amount of water to leaks on private property that go unnoticed.

    I wonder where this water usage figure for the US comes from. Is it measured on meters at their property?

    And from what I hear people complain about in memes, I think parts of the US probably use a lot of water for watering lawns, something not that common here because it rains a fair amount.

    Edit: lol I was trying to respond to @abcd@feddit.org but 🤷

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  • [–] 1 point 5 months ago

    Also worth noting that it wasn't the data center running that used the water, but its construction:

    The company said its water consumption was so high last year because of temporary construction-related activities, such as concrete work, dust control and site preparation.

    Once operational, the company said the data centers only will use water for domestic needs, such as bathrooms and kitchens. That will total the equivalent of what four U.S. households use per month, the spokesperson said.

    https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/08/georgia-data-centers-water-00909988

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