A.I. Usage and Water Consumption

Jefferson Lab | Photo by Aileen Devlin

By Francisca Lorca

The use of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) has been helpful in recent years to bigger corporations (such as Google and Meta, to name a few), but has received backlash in different communities. The water A.I. requires to keep itself functioning reaches five million gallons per day, which is equivalent to the usage by a population of 10,000 to 50,000 people. 

With a wide variety of data centers throughout the United States, communities are being affected  domestically, but in smaller towns around the world that depend on water to keep themselves afloat. The technology used in these centers requires great amounts of water to cool off their computers; water scarcity is the result of these implementations taking effect.

Reporters have exposed the realities of A.I. data centers and what has been the result of their daily operations. On July 10th of 2025, BBC News published an article that dived into Beverly Morris' experience, a retired woman living in rural Georgia. When she retired and moved to her place in 2016, she was unaware of the construction of a Meta data center set to take place in front of her home a couple of years later and the consequences it would bring. 

Now living with these consequences, Morris says, “The water won’t come through the water lines to fill the toilet’s tank, so I have to fill it with a bucket of water. It’s plugged with sediment.” She also mentions that half of her home doesn’t function with running water, and the access she has to it through her private well is contaminated with sediment as a cause of the center’s construction, making it unsafe for consumption. 

 After a study was done by Meta to investigate the root of the sewage problem, it was concluded that there wasn’t a disruption to groundwater systems. Morris’ problems and concerns weren’t there before Meta started with the construction, and what once was her “perfect spot, it isn’t anymore.”

The data center is located in a highly vegetative rural area in Georgia. To keep the center running in this location, water usage is greater than before in the area, leaving the community uncertain about the repercussions it’ll bring later on the land. 

According to The New York Times, “a data center like Meta’s, which was completed last year, typically guzzles around 500,000 gallons of water a day.” These numbers reflect the damage it causes to local families, but also the potential impact to the environment. The construction of these facilities lead to damages in soil and greater environmental impacts that can cause drought in the area.

Morris’ experience is an example of how conflicted her life has turned out to be: the stress of living without proper water access as a married, retired woman. Although BBC News mentions Meta’s intention to be considered a good neighbor, bigger corporations like this carry with them repercussions caused by the methods they use for their own advantage. 

The New York Times has reported on communities affected by these massive data centers as well. On July 14th of 2025, just a few weeks after the article from BBC News was published, the former came out with a new article about Jeff and Beverly Morris’ story.

Google doesn’t stay behind; the company opened its second data center in Santiago, Chile. On October 20th of 2025, The New York Times published a new article by Paul Mozur about the possible laws to be implemented in the country regarding A.I. usage. This Google data center is located in Cerrillos, a neighborhood in Santiago. The Chilean government has demonstrated interest in data centers and their construction throughout the country; protest groups are heavily against these possible new policies and the impact they could have on Chilean land.

The locations that bigger corporations choose is an important factor. Cerrillos is a community located right outside Santiago’s border, and families who live there don’t come from wealthy backgrounds. The Google data center started construction in 2015. The New York Times provides videos of the land before and after, contributing to the verifiable truth-claim after years of investigation and drought issues in the area. 

Investigative journalism done in Georgia and Chile has demonstrated the impact these communities go through from two opposite sides of the continent. Contaminated water and the lack of it are a new reality different populations are experiencing. With the lack of regulations, bigger corporations like Google and Meta have more access towards locations that are farther from bigger cities. With lower land costs, tax incentives and cooler climate benefits, these companies have gone further outside the country to build their data centers internationally for a cheaper price.

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Francisca Lorca was born and raised in Chile and immigrated to the United States in 2015. She is a junior majoring in Political Science and Communications, with a concentration in journalism, and minoring in theatre. Francisca transferred to CCNY in the Spring of 2025, returning to college after ten years. She has also worked in catering and as a server for years before returning to college. While also being neurodivergent, Francisca is a mother who strives to serve as a role model for her daughter. Her interests include: investigative journalism and finding ways to support immigrant rights and uplift those with similar backgrounds and experiences, crocheting, reading plays, and theater.