Mastodawn

Gerry McGovern May 10

A data center drained 30M gallons of water unnoticed — until residents complained about low water pressure

Residents in Fayetteville, Georgia, noticed low water pressure last year. The utility discovered two unaccounted-for water connections at one of the nation’s largest data center campuses.

“We get this notification from Fayette County water system saying you need to stop watering your lawns to help conserve water."

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

A data center drained 30M gallons of water unnoticed — until residents complained about low water pressure

Residents in Fayetteville, Georgia, noticed low water pressure last year. The utility discovered two unaccounted-for water connections at one of the nation’s largest data center campuses.

Politico

Gerry McGovern May 10

How the data centers operate. Always in secrecy.

"When the county utility investigated, officials discovered two industrial-scale water hookups feeding a data center campus located 20 miles south of downtown Atlanta. One water connection had been installed without the utility’s knowledge, and the other was not linked to the company’s account and therefore wasn’t being billed."

https://www.flyingpenguin.com/datacenter-sprawl-pushes-georgia-into-dangerous-water/

In other places, they don't have to steal the water: they get it for free.

Datacenter Sprawl Pushes Georgia Into Dangerous Waters | flyingpenguin

Yimby Earth May 10

@gerrymcgovern
Sounds to me like the utility ought to just cut the connection instantly and charge the owner with sabotage.

@YimbyEarth @gerrymcgovern Criminal charges for management authorizing this would also make sense.

Paul Schoe May 10

Criminal charges for management?

Making directors responsible for things that they allow to happen in their company?

What an odd approach.

Haven't you learned the first rule of unregulated capitalism?

You can fine a company, but you can never criminally charge the directors whose actions resulted in the criminal actions of their companies. /s

#Capitalism #Unregulated #UnregulatedCapitalism

@YimbyEarth @gerrymcgovern

AKingsbury May 10

@paulschoe @J2 @YimbyEarth @gerrymcgovern

...do any of you really imagine that these datacenters are not subject to regulation?

Paul Schoe May 10

@AlexanderKingsbury

My post is not about regulation.

My post is about whether any persons are being held legally responsible when a company does intentionally and purposefully not follow regulations.

@J2 @YimbyEarth @gerrymcgovern

AKingsbury May 10

@paulschoe @J2 @YimbyEarth @gerrymcgovern

"Haven't you learned the first rule of unregulated capitalism?"

"My post is not about regulation."

Hmm.

Paul Schoe May 10

@AlexanderKingsbury

My sentence clearly states that is is about 'the first rule of unregulated capitalism?'

The post is not about any regulations themselves.

Hmm?

AKingsbury May 10

I never said it was about any regulations in and of themselves. But you complain about this "unregulated capitalism" in the context of datacenters, which is nonsensical. I challenge anyone to point to a single example, one, of a datacenter that actually exists and is not subject to regulations of some kind.

Just one.

Paul Schoe May 10

@AlexanderKingsbury

I talk about my 'First Rule of unregulated capitalism'.

If you are not able to conclude from that sentence that I am not talking about regulations themselves, then I am sorry.

Maybe my English is too limited to explain that I am not talking about regulations datacenters are subjected to.

Enjoy the day.

AKingsbury May 10

Please feel free to let me know if you ever come up with any actual defense for your claims.

@AlexanderKingsbury @paulschoe

What a disingenuous argument as a data center wreaks havoc on the local water system. The difference between poorly regulated and not regulated is irrelevant at this point. The data center was literally stealing water, to the tune of $150,000 with a secret connection to the water supply.

That said the county is Republican so they're getting what they voted for, maybe they should make better choices.

AKingsbury May 10

@HakeemG @paulschoe

"What a disingenuous argument"

Hardly. If someone wants to call something unregulated when it is regulated, they are simply wrong. If you want to call pointing out the truth "disingenuous", you do you; I certainly don't expect better, given our previous encounters.

Paul Schoe May 10

@AlexanderKingsbury @HakeemG

I talk about 'unregulated capitalism' where managers are no longer held legally responsible for their actions.

Nowhere do I say that the situation itself is unregulated. On the contrary, if I talk about 'criminal actions' then I implicitly state that the situation is regulated. If there was no regulation, there would be nothing criminal taking place.

I get the impression that you are of the opinion that repeating an argument often enough, will make it true.

AKingsbury May 10

@paulschoe @HakeemG

No, it's more of an assertion that calling something unregulated when there are regulations that apply to it is inaccurate.

@AlexanderKingsbury @paulschoe

It's unregulated buddy, they literally stole $150,000 of water and destroyed the local water supply. Wake up and join the rest of us in reality.

AKingsbury May 10

@HakeemG @paulschoe

Don't worry; I didn't imagine you had developed an appreciation for facts or honesty.

Have a nice day.

@AlexanderKingsbury @paulschoe

A man asks a woman, "Would you sleep with me for a million pounds?"The woman replies, "Why, yes, I would."

The man then asks, "Would you sleep with me for ten shillings?"The woman indignantly replies, "Certainly not! What do you take me for, a prostitute?"

The man replies, "We've already established that. Now we're just haggling over the price".

bewilderbeast23 May 10

@AlexanderKingsbury @paulschoe @J2 @YimbyEarth @gerrymcgovern All of us.

AKingsbury May 10

@bewilderbeast23 @paulschoe @J2 @YimbyEarth @gerrymcgovern

Well, I won't imagine you actually speak for anyone else unless and until I see them saying you do, but for you, if you imagine these sites are unregulated, you are deeply ignorant. Heck, just zoning laws apply; this is very low hanging fruit.

bewilderbeast23 May 10

@AlexanderKingsbury @paulschoe @J2 @YimbyEarth @gerrymcgovern You really dont think billionaire corporations get special treatment, 'blind eye,' exemptions and tax breaks, etc from those regulations?
Call me paranoid, call me biased, but I think they do .

AKingsbury May 10

@bewilderbeast23 @paulschoe @J2 @YimbyEarth @gerrymcgovern

I never said anything of the sort. Of course wealthy groups and individuals can and often do get treated differently.

Roy -- the dull one May 10

@AlexanderKingsbury @bewilderbeast23 @paulschoe @J2 @YimbyEarth @gerrymcgovern

When an asinine, belligerent person or bot intrudes on a reasonable, respectful conversation, it's usually best to "just ignore it and it will go away".

If it relies on trivia, repetition and insults, we should heed the proverb, "Before engaging in a battle of the wits, make sure your opponent is armed."

Try checking its profile Activity list. Anything there that's worth your time? No? Then let's just move on.

AKingsbury May 11

@oldclumsy_nowmad @bewilderbeast23 @paulschoe @J2 @YimbyEarth @gerrymcgovern

"its"

@paulschoe @YimbyEarth @gerrymcgovern Yes, I know. But this is plain theft. Which I think would be a different category. Wether you like it or not, the water company owned that water.

Gerry McGovern May 10

@J2
Plain theft. Just like Big Tech AI stole all our intellectual property to then sell it back to us? Just like bitcoin? Big Tech and the modern Internet is built on theft and criminality from the ground up. But the tech bros own the politicians, so it's not theft, it's innovation.

@paulschoe @YimbyEarth

Chris Fox May 10

@gerrymcgovern @J2 @paulschoe @YimbyEarth Perhaps they are just assuming the same weird and obtuse interpretation of eminent domain rights as numerous oil and gas pipeline companies in the US? (I.e what's yours is mine, if I have adopted a business model that requires me to expropriate it.)

Paul Schoe May 10

That approach makes me think more about the modern IT/AI inustry.

Chris Fox May 10

@paulschoe I guess there's a long history; letters patent, enclosure acts, colonialism, etc. Essentially any human activity involving exploitation of a power imbalance. In this case, the victims include other corporate entities. Something, something, class-struggle, etc.