Meta's data center to use less water than expected, but concerns persist

Meta has announced that its massive 1,500-acre data center campus under construction in Lebanon, Boone County, Indiana, will feature a closed-loop cooling system. This decision, shared by the company in February, aims to significantly reduce the facility's direct water consumption, a detail welcomed by some residents like Brian Daggy who live near the site. However, water-policy experts, including Keith Cherkauer, director of the Indiana Water Resources Research Center, warn that closed-loop systems demand more electricity. This increased power consumption could lead to higher indirect water usage by power plants, effectively transferring the water demand off-site. Bill Blomquist, water policy coordinator for the White River Alliance, acknowledged the efficiency of closed-loop systems but noted the inherent trade-offs. The Lebanon data center is projected to use 1 gigawatt of energy to power its AI servers. While Meta's spokesperson, Stacey Yip, stated that closed-loop systems are now the company's design standard, residents, including Daggy, continue to express dissatisfaction with the lack of comprehensive details regarding the data center's full water-use plan and its potential regional impact. Daggy criticized the company's communication, calling it