Data center guzzled 30 million gallons of water and nobody noticed for months

In a letter to Congress last month, more than 120 organizations advocating against rushed data center developments warned lawmakers that it’s not enough to focus legislation on addressing spiking electricity bills. “Water use is equally alarming,” among other harms, groups said. “In drought-prone regions,” groups explained, data centers consuming up to 5 million gallons a day strain “drinking water supplies, agriculture, and ecosystems.” Meanwhile, closed-loop systems “require the use of toxic …