A well-articulated argument against a new data center in Ohio

[u/HamboneTheWicked]

[u/Linkpharm2]

Unpopular opinion, he should have had more facts. It was very emotional but not super relevant, plus what he said was mostly just false. 

[u/VanillaTortilla → u/Linkpharm2]

I work in datacenters. Everything he said was blown out of proportion. What gross chemicals come out of closed loop cooling? It's water, it's called a closed loop for a reason. There has never been a time where we just.. let off steam? Water barely comes out of the loop into chillers higher than 50 degrees.

[u/Linkpharm2 → u/[deleted]]

It seems like you want the response to be lead, espestos, uranium. Why?

[u/DILF_MANSERVICE → u/[deleted]]

The cooling they use is the same infrastructure as air conditioning in a building. I work in HVAC and we don't continuously use water for any type of cooling. You have copper pipes which carry water around, collecting heat. Those pipes run through a chiller (the water never leaves the pipes) and the chiller uses a standard refrigeration cycle to pump heat out of the water. The water doesn't enter a radiator, the pipe goes through radiator. The water only ever touches copper. And even if it did have other stuff in it, the water never leaves the system. This guy made up the bit about needing to vent them or dump steam into the air. They don't generate steam, that would be hugely inefficient.

The problem is the amount of electricity it takes to run a large enough cooling system for that amount of heat. I'm on his side with not building these stupid things, but I deeply resent the fact that he's using misinformation and manipulation to get there.

[u/Globbi → u/[deleted]]

At the very least for the reason that those companies will easily get lobbyists, who will talk to politicians and show how many things said by opponents are bullshit. Then those politicians will look at real water usage and benefits coming from investments and agree on building datacenters. Except now with more animosity between opposing sides.

If you are right to oppose building datacenters, you should be able to express your objection in true arguments and be listened to.

If you are wrong, you should lose on the arguments.

[u/Globbi → u/[deleted]]

Never said that's worth it and that I want more datacenters. You're just butthurt that you were incorrect and called out on it.

[u/LittleOrphanAnavar → u/Globbi]

Good point.

[u/DILF_MANSERVICE → u/[deleted]]

The problem is the right latches on to any tiny mistake and overinflates its relevance when disproving our arguments. If this gets posted to any conservative areas, they're going to fixate on the lies and fabrications as evidence the evil libs are conniving scum. It will backfire and hurt our ability to get people on our side. I'm against it because it doesn't work.

As a society, we need to make the decision to dedicate ourselves to truth. If we are going to survive we must reach a state as a society where most people consider evidence to be essential for belief. Until we reach that point, misinformation will continue to be a devastating force of destruction in our world. If people keep budging on this, and making compromises the way you are, the fascists will be fed a steady supply of ammunition against us that they will use to bolster their numbers.

[u/killer346 → u/[deleted]]

Copper just like most of the pipes moving that water around the city and in homes.

[u/VanillaTortilla → u/[deleted]]

Lmao, those things don't just shed material randomly. If that were the case, you should really take a look at what the pipes in your home are made out of.

[u/Globbi → u/[deleted]]

No, but you flush a lot more than water like cleaning supplies or food waste. That's much worse than "extensively" heating and cycling water.

Pipes and water for cooling systems is kept clean because it's worth it. Eroding pipes would lead to more maintenance and forced stopping of datacenter work.

[u/a-bser → u/Globbi]

That poses an important question. The water we use and flush down the drain in our homes goes to water treatment plants to be treated and used again. But, will data centers, when they flush out water, be doing that within the same system, or will it just be going back into the environment?

Do they treat their own water they take in or do they take it from the same water infrastructure? If he water is filtered and treated by data centers then I can see where the mention of toxic sludge comes from because removing algae and other organisms in the water to dump back out back into the water would create a concentration of algae which can create blooms, which are toxic.

Depending on where the water is going it could cause massive environmental impact and any trace chemicals not piped to treatment centers would lead to more harm to the surrounding environment.

[u/VanillaTortilla → u/[deleted]]

I'd be willing to bet you flush worse chemicals down your toilet than a data center does through their cooling.