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Comment by ctdonath | Hacker News Reader

A few years back, Atlanta faced a serious drought (the two lakes it lives on nearly dried up). Some mansion was discovered to be running a seriously large decorative fountain - without recirculating the water (yes, it came in, got tossed in the air, then flushed down the drain) and wasting water on par with the above article; once published, the public outcry was deafening and recirculation pipes soon added.

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Atlanta's situation is actually pretty interesting. Most of the water loss is caused by bad infrastructure (leaky pipes and sewers), and they have massively pissed off pretty much everyone in three states.

The city was/is using up a very significant portion of the Chattahoochee and its reserves and tributaries, causing severe issues downstream for Florida, Georgia and Alabama communities. They also injected sewage into the water, causing silting issues. Additionally, faced with shortages, the GA state legislature proposed to run a water pipeline from the other side of the state, essentially stealing more water from other GA sources further east (Savannah area, iirc).

Last I was paying attention, GA state legislature had filed a request to take more water out of the Chattahoochee, over objections from Alabama. Went to a Federal judge, who pointed out that Atlanta's use of water from Lake Lenier was actually illegal, in excess of the original authorizations put in place when it was constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers. Oops.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Lanier

Go look up the "Tri-state water wars", pretty crazy stuff.

Driving through some of the more mansion-laden neighborhoods (Buckhead on e.g. Habersham Drive), you'll see signs near the curb saying things like "IRRIGATION WATER DRAWN FROM WELL". I presume those were meant to discourage torches & pitchforks.

I'm not sure the distinction is all that meaningful.

You wouldn't expect many wells in big cities, would you? Assuming that to be the case, an occasional well isn't going to hurt the water table.

That part of the city was originally country homes for the city's wealthy folk back in the 19th century. So I'm sure a lot of wells were struck back in those days, probably modernized over time. The estates were big, though, so not a lot of wells-per-acre.

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