Memphis became a battleground over Elon Musk's xAI supercomputer

> Water is another issue for xAI. Data centers use massive amounts of water to cool their servers; xAI says it will need 1 million gallons of water a day, which is about *3% of the total capacity of the local wellfield, according to the nonprofit Protect Our Aquifer. This is the same wellfield that provides drinking water to residents.*

Along with the gas generators, it’s using ~1,000,000 gallons of water per day, 3% of the capacity of water used by residents.

That is equivalent to the usage of ~12,195 adult human’s water usage per day [1]. And depending on the size, a little less than 1 to 1/16 of the net consumption of water used by a fracking well [2].

1. https://www.epa.gov/watersense/statistics-and-facts

2. https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-much-water-does-typical-hydrau...

“Alongside the factory are at least 18 portable methane gas generators, which visibly emit a steady stream of hazy smoke into the air…

xAI doesn’t have air permits for these turbines, according to the Shelby County Health Department and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The county health department told NPR that it only regulates gas-burning generators if they’re in the same location for more than 364 days. “Given the mobile nature of the gas-turbines in question … [the health department] does not have current permitting authority,” a spokeswoman wrote in an email. She said this is the Environmental Protection Agency’s jurisdiction.

The Environmental Protection Agency told NPR it hasn’t issued air permits for these turbines, but after getting inquiries from media outlets and citizen groups it’s “looking into the matter.” “