# Voters rejected AI data centers over resource concerns. Here’s why measuring water usage is hard

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/voters-rejected-ai-data-centers-over-resource-concerns-heres-why-measuring-water-usage-is-hard/
- Published: 2026-11-05T18:52:21+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-05T19:37:43+00:00
- Original publisher: CNBC (publisher lean: Centre)
- Original article: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/05/meta-spacex-ai-data-centers-use-millions-of-gallons-of-water-a-day.html
- Topics: AI, Business, Elections, Politics, Technology

## Key points

- Voters approved 40 of 41 proposed data-centre restrictions.
- AI data centres’ water use varies by site and cooling needs.
- Meta’s Indiana site could reach 8 million gallons a day on peak days.

## Summary

Voters backed 40 of 41 ballot measures this week that would restrict data centres, reflecting concerns about their demands on local water and electricity supplies. But it is difficult to establish how much water an individual site uses because operators often publish company-wide figures rather than site-level data.

Large, 1-gigawatt AI data centres can use up to 10 million gallons of water a day, though consumption depends on their equipment, location and cooling systems. Liquid cooling inside server racks can recirculate water, but operators may still need water outside the building to release heat. Meta says its planned Indiana centre could be allocated up to 8 million gallons a day by 2031, mostly on a few of the hottest days; Equinix reported 1.2 billion gallons of water use across its operations in 2025, 10% more than the previous year.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.