‘A very, very unpleasant surprise’: Meta forced to halt data center water discharges after polluting city's water reclamation system with resistant bacterium — shutdown and cleaning of two water reclamation plants expected to last months | Tech Radar

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‘A very, very unpleasant surprise’: Meta forced to halt data center water discharges after polluting city's water reclamation system with resistant bacterium — shutdown and cleaning of two water reclamation plants expected to last months

A Meta data center was named as the source of contamination

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Meta was the source of bacterium contamination that shut down Cheyenne water reclamation plants

The water was used to fill-and-flush closed loop cooling systems at a Meta data center

The city of Cheyenne has indefinitely suspended the treatment of reclaimed water from data center projects

The Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities has announced that the city will no longer be accepting industrial wastewater from its closed-loop data center cooling system after detecting a rare bacterium in the city’s reclaimed water plants.

The bacterium was detected after Goat Systems LLC—responsible for the construction of Meta’s Cheyenne campus—discharged waste water into Cheyenne's sanitary sewer. Testing then identified the bacterium Cupriavidus gilardii had contaminated the plant, with the board recently naming the Meta data center as the source of the contamination.

Two water reclamation plants were pushed offline, with a multi-month cleanup operation taking place. Goat Systems originally had its water discharge privileges revoked in late March, ahead of the wider ban against other Cheyenne data centers.

The contamination occurred during a fill-and-flush operation for the closed-loop cooling systems on the campus. This cleaning method flushes water through the pipework used to cool datacenters in order to remove debris and contaminants, before the system is filled with cooling liquid and sealed.

The reclaimed water was then routed through to the city’s sanitary sewer by Goat Systems. According to Frank Strong, the Board's engineering and water resource division manager, the source of the bacterium remains unknown, but the water used to flush the system was purchased directly from the Board.

Major US data center project found to be sucking up 29 million gallons of water over 15 months

Meta to receive $3.3 billion in tax breaks for Louisiana data center project

Saltwater cooling system could turn data centers into clean water producers

The contamination incident has brought to light new concerns surrounding how water treatment plants can handle the industrial wastewater from data center construction projects. Many closed-loop systems used chemicals such as propylene glycol as an antifreeze agent, but many water reclamation systems are not able to handle the filtration of these and other chemicals.

Moreover, the water treated by the city of Cheyenne’s reclamation plants is reused to water public green spaces such as parks and golf courses, raising further risks that Cupriavidus gilardii could cause human infections if aerosolized.

The two facilities, Dry Creek and Crow Creek, were forced to close for maintenance and decontamination in February, but were cleared for operation in late June and have resumed processing reclaimed water.

Cheyenne City Councilman Pete Laybourn said that the revelation that Meta was the source of the contamination was, “a very, very unpleasant surprise,” adding that he has, “a lot yet to learn. It definitely complicates matters."

Predictions of water system interference come true

Many groups across the US advocating for the pause on data center construction have frequently cited concerns surrounding the use of local water and energy infrastructure. Now, both concerns have been legitimized.

Amazon reveals exactly how much water its data centers used last year

Micron's $50 billion chip factory in Idaho will use billions of litres of water every year

Many new AI data centers will be built on US drought-hit areas

Some communities in areas with new data center construction projects have experienced double digit percentage increases on electricity pricing as the new data centers require immense amounts of energy to produce the computational power needed for AI models. A bill currently making its way through Congress seeks to force tech giants to pay for the energy they use, as well as fund infrastructural upgrades to sustain reliable power for local communities.

In other regions of the US, data centers are being built in drought-hit areas, threatening already endangered local ecosystems and raising concerns around the prioritization of water resources for farms and local communities.

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Benedict is a Senior Security Writer at Tech Radar Pro, where he has specialized in covering the intersection of geopolitics, cyber-warfare, and business security.

Benedict provides detailed analysis on state-sponsored threat actors, APT groups, and the protection of critical national infrastructure, with his reporting bridging the gap between technical threat intelligence and B2B security strategy.

Benedict holds an MA (Distinction) in Security, Intelligence, and Diplomacy from the University of Buckingham Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies (BUCSIS), with his specialization providing him with a robust academic framework for deconstructing complex international conflicts and intelligence operations, and the ability to translate intricate security data into actionable insights.

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