- Meta was the source of bacterial contamination that shut down Cheyenne water reclamation plants
- The water was used to fill and empty closed-loop cooling systems at a Meta data center.
- The City of Cheyenne has indefinitely suspended treatment of reclaimed water from data center projects.
The Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities has announced that the city will no longer accept industrial wastewater from the cooling system of its closed-loop data center after detecting a rare bacteria in the city’s reclaimed water plants.
The bacteria was detected after Goat Systems LLC, responsible for the construction of Meta’s Cheyenne campus, discharged wastewater into Cheyenne’s sanitary sewer. Tests then identified the bacteria. Cupriavidus gilardii had contaminated the plant, and the board recently named the Meta data center as the source of the contamination.
Two water reclamation plants were taken out of service and a months-long cleanup operation was carried out. Goat Systems originally had its water discharge privileges revoked in late March, prior to the broader ban against other Cheyenne data centers.
The contamination occurred during a filling and unloading operation of the campus’s closed-loop cooling systems. This cleaning method flows water through the pipes used to cool data centers to remove debris and contaminants, before the system is filled with coolant and sealed.
Goat Systems then routed the recovered water to the city’s sanitary sewer. According to Frank Strong, manager of the Board’s water resources and engineering division, the source of the bacteria remains unknown, but the water used to flush the system was purchased directly from the Board.
The contamination incident has brought to light new concerns about how water treatment plants can handle industrial wastewater from data center construction projects. Many closed-loop systems use chemicals such as propylene glycol as an antifreeze agent, but many water reclamation systems cannot handle the leaching of these and other chemicals.
Additionally, water treated by the City of Cheyenne’s reclamation plants is reused to irrigate public green spaces such as parks and golf courses, posing additional risks that Cupriavidus gilardii could cause human infections if sprayed.
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 the revelation that Meta was the source of the contamination was “a very, very unpleasant surprise,” adding that he still has “a lot to learn. It definitely complicates things.”
Predictions about water system interference come true
Many groups across the United States advocating for a pause on data center construction have frequently cited concerns around the use of local water and energy infrastructure. Now both concerns have been legitimized.
Some communities in areas with new data center construction projects have seen double-digit percentage increases in electricity prices, as new data centers require immense amounts of energy to produce the computing power needed for AI models. A bill currently moving through Congress seeks to force tech giants to pay for the energy they use, as well as fund infrastructure improvements to maintain reliable energy for local communities.
In other regions of the US, data centers are being built in drought-stricken areas, threatening already endangered local ecosystems and raising concerns about prioritizing water resources for local farms and communities.
Through Tom Hardware
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