原文：AI data center project secretly sucked 29 million gallons of water over 15 months before detected by residents complaining about low water pressure — officials refuse to fine
佐治亚州费耶特县告诉居民停止浇灌草坪以节约用水。 The request came after homeowners in a nearby subdivision reported unusually low water pressure, but when the county investigated, it found the cause: a data center campus 20 miles south of Atlanta had been drawing roughly 29 million gallons through two water connections the county didn't know existed, Politico reported Saturday.
Quality Technology Services (QTS), the Blackstone-owned developer behind the 615-acre Fayetteville campus, owed $147,474 in retroactive charges for the unmetered consumption, but the county didn’t fine the company.
The QTS Fayetteville (“Project Excalibur”) campus is among the largest data center developments in the country, currently comprising 13 buildings totaling approximately 6.2 million square feet, with plans for up to 16 buildings at full buildout. QTS has said it expects to invest up to $1 billion in the project, which began construction in 2023 and isn’t expected to be completed for another three to five years.
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QTS told Politico the 29 million gallons were consumed during temporary construction activities, including concrete work, dust control, and site preparation.该公司为其数据中心销售一种“闭环”冷却系统，该系统循环使用相同的水，而不是从市政供水中抽取水。 QTS 表示，一旦投入运营，其设施将仅需要满足浴室和厨房等家庭用水需求。
However, the discrepancy between QTS’s stated and actual water usage remained undetected for months, with Politico reporting that the county’s water system director, Vanessa Tigert, attributed the oversight to a procedural error during the county's transition to a cloud-based metering system.
Tigert told Politico that her department has a single employee handling both inspections and plan reviews, saying, “... we don’t have enough staff. We can’t keep staff.” QTS 和县政府不同意