> Google says its data centers in the Oregon town consumed 274.5 million gallons (1 billion liters) of water last year.<p>The census population of the Dalles, about 1.5-2 hours/85 miles east of Portland on the other side of Mount Hood, is 16,043.<p>274.5Mgal / 16,043 people = 17,110 gallons per resident per year<p>As of 2015, USGS's estimated per-capita household water usage in the US is 82 gallons/day, or about 29,930 gallons/year.[1] Google adds the equivalent water use of about 9,171 residents to the Dalles, which would represent a population increase of about 57%.<p>1: <a href="https://www.epa.gov/watersense/statistics-and-facts" rel="nofollow">https://www.epa.gov/watersense/statistics-and-facts</a>
Wow that's a lot of water... something that doesn't get mentioned in the article - what's the temperature of the waste water, and where is it going? Because, for example, if you are putting that water back into streams and the river at a higher temp, that's going to impact aquatic life...definitely the kind of use of public resources that needs to be fully disclosed to the public.<p>Would be interesting to understand if Facebook is using similar amounts of water over in Prineville (not really all that far from The Dalles...), especially given reports that central Oregon water districts are having issues with their wells...