{"id":236319,"date":"2026-06-12T17:32:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T17:32:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/?p=236319"},"modified":"2026-06-12T17:38:01","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T17:38:01","slug":"faking-water-bankruptcy-data-centres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/faking-water-bankruptcy-data-centres\/","title":{"rendered":"Faking \u201cWater Bankruptcy\u201d: Data Centres"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We are currently witnessing the birth of a new psy-op targeting our most vital natural resource \u2013 water. The chosen label for this new fear-as-control exercise is \u201c<em>water bankruptcy<\/em>\u201d. It\u2019s a name originating in a UN report <a href=\"https:\/\/unu.edu\/inweh\/collection\/global-water-bankruptcy\">published earlier this year<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-236320\" src=\"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1-20-e1781285519741-300x166.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"560\" height=\"310\" srcset=\"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1-20-e1781285519741-300x166.jpg 300w, https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1-20-e1781285519741.jpg 557w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The decades old grumbling rumours of a \u201c<em>water crisis<\/em>\u201d just weren\u2019t scary enough you see, so just as global warming became \u201c<em>climate change<\/em>\u201d, and then \u201c<em>global heating<\/em>\u201d, and now \u201c<em>global boiling<\/em>\u201d \u2013 so this \u201c<em>crisis<\/em>\u201d is rebooted as something irresistibly alarming.<\/p>\n<p>The language alone is the first indicator of what we really have here.<\/p>\n<p>The broad stroke of the \u201c<em>water bankruptcy<\/em>\u201d narrative is:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>The planet is running out of clean, safe drinking water<\/li>\n<li>Climate change and the rise of AI are causing this problem,<\/li>\n<li>We really need to do something about it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The fast developing and dark reality is a plan that will use deliberately instilled fear of water shortages to manufacture fake water shortages, and then police, commodify and monetize the global water supply in the name of \u201c<em>water security<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s the next big psy-op evolving before our eyes, using:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cClimate change\u201d propaganda,<\/li>\n<li>Proposed legislative \u201csolutions\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Surveillance technology, and<\/li>\n<li>Inevitable financial pay-outs for the private sector.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Very recently we have seen the emergence of a rash of media scare stories on data centres. Claims about their energy consumption and water usage are suddenly flooding the information marketplace.<\/p>\n<p>This is an odd development because data centres would seem to represent the very beating heart of the surveillance state these outlets routinely promote.<\/p>\n<p>The stories range from the mildly critical, as in this piece <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/67qAE\">from the <em>Times<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Surge in data centres set to push water bills even higher<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To the slightly concerned, such as this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c77zxx43x4vo\">from the <em>BBC<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Scottish data centres powering AI already using enough water to fill 27 million bottles a year<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To the quasi-apocalyptic, such as this offering from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/global-development\/2026\/may\/26\/chile-datacentres-water-tech-companies-mega-drought\">ever-hysterical <em>Guardian<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>What you see here is a wetland without water\u2019: how the datacentre boom is exacerbating Chile\u2019s mega-drought<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Or this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/opinions\/2026\/1\/21\/ais-growing-thirst-for-water-is-becoming-a-public-health-risk\">from<em> Al Jazeera<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>AI\u2019s growing thirst for water is becoming a public health risk<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s no different in the US, where headlines like <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/w9Ze2#selection-3789.0-3789.67\">this<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>America\u2019s AI Boom Is Running Into An Unplanned Water Problem<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Or <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/9rY9Z#selection-3847.0-3847.60\">this<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>AI Is Accelerating the Loss of Our Scarcest Natural Resource: Water<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yes, bizarre as it seems the establishment media are attacking the reputation of establishment data centres.<\/p>\n<p>And it gets even odder when you look a little closer \u2013 because virtually all the scare stories they are publishing are either wildly exaggerated, decontextualised or simply not true.<\/p>\n<p>So, what is the reality quotient here?<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s take a look. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/energy\/ai-double-data-centre-power-water-consumption-by-2030-un-researchers-say-2026-06-03\/\">This <em>Reuters<\/em> article<\/a> headlines:<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>AI to double data centre power and water consumption by 2030<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The trouble is it gives no context for what that \u201c<em>doubling<\/em>\u201d means in comparative terms.<\/p>\n<p>It cites the fact that data centres use \u201c<em>4.5 trillion litres per year<\/em>\u201d \u2013 and that does sound like a lot, but when we retrieve the missing context we find that total amount of water used annually by human beings is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldometers.info\/water\/\">around 4 quadrillion litres<\/a>, almost 1000x times as much.<\/p>\n<p>Meaning data centres currently account for just ~0.1% of global water usage.<\/p>\n<p>Sure a 2025 report estimated US-based data centres <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eesi.org\/articles\/view\/data-centers-and-water-consumption\">used 449 million gallons of water per day<\/a>, it didn\u2019t mention that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0921344923001908\">manufacturing uses 15 billion<\/a>, over thirty times as much, while the energy sector uses <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.ucs.org\/john-rogers\/how-much-water-do-power-plants-use-316\/\">closer to 100 billion<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-236324\" src=\"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2-7-e1781285858451-300x174.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"560\" height=\"326\" srcset=\"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2-7-e1781285858451-300x174.png 300w, https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2-7-e1781285858451.png 430w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>So, that scary-seeming \u201c<em>doubling by 2030<\/em>\u201d the UN mentioned means data centres will be accounting for just 0.2% of global water usage by 2030 \u2013 and that\u2019s supposing all domestic, agricultural and industrial usage stays exactly the same in that time (which, of course, they won\u2019t).<\/p>\n<p>Even if we think of data centres as a tool of Big Brother, it\u2019s still true that, in terms of environmental impact, <a href=\"https:\/\/bryantresearch.co.uk\/insight-items\/comparing-water-footprint-ai\/\">farming<\/a>, manufacturing and energy production all use many times more water than they do.<\/p>\n<p>The press also goes out of their way to muddy the distinction between \u201c<em>direct water use<\/em>\u201d and \u201c<em>indirect water use<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Brief explanation about this:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Direct<\/em> water use would be the water you use to drink, cook, clean or bathe.<\/li>\n<li><em>Indirect<\/em> water use is the water used to grow the food you eat or manufacture your clothes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This is a clear distinction that the mainstream media have been disregarding when talking about the \u201c<em>water footprint<\/em>\u201d of data centres.<\/p>\n<p>They routinely include indirect usage such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eesi.org\/articles\/view\/data-centers-and-water-consumption\">\u201cwater used in the production of energy\u201d<\/a> (eg. to cool nuclear power stations or <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/w9Ze2\">in thermoelectric plants<\/a> etc.) or in the manufacturing chips and other parts as part of the data centres\u2019 <em>direct<\/em> usage.<\/p>\n<p>See the recent report <a href=\"https:\/\/eng.ox.ac.uk\/case-studies\/the-true-cost-of-water-guzzling-data-centres\"><em>\u201cWater-guzzling data centres\u201d<\/em><\/a>, from Oxford University:<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Water directly used for cooling is what most data centre operators focus on, but the largest source of water usage is actually electricity generation. This comes from how water is heated to generate steam which turns a turbine and generates electricity. Fossil fuels and nuclear power all consume water in this way, and even hydroelectric power involves some water loss from reservoirs<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Blaming data centres for water lost from hydroelectric dam reservoirs because they use some of the electricity produced? Does that make sense? And is this standard applied to every industry?<\/p>\n<p>For example, it is commonly believed that data centres poison ground water \u2013 but again this is a distortion, because while they can concentrate contaminants already present in the water via evaporation, or they can add cleaning and anti-scaling chemicals this is something common to virtually all industrial processes and coolant systems. There\u2019s nothing unique about the way data centres do this.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also true that many AI data centres use no water at all. Between 10% and 25% of operational data centres <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fwpcoa.org\/content.aspx?page_id=5&amp;club_id=859275&amp;item_id=130961\">run air-cooling systems<\/a> using refrigeration gasses (this number was much higher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.datacenterdynamics.com\/en\/opinions\/king-of-hill-in-data-center-cooling\/\">as recently as 2024,<\/a> but many have switched because liquid cooling uses substantially less electricity). And many water-cooled centres use a closed loop system that reuses water repeatedly and treat it on site.<\/p>\n<p>And no \u2013 I\u2019m not going to bat for big tech here. I\u2019m just reporting the fact that your average data centre is no better or worse for the water supply than most industrial sectors, and in fact uses far less water than most.<\/p>\n<p>The really important question here is \u2013 why are the media torturing the statistics and definitions to create fear headlines about something so entrenched in the governmental control system?<\/p>\n<p>And in fact not just the media. This strange narrative construction extends beyond the press or <a href=\"https:\/\/sustainableict.blog.gov.uk\/2025\/09\/17\/ais-thirst-for-water\/\">governmental reports <\/a>and into live-action political theatre.<\/p>\n<p>Witness the absurd spectacle of Alexandra Ocasio Cortez <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/politics\/articles\/neither-one-things-drinkable-aoc-163000997.html?guccounter=1\">waving a jam jar full of mud around congress<\/a>, claiming that data centres are making water unfit to drink:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">During a House hearing with Assistant EPA Administrator Jessica Kramer on Wednesday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) pulled out two jars of brown water she said was taken near a Meta data center in Morgan County, Georgia, after it was constructed.<\/p>\n<p>AOC went on to describe\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/fEWpVPpuYs\">pic.twitter.com\/fEWpVPpuYs<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; CBS News (@CBSNews) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CBSNews\/status\/2057837670600974680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 22, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Is that water even from Georgia any more than Colin Powell\u2019s test tube contained anthrax? It doesn\u2019t matter and she doesn\u2019t know, it was just handed to her before she went on stage, and for anyone interested, the actual <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cy8gy7lv448o\">details of the case<\/a> are that a local well may have suffered sediment build up due to digging\/construction work. It has nothing to do with the data centre\u2019s usage of water \u2013 because that <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.andymasley.com\/p\/the-ai-water-issue-is-fake?open=false#%C2%A7the-new-york-times-data-centers-are-guzzling-up-water-and-preventing-home-building\">wasn\u2019t actually operational yet<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Veteran campaigner <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brockovichdatacenter.com\/index.html\">Erin Brockovich<\/a> has also joined the crusade, starting up a registry of data centres for the whole country.<\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/collections.unu.edu\/eserv\/UNU:10647\/UNU-INWEH-Report-The_Env_Cost_of_AI-2026.pdf\">new report<\/a> from the UN <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/tech\/ai-artificial-intelligence-un-electricity-water-sustainability-b2988832.html\">is \u201cwarning\u201d<\/a> (reports always \u201cwarn\u201d) about the AI boom and the resources \u2013 especially land and water \u2013 that it\u2019s using.<\/p>\n<p>Multiple states or localities of the US are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsl.org\/fiscal\/which-states-are-banning-data-centers\">trying to ban the construction of data centres<\/a>, mostly because of their \u201cguzzling\u201d water. This first one <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jun\/03\/california-monterey-park-datacenters-ban\">passed this<\/a> month. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/2026\/05\/15\/more-americans-nuclear-energy-data-center\/\">a recent poll<\/a>, most Americans would rather live near a nuclear reactor than a data centre.<\/p>\n<p>Even Pope Leo XIV \u2013 yes, his High Holiness himself \u2013 is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncronline.org\/news\/ai-encyclical-pope-leo-warns-tech-data-center-threats-creation\">warning the faithful <\/a>about AI data centres and the \u201c<em>enormous amounts of energy and water<\/em>\u201d they use.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe these latter high-profile contributions begin to offer some clue as to why the mainstream is demonising one of its own major tools.<\/p>\n<p>AI data centres are ruining the water \u2013 something needs to be done about it. And it will come at the expense of your privacy, and your pocket.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>yogaesoteric<br \/>\nJune 12, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We are currently witnessing the birth of a new psy-op targeting our most vital natural resource \u2013 water. The chosen label for this new fear-as-control exercise is \u201cwater bankruptcy\u201d. It\u2019s a name originating in a UN report published earlier this year. The decades old grumbling rumours of a \u201cwater crisis\u201d just weren\u2019t scary enough you [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[382],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-236319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinions-1602-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236319"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":236328,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236319\/revisions\/236328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}