Now Reading: Treated sewage to data centres is smart, critics miss the point
-
01
Treated sewage to data centres is smart, critics miss the point
A municipal corporation has priced treated sewage at Rs 7.50 per kilolitre for a proposed hyperscale data centre, sparking protests over a city already short 30 million litres daily (MLD) of potable…
The Story in Brief
A municipal corporation has priced treated sewage at Rs 7.50 per kilolitre for a proposed hyperscale data centre, sparking protests over a city already short 30 million litres daily (MLD) of potable water. The 12 MLD allocated to the data centre, however, is treated sewage, not drinking water. India treats barely 20,000 MLD of its 72,368 MLD urban sewage; the rest flows untreated to rivers.
The data centre sector's total water demand in 2030 is modelled at 163 billion litres, just 1/50th of 1% of India's annual usage, while Punjab extracts groundwater at over 160% of recharge, mainly for paddy. Critics ignore that denying data centres treated water forces them to use more electricity and, on a thermal grid, more water overall.
The Indian Opinion
The noise around giving data centres treated sewage ignores the real scandal: 52,000 MLD of untreated sewage still runs into rivers. Punjab's farmers extract groundwater at 160% of recharge for paddy, untaxed. Before anyone pickets a data centre, let them explain why the same civic fury does not descend on thermal plants that take 2.5-3.5 m³ per MWh. The concrete test is the tariff: will municipal corporations finally price potable water for households and undercut it with treated supply, or keep the status quo of free waste?
Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
