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AI Data Centers Are Draining Our Planet Dry — And No One Is Talking About It

5 min readMay 19, 2025

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Red water running out of a tap.
Illustration by author

Data centers are in crisis.

  • Not because of energy costs.
  • Not because of chip shortages.
  • Not because of skilled worker gaps.

But because they’re silently draining our planet’s most precious resource dry: water.

We’ve all heard the story:

AI is green. AI is efficient. AI will save our planet.

But it’s all a massive lie.

Scientists have uncovered the truth, and it’s devastating. Every time you chat with GPT-3 for just 10–50 responses, it guzzles an entire 16-ounce bottle of fresh water. Multiply that by billions of queries, and we’re talking about an environmental catastrophe happening in real-time.

The results aren’t just shocking — they’re terrifying.

The invisible water heist behind every AI prompt

Imagine running your kitchen faucet for five minutes while ChatGPT writes a two-paragraph email.

That’s essentially what’s happening.

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The Startup
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Jano le Roux
Jano le Roux

Written by Jano le Roux

An award-winning marketing consultant who helps high-growth brands craft marketing that doesn’t feel like marketing. Open for work—jano@likeflare.com—Join me ⤵️