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Council members raise regional water and wastewater concerns as data-center demand grows
Summary
Council members and staff discussed rising concern about data centers and other high-water users’ effects on water supply, water quality and wastewater treatment; the environment committee said it will elevate the issue for broader council attention.
Council members used the May 14 meeting to highlight regional water-quality and water-supply issues linked to rapid growth in high-water-use facilities such as data centers.
A council member noted that Environmental Services and Community Development staff briefed the environment committee on a recent reality check: in the last three years the region has seen 10 high-water-usage facilities enter the planning pipeline, seven of which were data centers. Staff told the committee they are taking the issue seriously because of potential implications for wastewater treatment capacity and effluent characteristics.
Council member Lindstrom explained that cooling processes at some data centers can raise temperatures of discharged water and change chemical characteristics, which may affect the biological processes in wastewater treatment plants. “Cooling is an issue … the water coming out of the data center could be at a higher temperature, which may impact our wastewater treatment plants,” Lindstrom said.
Separately, council members and staff flagged water-quality problems in parts of the region, including PFAS contamination, manganese and other contaminants in local systems, and said the environment committee will elevate these topics and work with Environmental Services staff and regional partners to provide more information to the full council.
Chair Charlie Zelle and multiple council members urged the committee to bring in regional partners such as DEED and Greater MSP — entities involved in economic development and attraction of large water/energy users — so the council’s environmental work can be coordinated with regional economic development efforts.
