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Janesville utilities director says city has water and sewer capacity for large data center but discharge details required
Summary
City utilities staff told the council that Janesville has substantial unused water and wastewater capacity and can likely serve a large data center, but any developer would need to disclose discharge characteristics and obtain permits before connecting to the system.
Dave Bass, the utilities director for the City of Janesville, told the City Council at a March 23 special session that the system currently has substantial spare capacity that could accommodate a large data‑center development, but any connection would depend on permitted discharge limits and monitoring.
"The north pressure zone is the one in yellow ... reliable flow is about 11,200,000 gallons per day," Bass said, adding the south zone can produce about 11,400,000 gallons per day for a combined reliable capacity of roughly 22,600,000 gallons per day. He said Janesville's 2025 average water usage across the zones was about 10,890,000 gallons per day, meaning the system is operating well below maximum capacity.
Bass gave a breakdown of users, saying industrial customers collectively account for roughly 2,000,000 gallons per day and commercial customers about 1,800,000 gallons per day, with the remainder used by residences and public authorities such as schools and municipal buildings. He noted the city’s treatment plant is rated for 19,600,000 gallons per day and that the plant handled roughly 10,100,000 gallons per day on average in 2025.
On wastewater and industrial discharges, Bass said the utilities require prospective industrial users to disclose what they will discharge and the strength of those discharges before permitting. "Whenever somebody comes into town, we want to know what they're gonna discharge," he said. If a proposed discharge is unacceptable, the city can require the developer to find alternate disposal methods, including trucking wastewater off‑site.
Bass also summarized infrastructure near proposed development sites, citing a 16‑inch water main and a 54‑inch sanitary main near the former GM site and water/sewer lines (15‑inch across the DATCO site, 24‑ and 21‑inch mains on Jackson Street) that provide redundancy and capacity for development.
Bass emphasized that the city monitors permitted industrial flows monthly and that plans must be reviewed to ensure the treatment plant and collection system remain healthy. He credited plant staff with strong operational performance and noted the plant processed a peak 30,000,000 gallons per day during flooding in 2008 without permit violations.
The council did not take any formal action on data‑center permitting at the meeting; presenters answered council questions and provided staff-level information for future consideration.
