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Applicant: closed‑loop cooling will keep daily potable demand low; experts and staff confirm handling plans
Summary
Applicant engineers said data center cooling will use a closed‑loop system with an initial fill (~650,000 gallons) that is recirculated, not withdrawn daily; daily potable demand for the allocation was estimated at roughly 52,000–100,000 gpd when combined with approved uses, and county water staff reviewed concurrency assumptions.
James Ritchie, a civil engineer with WGI, told the commission that Palm Beach County Water Utilities had reviewed the project's water estimates and that the proposed allocation would require about 100,000 gallons per day on average when combined with previously approved uses. For the data‑processing buildings alone he cited an estimated daily potable use near 1,696 gallons per day — equivalent, he said, to “less than approximately 7 single family homes” for the phase 2 data element.
Applicant engineers and mechanical specialists described cooling as a closed‑loop system that requires a one‑time fill (the team said roughly 650,000 gallons to fill the system) and then recirculates the coolant; routine daily make‑up is minimal. Draining for maintenance would be isolated, removed by pumper truck and disposed of in compliance with Florida DEQ rules, consultant Dr. Chris Olsen testified. Commissioners compared the development’s combined daily demand (~100,000 gpd) to Arden’s existing community demand (about 400,000–500,000 gpd) during questioning.
