Georgia residents, noticing water pressure problems, forced an investigation that uncovered a huge liability.

When the county utility investigated, officials discovered two industrial-scale water hookups feeding a data center campus located 20 miles south of downtown Atlanta. One water connection had been installed without the utility’s knowledge, and the other was not linked to the company’s account and therefore wasn’t being billed.

All told, the developer, Quality Technology Services, owed nearly $150,000 for using more than 29 million gallons of unaccounted-for water. That is equivalent to 44 Olympic-size swimming pools and far exceeds the peak limit agreed to during the data center planning process.

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Georgia is home to more than 200 data center facilities and their thirst for water is turning into a political flashpoint. The entire state is experiencing moderate to high levels of drought, and Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency last month in response to one of Georgia’s worst wildfire outbreaks in years.

The datacenter design is impactful in the worst ways. It doesn’t have to be like this, but apparently there is not yet enough regulation to force innovation.