Scottish Data Centres Powering AI Using Enough Water to Fill 27m Bottles a Year
Posted3 months agoActive3 months ago
bbc.comTechstory
calmnegative
Debate
0/100
AIData CentresEnvironmental ImpactSustainability
Key topics
AI
Data Centres
Environmental Impact
Sustainability
Scottish data centres powering AI are using significant amounts of water, sparking concerns about environmental impact, with the community discussing the need for sustainable practices in the tech industry.
Snapshot generated from the HN discussion
Discussion Activity
Light discussionFirst comment
8h
Peak period
1
8-9h
Avg / period
1
Key moments
- 01Story posted
Oct 16, 2025 at 8:43 AM EDT
3 months ago
Step 01 - 02First comment
Oct 16, 2025 at 4:45 PM EDT
8h after posting
Step 02 - 03Peak activity
1 comments in 8-9h
Hottest window of the conversation
Step 03 - 04Latest activity
Oct 16, 2025 at 4:45 PM EDT
3 months ago
Step 04
Generating AI Summary...
Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns
ID: 45604649Type: storyLast synced: 11/17/2025, 10:09:11 AM
Want the full context?
Jump to the original sources
Read the primary article or dive into the live Hacker News thread when you're ready.
Average water use per person is around 140 litres per day in the UK.
So the big shouty shock stat quoted is about the same amount of water that around 265 people would use.
By contrast Glasgow Caledonian University (I couldn’t find Glasgow University stats - which is itself notable) uses just shy of 27 million litres a year.
Weird AI scare mongering.
[0] https://www.gcu.ac.uk/aboutgcu/commongood/sustainability/wat...