From: not@telling.you.invalid   
      
   Lawrence D'Oliveiro  wrote:   
   > On 15 Aug 2025 06:52:18 +1000, Computer Nerd Kev wrote:   
   >> It's the same with water here in Aus. You can't water your garden with   
   >> tap water when water restrictions are in effect, but any business can   
   >> buy in water and waste as much of it as they like, even pouring any   
   >> excess down the drain if they ordered a truck load and don't need all of   
   >> it.   
   >   
   > It turns out residents watering their lawns use up more water than all the   
   > businesses put together -- at least here in NZ.   
      
   I'd have thought irrigation for agriculture would top the list here   
   in Aus - effectively the same thing without all the concrete in   
   between the lawns. Of course that's often supplied from untreated   
   water, and reservoirs have been built specifically for it. However   
   even then it's full of controversy as irrigated agriculture expands   
   and begins to take capacity from water sources also relied on for   
   drinking water and wildlife.   
      
   Still it seems like that approach would make more sense for   
   datacentres - put them where there's already surplus water (you   
   don't need accommodating climate and terrain to go with it like   
   with agriculture), and build the infrastructure to catch/supply the   
   extra water required. Somewhere in the mountains near a   
   hydroelectric power station would be ideal, and I believe there are   
   datacentres located like that in Europe. But it's cheaper/easier to   
   build one in the city and tell the government it's their job to   
   supply the water. So as long as the gov. goes along with that, of   
   course that's what they'll do.   
      
   Mines are similar, some use lots of water and contruct their own   
   water storage even when they're in a town with its own water   
   supply. I'm not sure if they have to use it exclusively though.   
      
   > Me, I've never bothered watering my lawn. Certain rose and other flower   
   > bushes that I value, yes -- when I remember, which is not often ...   
      
   No lawn here, I spray weed killer around the house yearly to create   
   a firebreak before summer. Roses fend for themselves unless I   
   happen to have a bucket of water I need to empty somewhere. But I   
   have to collect that water myself too.   
      
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