REPORT: Blackstone-Owned Data Center Drained 30 Million Gallons Of Water From Atlanta Suburb

A data center campus in north-central Georgia consumed more than 29 million gallons of water without the local utility company initially realizing it, triggering low-pressure water flow to its host community, Politico reported Saturday.

The 615-acre Fayetteville-based data center campus, codenamed “Project Excalibur,” was found to have one water connection installed without the knowledge of the Fayette County water system, and another that was not linked to its developer’s account and therefore was not being billed, according to the outlet.

The amount of water that the campus consumed could fill 44 Olympic-size swimming pools and far exceeds the maximum amount agreed to during the data center planning process, the outlet reported. The situation occurred against the backdrop of Georgia’s ongoing moderate-to-exceptional drought.

The county reportedly discovered the issue after investigating its finding that residents of Annelise Park, a wealthy neighborhood in suburban Atlanta near the data center campus, were experiencing unusually low water pressure. The county’s initial response was to admonish residents to conserve water, according to the outlet.

The data center campus’s developer is Quality Technology Services (QTS), owned by the New York City-based alternative asset manager and private equity firm Blackstone. (Read more from “REPORT: Blackstone-Owned Data Center Drained 30 Million Gallons Of Water From Atlanta Suburb” HERE)