A major data center campus in Fayette County, Georgia, drew nearly 30 million gallons of water through unmetered connections before the issue surfaced due to complaints of low water pressure from nearby homeowners, county officials said.
The discovery, first reported by Politico, centers on the sprawling 615-acre QTS data center development located about 20 miles south of Atlanta. Quality Technology Services (QTS), owned by Blackstone, operates the site, which is one of the largest data center projects in the United States.
Fayette County investigators found that the campus had been pulling water through two connections the county was unaware of and had not properly billed. As a result, QTS was issued retroactive charges totaling $147,474. County officials estimated the unmetered usage covered roughly four months, while the company maintained the period was between nine and 15 months.
Vanessa Tigert, director of the Fayette County Water System, attributed the oversight to an administrative error that occurred during the county’s transition to smart meters.
“Fayette County is a suburb, it’s mostly residential, and we don’t have much commercial meters in our system anyway,” Tigert said. “And so we didn’t realize our connection point wasn’t working.”
A QTS spokesperson confirmed the company paid the retroactive charges immediately upon notification and said the unmetered usage stemmed from the county’s meter system upgrade.
No fines were issued. County officials emphasized they are maintaining a cooperative relationship with the developer.
The Fayetteville campus currently includes 13 buildings encompassing approximately 6.2 million square feet. It is part of a larger planned development that could eventually include up to 16 buildings.
The incident highlights growing tensions nationwide over the resource demands of data centers. Communities across the U.S. have become increasingly vocal about the strain these facilities place on local water supplies and electrical grids, leading to heightened opposition to new projects.
In a separate but related development, an Indianapolis City-County Council member’s home was shot at in April shortly after he supported rezoning for a data center project. The attack on Ron Gibson came days after a 6–2 vote approving the nearly 14-acre facility in the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood.
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