An artificial intelligence data center was running up a water bill for the ages, and local residents were the ones to point out the problem.
In November, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Microsoft had a new “superfactory” named Fairwater spanning over 1 million square feet outside of Atlanta.
Chief Technical Officer Mark Russinovich explained why the site is so massive. “To make improvements in the capabilities of the AI, you need to have larger and larger infrastructure to train it,” he said in a statement.
The site developer, Quality Technology Services, purchased the plot in 2022 for $154 million.
Ironically, Microsoft claimed the site uses a “closed-loop cooling system” that “consumes almost zero water” to operate.
According to a report by Politico, the issue wasn’t discovered until residents of a subdivision in Fayetteville, Georgia, started complaining that their water pressure was extremely low.
When the utility company looked into the matter, they found two water lines going to QTS that weren’t in their system.
They determined the facility had used almost 30 million gallons of water valued at close to $150,000.
This information only became public last week when a letter addressed to QTS, written in May 2025, came out via a public records request. The letter did not specify the time period for the water usage. A water official said it was about four months; a QTS representative said it was closer to 9 to 15 months.
According to Politico’s report, one of the two lines was installed without the utility company’s knowledge. The other had never been linked to the QTS account, so no one was getting billed. The company was just getting free water.
A QTS spokesperson said the unauthorized use happened when the system was being switched over to a new monitoring method using smart meters.
Vanessa Tigert, the Fayette County water system director, attributed the mistake to a lack of staff.
“Just like any water system, we don’t have enough staff. We can’t keep staff,” Tigert commented.
“I’ve got one person that’s doing inspections and plan review, and so he’s spread pretty thin.”
QTS has since paid the bill, but that shouldn’t clear their name.
For possibly over a year, the facility never bothered to ask why the water bill wasn’t coming in?
Tigert said no fine will be issued. “They’re our largest customer, and we have to be partners,” she said, defending the decision. “It’s called customer service.”
James Clifton, an attorney and property rights advocate, expressed displeasure with the situation. “It’s just frustrating to see them come into our community and run all over us like the citizens don’t matter, and then they’re above the law when they do break it.”
Government looks incredibly incompetent here, and QTS looks slimy.
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