“Just Unplug It”: Woman Questions Why Residents Must Conserve Water While Data Centers Continue Operating

As demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence grows, data centers are expanding across the country, and in order to keep these centers running, they rely on massive amounts of electricity and water. The electricity is for the obvious, but the water helps with cooling because of the high amounts of heat these centers generate, as ABC 8 News noted in a July 2026 Facebook post.

Because these centers rely so heavily on power and water, one woman is criticizing both the facilities and state officials after claiming residents are being asked to conserve both while the centers reportedly use millions of gallons of water a day.

In a viral clip reshared by X user @WallStreetApes, the woman begins, "You may have already heard in the news that the county I live in has about 50 data centers, and they're asking people to start conserving power. On top of that, we're being asked to start conserving water." She says the request is especially frustrating given the upcoming high temperatures.

Woman Questions Water Conservation Requests Amid Data Center Use

The woman in the clip is believed to live in Virginia, as the X user claims. And according to WRIC, Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger has asked residents to start conserving water as parts of the state face a drought. In the clip, the woman claims temperatures could reach 120 degrees, though that claim could not be independently verified.

The problem people, and the woman in the clip, have with this is that residents are being asked to use less than the average 90 gallons of water they consume each day, according to WRIC. Meanwhile, a single Virginia data center reportedly uses roughly 4 million gallons of water a day, according to the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter, per WRIC.

What's even more frustrating for residents, aside from being asked to cut back on water use during the drought while data centers continue using it, is that some of the older centers still rely on fresh drinking water, WRIC notes. Newer centers, however, are reportedly using reclaimed water instead.

Ron Murchek, an executive general adjuster with Sedgwick and a data center expert, told WRIC that this reclaimed water might include water "that they have captured in nearby ponds, rainwater they've captured from their own property, their roofs." He added, "They're really using a lot of reclaimed water from sewage treatment plants."

Overall, people in the comments were pretty concerned by what the woman had to say. However, some were quick to call out her claim about the 120 temperatures expected across Virginia.

The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the statements made in the viral video. The article also relies on reporting from WRIC and ABC 8 News.