NANAIMO — Water usage and impacts to supply were top of mind for City Councillors Monday night.
Their discussions on Monday, Nov. 3, surrounded a proposed data centre at 2090 East Wellington Rd., which is being closely looked at by City staff as part of the development permit stage following rezoning of the property in 2022.
Prompted by concerns from a local advocacy group, City general manager of engineering and public works Bill Sims said the nearly 200,000 square foot facility would consume somewhere between 55,000 and 70,000 litres of water daily, to cool computers inside, once fully built out.
“That would be roughly a 35-unit apartment building, a multi-family residential. It would be about the same as consumed by BC Ferries at Departure Bay, it would be similar to a car wash, that kind of order of magnitude.”
The approximate lot where a data centre would reside, provided it meets requirements through both development and building permits. (Google Maps)Should it proceed, the property would be developed over time through multiple phases of construction.
Sims provided additional context on the site’s water usage.
Water fill stations located around the city, where water can be purchased by residents or business operators, deliver around 272,000 litres per day.
Sims said the City’s water network delivers approximately 13 billion litres per year, or around 36 million litres per day.
At full capacity, the data centre would consume 0.2 per cent on an average day, with its use metered and charged according to user rate fees.
Sims told Council widespread adoption of water conservation practices, along with the robustness of the City’s water supply, gives them a great deal of confidence.
“The amount of water we’re consuming today, on an average basis, is about the same as we consumed in the mid-1990s. But, our population is about 35,000 to 40,000 more than we were in the 90s, so the same amount of water is doing almost double the work.”
The data centre would not be used for AI applications, which involves the highest intensity computer processing power and subsequent water usage for cooling. (dHKarchitects)City staff confirmed the data centre would only use City water and not impact local groundwater supply or conditions.
Staff also stated the data centre would use a closed-loop system, meaning it would recirculate water where possible.
It was also confirmed there was no business relationship between the City and the Ontario-based owners of the site, outside the land use process.
June Ross, a member of the Vancouver Island Water Watch Coalition, presented as a delegation to Council Monday night, offering up concerns regarding water usage.
She said the City’s own website states a commitment to water conservation, but she argued this project is contradictory to those goals.
“The site goes on to say, most of us seldom consider where water comes from or how, but the reality is, as our population grows, so does our demand for water. We therefore need to carefully manage and wisely use our water. How does this rezone and your plan to go forward, carefully manage and wisely use our water? I say, it does not.”
She requested Council reconsider the re-zoning of the property and stop further passage of the project.
Due to rezoning being adopted in 2023, no further decision points will come to Council on lane use, with a development permit application expected for Council consideration at a future meeting.
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