A single hyperscale data center can drink up to 5 million gallons of water per day — roughly what 12,000 people use. Now Ohio wants to make it easier for those facilities to give that water back, and not in great shape.
What the Permit Actually Allows
Ohio’s draft replaces individualized environmental reviews with a single statewide blanket permit covering an entire industry.
Under the old system, each data center needed its own discharge permit — an individualized review examining the specific river, stream depth, and watershed receiving the waste. Draft permitOHD000001 replaces that with a statewide general NPDES permit (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System — the federal framework that keeps industrial waste out of public drinking water). One application, five years of coverage, with significantly reduced site-specific analysis. The draft’s own language anticipates a “decline in water quality” in some waters to accommodate data-center growth. Circle of Blue reporting calls this approach “without precedent” in the Great Lakes region.
Cooling-tower blowdown isn’t just warm water. Here’s what can come with it:
- Biocides and anti-scaling chemicals used to keep pipes clean
- Heavy metals leached from equipment and piping
- Concentrated salts and dissolved minerals
- Potential PFAS — “forever chemicals” reportedly used as fire suppressants — with zero specific restrictions in the current draft
- Thermal load hot enough to reduce dissolved oxygen and stress aquatic life
“Ohio EPA does not allow discharges that harm aquatic life, recreation, or human health,” the agency stated publicly. “Every permit includes strict limits and monitoring requirements to ensure water quality standards are met.”…