There is no denying that the use of AI is transformative, both in business and personal matters. However, supporting the technology requires a lot of resources. For example, generating a simple email with ChatGPT requires a lot more water than you might think, and a single Amazon data center is estimated to have consumed 2.5 billion gallons of water in a year.
Unfortunately, residents of Cheyenne, Wyoming, were at the forefront of the AI data center debate when the company building Meta’s new data center polluted the city’s wastewater treatment system. The pollutant? Bacteria called Cupriavidus gilardii, which can cause serious infections in immunocompromised people. After discovering the contamination during a routine test in February 2026 and tracing it to Goat Systems LLC (which was handling construction of the data center), the city’s Board of Public Utilities acted quickly and revoked Meta’s discharge privileges. As a long-term measure, it also implemented a policy banning water discharges from facilities such as data centers that rely on fill-and-flush systems and closed-loop cooling.
The good news is that the bacteria did not pollute the drinking water supply in Wyoming’s capital, but it did pollute two treatment facilities. In response, the council temporarily shut down the water reuse system which purifies water and reuses it for irrigation. After months of cleanup, the facility finally resumed operations on June 29.
How did the data center being built pollute the water?
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Generally speaking, people are wary of new data centers. For example, residents of Newton County, Georgia, clearly expressed concern about a large Meta AI data center because they had previously experienced water supply issues. Yet what many online users forget is that the Cheyenne incident did not involve an active data center but rather one under construction.
What happened was that Goat Systems LLC unintentionally introduced the water that was carrying the bacteria into the water recovery system. Particularly during commissioning, during the filling and flushing process, the company filled the cooling loop with water. Then he flushed the pipes with water to remove any debris and then dumped the flush water into the sanitary sewer. Although the flush water already contained the bacteria, authorities have no idea of its real origin. In fact, the Cheyenne Public Utilities Board sold the water it used for flushing toilets to the contractor.
Ultimately, the damage was minimal and new requirements adopted following the incident will help prevent similar problems. For example, businesses that rely on closed-loop cooling will need to build their own collection systems instead of draining water into city sewers. Technically, the citizens walked away victorious.
