> just about everything in modern life, from streaming Netflix to running a dishwasher, consumes water at levels that can be portrayed as wasteful by hair-shirt environmentalists.

Ad-hominems in an Economist article. This reads more like an opinion piece than reporting. There are plenty of documented problems with water usage of data centres. Some can use it efficiently but it costs more to do so and many (most?) do not.

We are also in a time when most people would prefer to use that water for drinking, washing, cleaning… basically anything except data centres.

Don’t think many people are going to read this and think, “Gosh, I was a fool!”

> Ad-hominems in an Economist article.

As expected - that source rarely publishes anything else. Here's another pearl [1], where they're rejoicing over the kettle's burned color.

In both cases The Economist is totally blind about the economic foundations of the problems and there's no hint of a solution.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49580174 America has a whopping debt. But Europe has the whopping debt problem

Using a dishwasher can be up to 5x more water-efficient than hand washing. Hand washing one load of dishes can use 20 gallons of water, whereas water- and energy-efficient dishwashers may use as little as four gallons.[1]

[1]: https://www.kitchenaid.com/pinch-of-help/major-appliances/di...

> We are also in a time when most people would prefer to use that water for drinking, washing, cleaning… basically anything except data centres.

That is not what is indicated by consumer behavior.

Though it isn't healthiest, people prefer sugar water and so the sugar water companies have been able to afford to acquire water rights and they have driven up the cost of water.

Drilling holes through aquifers and not capping them, over-grazing and over-tilling, and wasteful industry production processes have driven up the cost of water.

Given a low-enough energy cost and basically unlimited salt water from the oceans, we shouldn't be out of water. There should not be coastal water scarcity.

Golf course, chip factory, almonds, fracking, lawns, swimming pools, or purple pipe golf course water?

If people really cared about water usage, they'd be trying to shut down golf courses instead of data centers.

Either I'm blind or it also doesn't say who wrote it.

But it does offer AI narration.

> This reads more like an opinion piece than reporting.

That is the style of articles (interpretive analysis) that The Economist does.

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