Micron said it'll need up to 48 million gallons of water a day once its Clay megafab is fully built out. How does the number compare?
Micron's estimated 48 million gallons of water use per day is just shy of 73 Olympic size swimming pools. David Sonnenfeld, a professor of environmental studies at SUNY-ESF, said while that 48 million sounds like a lot, it needs to be put into perspective. For comparison, The City of Syracuse used about 40 million gallons of water a day in 2021. The City of Buffalo used 65 million per day in 2022.
"I don't see that volume, as large as it may seem, to be a likely problem in and of itself in terms of Lake Ontario water levels," Sonnenfeld said.
Sonnenfeld also said the water levels in the Great Lakes system are monitored, adjusted and regulated by the International Joint Commission.
"In terms of consequences of withdrawing 48 million gallons of water per day from Lake Ontario, my imagination and my guess is that that is something that would be within the scope of current withdrawals from Lake Ontario," Sonnenfeld said. "Although it would have an impact that it would be relatively small compared to how much water is in Lake Ontario."
Sonnenfeld said he wants to see significant attention on how contaminants in water from the manufacturing process will be addressed, suggesting Micron take a precautionary approach to long-term sustainability.
"The burden really is on Micron to demonstrate their good faith in being transparent and disclosing the kind of substances they'll be using on the site and addressing explicitly, how they will be treating any water that may come into contact with those substances," Sonnenfeld said.
Micron said the 48 million gallons is an estimate preparing for every eventuality over the next 20 years and that it is aiming for 100 percent water conservation. Sonnenfeld said there are some incentives for the tech company to be sustainable.
"The more energy that is used to transport water, the more energy that is used for wastewater treatment the more expensive those operations are," Sonnenfeld said. if you can reuse or recycle water that can be a cost savings."
The water use could be less than the estimated 48 million gallons as new technology is implemented over the next 20 years.
