‘Water done right’ for Effingham County OpenAI data center

EFFINGHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) -Effingham County leaders are launching a social media push to reassure residents that OpenAI’s planned data center won’t deplete the county’s water supply, though environmental advocates warn significant questions remain.

The county’s recent Facebook campaign, titled “Project Camellia: Water Done Right,” highlights that the project’s engineering design is essential for protecting regional water resources.

The agreement between Effingham County and OpenAI mandates that developers draw only from treated surface rivers rather than underground groundwater. Officials and OpenAI claim the site will operate a closed-loop cooling system—working similarly to a car radiator—to continuously recycle the same water instead of relying on evaporative methods.

Despite these proposed protections, the Savannah Riverkeeper, a nonprofit advocacy group dedicated to protecting the Savannah watershed, is urging caution.

“That does use far less water. It does not mean that there is not cause of concern,” said Steven Uhles, Communications Director for the Savannah Riverkeeper. Uhles outlined three main concerns regarding OpenAI’s proposed water footprint.

The first concern centers on the periodic closed-loop drainage.

“Those systems do have to be drained time-to-time and there are chemical additives, so we are always concerned about what happens to that water, where it will end up and switched out,” Uhles said.

OpenAI experts say that they utilize multiple cooling loops, some containing an environmentally friendly antifreeze solution, emphasizing that the fluids will never be discharged into the local environment. Instead, any dirty fluids will be properly and lawfully disposed of off-site at drainage time.

The second concern is the water required for power generation.

“While the data center itself may not require a lot of water, the new power source that they’re going to have to build to keep it running and operating very well could,” Uhles said.

OpenAI says they cannot speak on behalf of their power supplier, but expect the utility company to follow all state and local laws regarding water usage.

Lastly, the Riverkeeper raised alarms over stormwater drainage and runoff.

“And where that ends up and what that does to the environment is always a concern,” Uhles said.

OpenAI says that they plan to strictly follow local and state guidelines, managing all stormwater directly on their site during and after construction.

To learn more about OpenAI’s Project Camellia, click here.