In brief
On the Indonesian island of Batam, a wave of protests erupted this week as local residents claim that the rapid expansion of data centres in the newly opened Nongsa Digital Park is draining essential water reserves. Roughly 300 residents, many from the village of Bakau Serip, marched on the data‑centre compound carrying empty plastic bottles and jerry‑cans, chanting “Water! Water!”. While the Batam water utility says it is working to restore supply, the provincial trade agency has blamed a prolonged dry spell and has refused to argue that households are losing water to the data‑centres. The disputes highlight a growing global backlash against megafarms of servers that consume large quantities of water for cooling, and underlines the imperative that infrastructure projects be built transparently and responsibly.
“Water! Water!” the crowd shouted as it stormed a compound with data centres, armed with empty plastic bottles and jerry‑cans. About 300 locals from Batam’s island community turned up in protest of their taps running dry while the new Nongsa Digital Park’s servers seemed to have plenty of water to keep them cool.
Dewi Susanti of the Bakau Serip village told the BBC that she had not seen a single drop of tap water for the last three months. “Our water supply had been reliable until the data centres came,” she said, explaining how villagers now rely on tanker trucks that deliver dirty, cloudy, and smelly water.
Batam’s water utility said it is working to improve supply but declined to confirm whether water shortages were directly linked to data‑centre demand. BP Batam, which runs the island’s trade and industry office, blamed a prolonged dry spell and refused to admit that water meant for homes was diverted to data centres.
Without natural freshwater sources, Batam of 1.3 million people depends on rainwater collected in six reservoirs. A local environmental group has warned that one reservoir in Bakau Serip could dry up in a month if no rains arrive.
The island has approved 10 data centres, six of which sit in the burgeoning Nongsa Digital Park. Two are operating and a third is under construction, with a projected power demand by 2030 that could exceed 1,100 MW – enough to power nearly a million homes.
China, the US, Australia and Singapore have all invested heavily in AI infrastructure, but the “water‑hungry” nature of large data‑centres has sparked protests across the globe. A study in the US estimates a typical data‑centre consumes about 300,000 gallons daily—roughly the amount used by 1,000 households.
Residents stress that data‑centres should build their own desalination plants rather than rely on communal reservoirs, and call for transparent water‑use disclosures. As the island’s surge of digital activity continues, ordinary citizens are demanding that their basic utilities not be compromised for the sake of tech growth.
