“Sometimes I went without a shower”: Water supply to data centers plunges many Indonesians into “distress” and “frustration”

The frantic race for AI comes at a high price in some countries. Cooking or washing became difficult when running water was cut off on Batam, an Indonesian island where data centers are mushrooming to fuel the global boom in artificial intelligence (AI).

The area, close to Singapore, has suffered a “long drought” due to low rainfall, the local water distribution operator told AFP, while an intense El Niño cycle aggravates the situation. As in other countries, anger has turned towards “data centers”, which are growing like mushrooms in the region. In these warehouse-like facilities that continuously run applications and artificial intelligence tools, water is used to cool servers.

Resentment is growing in Indonesia and Malaysia, particularly in areas bordering Singapore, seen as prime sites for new technology infrastructure in Southeast Asia. At the beginning, we said to ourselves “Thank God the industry is coming” to Batam, Juniardi Adinda Sembiring Gurukinayan, a 54-year-old trader, told AFP. But serious water cuts in certain areas of Batam meant that “sometimes I went without a shower,” he adds.

At the height of the crisis, dozens of local residents demonstrated in front of Nongsa Digital Park, a new complex of data centers and other infrastructure designated as a special economic zone. The level of a reservoir near the technology park was low and the supply system was disrupted by a power outage, said Ginda Alamsyah, a spokeswoman for the utility. But the technology park is supplied with water from a different source, the Duriangkang reservoir, a source in the sector told AFP. In late September, authorities told developers they needed to build seawater desalination plants for cooling, to avoid putting too much strain on local resources.

Data center operators in the complex include BW Digital, DayOne and Princeton Digital Group, all of which are headquartered in Singapore. Another owner, Hong Kong-based Gaw Capital Partners, said it was “aware of the distress and frustration expressed by residents of Nongsa and surrounding communities in Batam”. To ensure sustainable operations, “our data centers must implement a combination of cutting-edge engineering, efficient architectural designs and renewable energy sourcing,” he added. This includes the use of so-called “closed circuit” water systems, which reuse resources and therefore require less fresh liquid.