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TL:DR

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - Google is expected to foot the $10,000,000 bill for a dedicated underground pipeline to transport water from its new data center in Lincoln.

According to Lincoln Transportation and Utilities, wastewater from the data center’s cooling water system will be transported to the Northeast Water Resource Recovery Facility near North 70th Street and McCormick Drive.

The pipeline will snake its way up to the data center being built near North 56^th Street and Interstate 80. 

When asked about how much water will flow through this Agate Blow Down Line pipe daily, spokesperson Erika Hill told 10/11 the city does not disclose confidential customer information, but it does “account for commercial and industrial water use in long-term planning.” 

The new infrastructure will pump used water to the recovery facility, where it will be examined to meet state and federal standards, before it enters Salt Creek under a state-issued permit, LTU said.

“This industrial project is valuable to the City as most of the used water will be approved to bypass wastewater treatment and will enter Salt Creek,” Hill said in an email reply. “This project makes it so Google does not impact the community’s wastewater treatment capacity.” 

Construction is slated to begin mid-May; LTU does not anticipate it will disrupt traffic flow in the area.

My Thoughts 💭My Thoughts 💭

Designing a wastewater system for a sewer main costing $10 million isn’t a significant undertaking. I’m surprised the city is using the “none of your business” card when asked about the design flows. However, since this discharge will be regulated, I assume it shouldn’t be too difficult to calculate. If I had to guess, the flow isn’t much without knowing the pipe’s length. If the pipe is only a short distance, it could be a massive pipe discharging millions of gallons into the city’s treatment plant. And if they don’t meet discharge standards, guess who will pay the bill!