Letter to the Editor: A Concerned Citizen Questions QTS and Fayette County Water

To the Editor,

The recent POLITICO article about QTS using nearly 30 million gallons of unmetered water in Fayette County should concern every resident.

For years, local officials and citizens were assured the QTS data center campus would use very little water because of its “closed-loop” cooling system. What was not disclosed was the enormous amount of water required during construction — a process expected to continue for many more years. According to the article, millions of gallons were consumed for dust control, concrete work, and site preparation alone.

Fayette County’s explanation is troubling. The county’s own water director admitted the department is small, understaffed, and inexperienced with large industrial customers. Yet QTS-Fayetteville is the largest data center project in Georgia. After the original 615-acre development was approved under “Business Park” zoning by the Fayetteville City Council, the mayor publicly celebrated “the world-class QTS data center campus coming to Fayetteville’s west side.”

Citizens have every right to question whether local officials fully understood the long-term impact of approving what has now expanded into a massive 928-acre industrial complex.

If millions of gallons of water usage went unnoticed until Annelise Park residents complained about steadily declining water pressure, it’s fair to ask whether meaningful oversight existed from the beginning.

The unequal treatment is also difficult to ignore. Fayette County homeowners know exactly how strict the water department can be. Miss a payment deadline and a 10% penalty is automatically applied. But QTS and its owner, Blackstone, received no penalty despite using millions of gallons of unmetered water. Residents are left wondering why ordinary citizens are held to a stricter standard than the county’s wealthiest corporate customer — one already benefiting from substantial local and state tax incentives while paying lower electricity rates than many residential consumers through Georgia Power’s special contracts.

This controversy follows additional concerns surrounding the QTS construction site itself. In October 2025, The Citizen reported on lawsuits filed by former safety managers after the tragic electrocution death of a 25-year-old immigrant worker at the site.

Fayette County residents deserve transparency, competent oversight, and equal treatment under the rules. Officials in neighboring counties considering similar massive data center projects should view Fayette County as a cautionary example of why rigorous due diligence and honest public disclosure matter before irreversible decisions are made.

Sincerely,

A Concerned Citizen

Fayetteville, GA