The Water Numbers Don't Add Up

Two Numbers, One Project

The developer's February 2026 fact sheet makes a striking claim: the Central Park Commerce Center will use "about 5,000 gallons of water per day — roughly the amount used by one busy restaurant."

The developer's own county application tells a different story. The staff report confirms 314.3 ERC (Equivalent Residential Connections) reserved for the project, where 1 ERC equals approximately 5,600 gallons per month. That calculates to approximately 1.76 million gallons per month — or about 56,600 gallons per day.

That's more than 11 times the number in the fact sheet.

Why the Numbers Differ

The discrepancy likely comes down to cooling technology. There are two fundamentally different approaches:

Evaporative cooling (traditional): Water is sprayed through cooling towers where it evaporates, absorbing heat. This is the most common method for large data centers, especially in hot climates. It consumes enormous quantities of water — the evaporated water is gone permanently and must be continuously replaced.

Closed-loop dry cooling: Water circulates through a sealed system, passing through radiator-like dry coolers that reject heat to the air without evaporation. Water consumption is minimal because the same water is reused indefinitely.

The developer's fact sheet describes a "closed-loop cooling system that recirculates the same water repeatedly" — consistent with dry cooling. Their 5,000 gal/day figure would make sense for a dry-cooled facility where water is only needed for domestic use and minor system losses.

The Problem: Nothing Is Committed

Here's the issue: the county staff report states that the cooling method is "not yet determined."

The developer is asking the county to approve a 3.6 million square foot facility without specifying which cooling technology will be used. The PR fact sheet says closed-loop. The county filing says undetermined. The ERC allocation reserves capacity for 1.76 million gallons per month — a volume that only makes sense if evaporative cooling is on the table.

If the developer truly intended to use dry cooling with minimal water consumption, why reserve 314 ERCs of water capacity?

Why This Matters

Dry cooling has significant drawbacks in South Florida. It is less energy-efficient than evaporative cooling, especially in hot, humid climates where the ambient air temperature is already high. This means higher electricity consumption for the same cooling output — which means higher operating costs. There is a strong economic incentive to switch to evaporative cooling after approval.

The water reservation is a hedge. By securing 314.3 ERCs now, the developer ensures they have the water capacity to switch cooling methods later without needing a new application. The 5,000 gal/day claim in the fact sheet may be accurate for day-one operations, but nothing prevents the developer from scaling up to the full 1.76M gal/month allocation.

Palm Beach County's water supply is finite. The county is already managing growth pressure, agricultural demand, and environmental flows to the Everglades. Allocating 1.76 million gallons per month to a single industrial facility — which employs 20-50 workers — represents a significant claim on shared resources.

What Should Happen

Before the July 15 hearing, the community should ask the County Commission to require:

1. A binding commitment to a specific cooling technology — not a PR claim, but a condition of approval
2. Water consumption limits as a condition of approval — if the developer claims 5,000 gal/day, make that the enforceable cap
3. Reduction of ERC allocation to match stated usage — if dry cooling truly uses 5,000 gal/day, the developer doesn't need 314 ERCs
4. Penalties for exceeding stated water consumption — including potential revocation of operating permits

If the developer's claims are genuine, they should welcome binding commitments. If they resist, it tells us everything we need to know.

And this project's own draw is only half the picture. The same corner of the county already hosts FP&L's West County Energy Center, and no one has studied the two together — see Two Straws, One Aquifer.

How to help: Sign the petition, contact your commissioner, and attend the July 15 hearing.