Stanton Springs

Meta Platforms · Social Circle / Newton County, Georgia

Water — consumed, not returned

Taken from the basin1,309M gal/yr

Evaporated on site133M gal

Making the power1,176M gal

Basin stressMedium-High

Where the water comes from: Groundwater — aquifer withdrawal
Cooling: Indirect evaporative + closed-loop retrofit
Basis: Modelled from cooling design — WUE 0.19 L/kWh

Air — what the stacks emit

Nitrogen oxides351t/yr

Sulphur dioxide594t/yr

Fine particulates56.7t PM2.5

Health damages$58.6M/yr

Where it burns: Southern Co. — Georgia / Alabama
Generation mix: Gas 48 · Nuclear 28 · Coal 15
CO₂e: 890 kt/yr — climate, not air quality

Who wanted it

Who asked for it: Meta — self-build
Who approved it: Joint Development Authority of Jasper, Morgan, Newton and Walton counties; Georgia Power supply under an IRP that has since added ~10 GW of forecast data center load
What it serves: Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp serving; Llama inference
IT capacity: 400 MW running of 600 MW announced

Neighbouring households on private wells reported sediment and dry taps during construction; New York Times reporting in 2025 tied the drawdown and site grading to the campus. Meta disputed causation but paid for replacement water systems.

water-stressed basinneighbouring wells affected

Where it is

33.6010°, -83.7100°

Google Maps Satellite See it on the map

Water and air figures are modelled from disclosed capacity, not measured — site-level error is roughly ±40%. Diesel backup generators are not counted, so on-site figures are floors. Full method.