3. water Impacts work group
Chip Making Uses a Lot of Water
Computer chip manufacture uses massive quantities of clean water. Lake Ontario, our Great Lake, promises ample water supply and is a major reason that Micron chose to locate in Central New York.
How Much Water Will Micron Use?
Micron’s megafab is expected to use 48 million gallons of water per day when fully built out. For comparison, the City of Syracuse used about 40 million gallons of water a day in 2021, and in 2023 the Onondaga County Water Authority (OCWA) supplied about 36 million gallons a day to cusomters in Onondaga County.
What's at Stake?
The Syrcause community needs to make sure that Micron's massive water use does not affect the affordability, abundance, and safety of our drinking water and groundwater resources. Water is used for cooling, and to remove highly toxic chemicals used in the chip manufacturing process. Without proper treatment, the wastewater from chip manufacture can be a major environmental hazard and risk to public health.
Wastewater from chips plants contains a wide range of pollutants, including heavy metals, acids, bases, organic solvents, and specialty chemicals related to the industry. Many of these chemicals require specialized treatment to successfully remove them. Of particular concern are PFAS (per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances) dubbed “forever chemicals” since they persist almost indefinitely in the environment. Many of these substances are highly toxic; USEPA set drinking water standards for several PFAS compounds in the 4-10 part-per-trillion level. Lake Ontario would be deemed unsafe for drinking if ten to twenty 55-gallon drums of PFAS were to be added and mixed in with the entire contents of the lake.
Who's Paying?
OCWA will supply Micron's water for the initial Fab using the existing drinking water treatment plant and supply line from Lake Ontario. (see graphic).
OCWA will need to expand capacity in order to service Micron’s Fabs 2, 3, and 4 by installing a new pumping station and additional pipes at an estimated cost of $625 million. However it is not clear who will pay for this expansion. OCWA expects Micron to pay for the majority of the costs, while Micron has said they will pay for part of the expanded water system.
Wastewater from the Micron operation will be treated in several steps. First it will undergo pretreatment at Micron’s facility. The pretreated wastewater will then flow to the Oak Orchard Wastewater Treatment Facility operated by the Onondaga County Department of Water Environment Protection (OCDWEP). OCDWEP will invest up to $1 billion to build an industrial wastewater treatment facility and expand the capacity of the existing sewage treatment plant. It also intends to expand capacity by installing new wastewater force mains, and pumping stations. Approximately 75% of Micron’s wastewater, after treatment, will be pumped back to Micron for use as cooling water and other non-process water. The remaining 25% will undergo further treatment at the sewage treatment plant and then be discharged to the Oneida River, which flows to Lake Ontario. Lake Ontario is a drinking water source for millions of people in both the U.S. and Canada. All of the wastewater treatment processes will generate significant quantities of sludge requiring disposal.