FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — Computers and water don’t usually mix, but a new data center in southeast Fort Wayne requires both.
Fort Wayne City Council on Tuesday approved spending more than $8 million to construct sewer lines and extend water mains to support Google’s new data center, known as “Project Zodiac.”
“One of them is for water and one is for sewer,” said Michael Keister, engineering manager for the City of Fort Wayne Public Works. “They come to us and tell us their water needs, and we size the water and sewer pipes based on that capacity.”
City officials said this will not only increase sufficient sewer and water capacity for the new data center, but will also benefit future development.
“We’re actually scaling up our infrastructure so that we have excess capacity for future growth,” Keister said.
However, the city will not bear the entire cost.
“The great news is that Google has compensated quite a bit and then some,” said 2nd Ward City Councilman Russ Jehl.
Google worked with the city to get rebates from both projects, making it easier for the city to pay for them.
“We’re paying roughly a few million dollars of that, but Google is only investing $5 million on the wastewater side and just over $1 million on the water side.”
Work on both projects will begin this year.
The city also said the project is a win for neighbors who will be affected by the greater sharing of wastewater and water capacity required by Google.
