xAI clean water recycling plant

At a glance

Based on auto-generated captions; names and details may be misheard.

What: a wastewater recycling plant being built for the xAI (SpaceX AI) data center site to cut its use of Memphis aquifer water.
Where it stands: at the 10/19/2026 Planning & Zoning hearing, Madden of MLGW said it would reduce aquifer demand by about 10 million gallons a day. Spinosa read from a letter to the council dated September 14, 2026 reaffirming the commitment.
Next: the letter says work resumes no later than January 2027 (Spinosa and Madden both referred to a start at the beginning of 2027).

The letter, as read, states a 280 million dollar investment at no cost to the city, a plant designed to process up to 10 million gallons of wastewater a day, offsetting more than 3.6 billion gallons a year from the aquifer, with piling, foundation and water tank work under way and 80 million dollars already spent on equipment.
A speaker said the site's contract allows 1.28 million gallons a day, so spare capacity could be sold to other users such as TVA or other industry; that would be a deal between those parties, not MLGW.
Waldron noted Memphis sends about 150 million gallons a day of treated wastewater to the Mississippi River, so supply is ample, and that recycled water needs a separate piping system, so plants near the source are cheapest to serve. Canale asked how industries elsewhere could pull river water; Waldron said they would need well permits through the health department.

About 6 minutes across 1 meeting (from transcript timestamps; approximate).

Meeting	Minutes
2026-10-19 - Planning & Zoning	6

2026-10-29 - Planning & Zoning- Data Center Legislation Discussion Meeting - Described as a $250 to $300 million xAI-built plant; no contract requires it, but a city land contract allows the land to be reclaimed if it is not built. (from auto-captions)
2026-10-19 - Planning & Zoning — Plant discussed as an aquifer-saving measure; the chair read parts of the September 14 letter into the record.