Why would anyone need to use potable water as a coolant, and why is potable water completely ruined and transformed into grey water by its use as a coolant?
But it doesn't continuously need new water right? If I read the article correctly, it's not just once to fill the cooling system. That's what I don't get, seems hugely expensive and wasteful.
It does to cool it, they put the heat into the ground. Nuclear plants similarly usually use ocean water. Imagine using your tap water for water cooling then it exits into the drain.
Does it really? Cannot there be a separate water system for both operations? For example, for nuclear cooling, there is one pipe network that cools the steam, and another water system that cools the pipe network that cools the steam.