A few months ago, what is now a clearing of packed gravel along Riverport Road was scrubby, swampy woodland a few hundred yards from the Mississippi River. 

In a year, it could become one of the most advanced wastewater recycling plants in the world, potentially saving billions of gallons of freshwater for future generations. 

On Friday, Oct. 10, Elon Musk’s xAI broke ground on the Colossus Water Recycling Plant. The facility, which could cost more than $80 million, is intended to be the long-term solution to cooling Colossus, xAI’s massive data center, which is located a few hundred yards to the south. 

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The plant is a private sector solution to a long-term regional problem. For more than a decade, local government, the Tennessee Valley Authority and local nonprofit Protect Our Aquifer have discussed a potential greywater plant. There have been multiple plans to build one — just no funding to pay for it. 

That changed when xAI arrived. Early conversations between Memphis Mayor Paul Young, Memphis Light, Gas and Water CEO Doug McGowen and the company centered on xAI’s potential large-scale freshwater use and the local desire to mitigate that. The company agreed to build the plant at its own cost. 

The plant will take wastewater treated at the City of Memphis’ nearby TE Maxson’s Wastewater Treatment Plant and push it through technology known as ceramic membranes. Those membranes — thousands of them — will filter contaminants out of the water and make it usable as an industrial coolant. It will then cool the data center and the TVA Allen Combined Cycle Plant. 

Brent Mayo, xAI’s senior manager for site build and infrastructure, said that the membranes, stacked on top of each other, would be taller than four Empire State Buildings. 

During the groundbreaking, which was attended by four members of the Memphis City Council, TVA CEO Don Moul, McGowen and Greater Memphis Chamber CEO Ted Townsend, no one said Musk’s name aloud, but he was referenced multiple times. 

 “The human that I work for, his ultimate goal and what he believes in, is sustainability. That’s why we have mega packs,” Mayo said. “That’s why we’re building an $80-plus-million-greywater facility.”

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McGowen, who was chief operating officer for the City of Memphis during much of the early efforts to build a water recycling facility, noted that “the principal of the company” had wondered what was taking so long for the community to build a water recycling plant. 

The MLGW CEO said the project will offer a compelling benefit to Memphis now and in the future. 

Nucor Steel out, could potentially serve Colossus 2

Nucor Steel will no longer be part of the project, Mayo and xAI’s Mark Carroll told the media on Friday, Oct. 10. Nucor will continue to discharge its wastewater into the Mississippi River. 

The steel company, which is xAI’s southern neighbor, has long been among the largest local water users. It and TVA had initially committed to the project with xAI. 

Mayo said the facility could also potentially serve Colossus 2, the much larger data center the company is building about 8.5 miles away in Whitehaven, along the Mississippi border. 

How the purified wastewater would get to Colossus 2 remains unclear. One way could be by truck. Another could be for xAI to purchase easements for a water pipeline through much of Southwest Memphis, which could be a difficult undertaking. 

While xAI has worked to minimize water use since arriving in Memphis, residents and environmental activists have raised concerns about the company’s impact on air quality. The company relied on dozens of natural gas turbines to power the initial start-up of its operations at Colossus.

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Those turbines, which operated for about a year without an air emissions permit, contributed further smog-causing chemicals to the region’s already poor air quality. 

The groundbreaking Friday comes after xAI has already sought most of the permits needed for the project. It filed for a building permit for the water recycling facility on Oct. 3. The plant is expected to be completed by the end of 2026, later than expected.

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Before the ceremonial shovels threw dirt Friday, many of the local dignitaries who attended the event in Southwest Memphis praised Mayo, the xAI executive who has become a local fixture during the company’s rapid expansion in Memphis, as well as McGowen, who pushed for the project for years. 

“Doug’s lived a life of service in the military, as a community leader and in the utility industry. Doug was integral in bringing this project together, fostering the types of strategic partnerships that move Memphis forward,” Moul, the TVA CEO, said. “Brent, if you know him, is relentless in making things happen, not just on the business side but also for this community. Brent’s leadership and vision helped expand this facility’s capacity, meaning that other nearby assets like our TVA Allen Power Plant could also use recycled water, further preserving the aquifer.”

Townsend, the Chamber’s CEO, noted the date, Oct. 10, and said that Friday might be the most significant Oct. 10 in the city’s lengthy history, given the project’s long-term environmental impact. 

J. Ford Canale, chairman of the Memphis City Council, said the company’s financial commitment and desire to do the project demonstrates a “deep respect” for Memphis. 

“This is what progress looks like,” Canale said.