Musk’s massive Tesla lithium plant hunts for water in drought-hit Texas
8th January 2025
By: Bloomberg in Mining Weekly

Twenty miles outside Corpus Christi, Texas — an area so dry the local water company distributes shower timers at high school football games — the world’s richest man is nearly done building a lithium refinery that could require as much as eight-million gallons of water per day. In a rare public update on the $1-billion project, Tesla in December said it was starting to test the ability to process lithium through the new factory. But the carmaker still doesn't have a contract for the water needed to operate the facility, presenting a hurdle for CEO Elon Musk’s goal of turning lithium into chemical products used to make electric vehicle batteries.

In 2022, Tesla estimated it would need 400,000 gallons per day to run the lithium plant, rising to 800,000 gallons per day at peak usage. Two years later, a Tesla employee told a consulting firm, Raftelis, that the forecast has spiked to as high as eight-million gallons per day, according to South Texas Water Authority records obtained by Bloomberg News through a public records request. It’s difficult to determine what kind of drain Tesla’s factory would have on the area’s water supply. But the average American family uses about 300 gallons of water per day or 109,500 gallons per year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

For Robstown, which had 3,804 households as of 2023, that would equate to about 1.1-million gallons a day. At the high-end estimate of 8 million gallons per day, Tesla would be using eight times Robstown’s average residential water use. That’s enough water to fill eight ten-foot-deep swimming pools that are nearly the size of a football field, according to the US Geological Survey.

DROUGHT LEVELS
It’s always been dry in this hot corner of South Texas best known for its beaches and energy exports — but there’s even less water to go around today than when Tesla first broke ground in May 2023. The area’s drought status was just upgraded to stage 3 — urgent — meaning turning off non-essential water use across facilities and parks and adding new restrictions on washing cars, watering lawns and operating decorative fountains.

“They’re telling us to take shorter showers and turn the faucet off when we’re brushing our teeth,” said Marie Lucio, a resident of the nearby Lost Creek neighborhood. The area already has frequent problems with water quality, including low pressure and a milky-like tint, and she’s worried the area’s aging water pipes won’t be able to keep up with new demand like the Tesla factory. “We’re not equipped to handle getting water to these industries.”

Even without a water agreement, Tesla has plowed ahead. In true Musk fashion, the billionaire has pushed forward with building other infrastructure and held an event last month showcasing the plant for the community. Musk is known for pushing back against regulations, often saying they slow projects down.

One way he’s been able to expedite projects has been to build factories in Texas’ city buffer zones or unincorporated areas that have fewer rules and government oversight compared with bigger cities. (Boca Chica anyone?) Musk’s Robstown site fits the bill. The factory sits on former farmland in an unincorporated portion of Nueces County in South Texas. The area is industrializing, with the Port of Corpus Christi and other companies buying up space in the area and driving up water needs. Even at the lowest estimated demand, Tesla’s water needs are raising concerns for local residents. “It’s just upsetting that we still give water contracts out when we’re in such dire straits,” said Myra Alaniz, a Nueces County resident who lives just outside of Robstown.

https://www.miningweekly.com/article/musks-massive-tesla-lithium-plant-hunts-for-water-in-drought-hit-texas-2025-01-08#:~:text=Twenty%20miles%20outside%20Corpus%20Christi,gallons%20of%20water%20per%20day.