AI Demand Fuels Soaring Data Center Water Use

The demand for data centres is being fuelled by AI growth, which is subsequently increasing water consumption

The computing apparatus in data centres is cooled using water. According to FT, water usage in Virginia, which is home to the world’s largest concentration of data centres, increased by nearly two-thirds between 2019 and 2023, from 1.13 billion gallons to 1.85 billion gallons.

Many contend that the trend, which is currently underway on a global scale, is unsustainable. According to Microsoft, a significant data centre operator, 42% of the water it devoured in 2023 was sourced from “areas with water stress.” Google, which maintains one of the largest data centre footprints, disclosed this year that 15% of its freshwater withdrawals originated from regions with “high water scarcity.”

Why is it impossible for data centres to recycle water in a closed-loop system? Although numerous individuals do so, a significant portion of their intake is designated for humidity regulation, which results in evaporation.

Air that is not humidified can become a strong conductor of static electricity, which is typically detrimental to computers, particularly in arid regions.