Data Centres Use Water

With the internet and data centres being the biggest growth industry in the uk electrical demand is continuing to drive climate change.

Data centres use water.

In 2019 alone google requested or was granted more than 2 3 billion gallons of water for data centers in three different states according to public records posted online and legal filings. The project to use grey water in atlanta is part of google s broader program to reduce the impact of its data centers on the environment and local community. The covid 19 pandemic has added 20 growth to data centres in the past. The company has also.

In 2014 data centers were responsible for 2 percent of all electricity consumed in the us according to the recent government study. Some data centers collect rainwater and use it as a secondary or supplemental water supply. By far the largest opportunity for direct water savings in the data center. Data centers can do that first and most obviously by using less water.

Data centers will most likely come to adopt a mixture of traditional and alternative cooling methods while the location of data centers may come to be a major issue in the coming years. Generation of electricity however is a major water consumer and data centers use a lot of electricity. Wue water usage effectiveness is a metric developed by the green grid to help data centers measure how much water a facility uses for cooling and other building needs. With wue the issue of a source based versus site based metric must be considered.

Google declined to say how much water the company s data centers use but said that the company redesigns its cooling technology on average about every 12 to 18 months. Add to that worldwide water scarcity and rising investor concern about companies data center water use and the end result is a very clear and immediate need for data centers to use less water. Water use associated with the data center is a complex topic at many levels. Together data centre specialist professor ian bitterlin and water pump manufacturer wilo uk have identified how chilled water pumps could be key to improving energy and water usage.

In these cases a data center operator pumps the source water through a heat exchanger. Building data centers in locations with cooler climates or close to sources of cold water could help to significantly increase energy efficiency as well as.