Water consumption in data centers is skyrocketing due to the demand for AI
The rise of AI is driving up demand for data centers and driving up water consumption.
The demand for data centers is increasing due to the AI growth, which is also increasing water use. (In data centers, water is utilized to cool the computer equipment).
The world's greatest concentration of data centers is located in Virginia, where water usage increased by over two-thirds between 2019 and 2023, from 1.13 billion gallons to 1.85 billion gallons, according to FT. Many claim that the global trend is unsustainable. According to Microsoft, a significant operator of data centers, 42% of the water it used in 2023 came from "areas with water stress." One of the biggest operators of data centers, Google, disclosed this year that 15% of its freshwater withdrawals originated from regions experiencing "high water scarcity."
Why are data centers unable to use a closed-loop system for recycling water? Many do, but a large portion of what they eat evaporates since it is reserved for controlling humidity.
Unhumidated air can become a powerful conductor of static electricity, especially in drier climates, which is typically bad news for computers.
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