Data Centers and Water Consumption

This article is the second in a series on the environmental impacts of data centers. Click here to read the first article on data center energy use. 

Highlights:

• Data center developers are increasingly tapping into freshwater resources to quench the thirst of data centers, which is putting nearby communities at risk.
• Large data centers can consume up to 5 million gallons per day, equivalent to the water use of a town populated by 10,000 to 50,000 people.
• With larger and new AI-focused data centers, water consumption is increasing alongside energy usage and carbon emissions.
• Novel technologies like direct-to-chip cooling and immersion cooling can reduce water and energy usage by data centers.