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Widespread Droughts Threaten Data Center Water Usage

When people consider the biggest expense in running a data center, they usually think about the soaring demand for electricity in order to run and cool all those power-thirsty servers and switches. The data center industry  continues to grow—and thereby uses more power each year—because of increasing user demand for high-speed computing and endless storage capability. 

Many people, though, don’t realize how much water data centers may use if they are using evaporative cooling (also known as swamp cooling) or liquid cooling instead of air conditioning (which uses refrigerant) to keep equipment from overheating. 

Data centers have begun to adopt evaporative and liquid cooling for two reasons. The most obvious reason is that water is less expensive than electricity. But a second reason, according to a 2022 Uptime Institute report, is that thermal power levels have increased so rapidly in recent years that air cooling is not as effective in keeping equipment from overheating.

When critical industries such as healthcare and emergency services rely on data center uptime 24/7/365, issues that cause downtime, such as overheating equipment, must be prevented. 

Cities and states often work hard to lure data centers to their communities by offering tax incentives, inexpensive power, a pool of local talent, and a high-quality, low cost of living for employees. The greater Phoenix, Arizona region— ServerLIFT®’s own backyard—has seen data center builds and expansion boom over the last decade plus. In fact, as of 2019, it ranked No. 3 globally for data center power absorption. 

However, as drought conditions worsen or spread, water availability for both households and data centers is decreasing. Locations such as Mesa, Arizona, for example, must weigh the benefits of welcoming the business and revenue generated by building a new data center against the possibility that their water supply simply can’t support the endeavor. 

Unfortunately, the Mesa decision might not be the last tough decision related to the current scarcity of water. Here’s a closer look at how data centers may soon be affected by water sources drying up. 

The reliance on water is growing, not shrinking. 

Just as electricity usage goes up every year, so does data center water consumption. Computing demands continue to intensify, which means data centers are housing higher-powered equipment into smaller and smaller footprints within their facilities. This practice means more overall heat is generated, and that heat gets concentrated into small pockets where air flow might be limited due to the crowded equipment setups. Liquid cooling solutions have a better capacity to dissipate this increased heat than air cooling systems, and are more efficient.

Droughts have put stress on major water supplies.

As of late 2022, it’s estimated that 20 percent of data centers receive water from sources that are under “moderate to high stress.” This figure is concerning, because there are roughly 2,600 data centers in the United States. To put it in perspective, a moderately sized data center may consume more than 300,000 gallons of water every single day! 

That same amount of water could supply 1,000 homes a day, which is why residents of areas with several data centers are starting to push back. It’s easy to understand why the general public views their needs for clean water for drinking, bathing, and washing dishes as more important than data centers operating at full capacity. This means data centers may experience significant pushback from local and state governments in locations suffering from drought or near-drought conditions. 

In some places, this has already happened. Google, for example, endured a two-year battle with South Carolina groups who were concerned about the depletion rate in local aquifers. In 2019, Google blinked and agreed to reduce its groundwater consumption in the affected areas. 

Most data centers don’t have an answer to the problem yet. 

When surveyed, only 16 percent out of 122 data center companies that responded had a plan—or intended to create a plan—for managing the water crisis. Some data centers may not want to draw attention to the issue by bringing it up until they know what they can do to solve it. Others might have made the decision to continue using the water they need without disclosing it to the public. 

It’s only when the problem is viewed from a wider perspective that it comes into focus. While individual data centers can access water relatively cheaply now, that practice may not be a sustainable long-term option if water sources aren’t replenished soon. 

One alternative is to lower water usage and increase electricity-dependent HVAC cooling to compensate. But this complicates matters as this trade-off is operationally more expensive, and what’s worse is that it might not even solve the problem. The power that data centers draw from the energy grid often comes from older power plants that use water to sustain normal operations. Increased data center electricity usage would put even higher demands on the power plants, and the power plants might need more water to meet the demand. However, many power plants in the United States are trying to transition to using wastewater for their operations instead of fresh water, in an effort to lessen their role in using natural water resources.

What might happen next if global droughts continue?

Unfortunately, diminishing residential water supplies are only a fraction of the larger problem. Water depletion around the world is threatening to slow trade and stop the production of goods in some places like in China where some factories have closed their doors because water and electricity are both in short supply. In Europe, some rivers are so low that cargo ships are having trouble traversing their normal routes. Some companies in the United States are now facing the possibility of losing access to their water supplies if the Colorado River dries up further. 

In time the issue may change from how to get the necessary water to the people and businesses that need it to prioritizing who gets water and how much they receive. We may be approaching a time when water rationing is necessary, and some businesses may find that their elected officials have them at a lower priority than others. 

Because data centers are at the heart of nearly every industry, for them, water access would probably not disappear suddenly because of water rationing. But data centers should be creating backup plans and alternative heat dissipation technologies to address water supplies reaching critically low levels. 

They may need to change data center locations, avoid building new facilities in some areas, or choose more expensive sites for their proximity to water over sites that might be favorable under normal conditions. 

Tech giants have begun making public efforts to conserve water.

Meta, Microsoft, and Google, heavyweight consumers of both power and water, have been experimenting with ways to lower their impact on the energy grid for years. This has included partnering closely with renewable energy sources local to their facilities. They’re now making similar efforts with regard to water. 

Each company has pledged that, by 2030, they will be replenishing the water supply at a higher rate than they draw from it. It’s unclear how they plan to do this, but possible solutions include using cooling methods that don’t require as much water and attempting to recycle the water used in their data centers. 

Meta also released a statement saying that they will be “transparent with [their] water data.” Measuring water usage and publicly disseminating that information may seem unnecessary now—only 51 percent of surveyed data centers measure their water usage— but it may become a strong business decision. Transparency could help the public decide whether they support or oppose new data centers opening up in their areas.

With Project Natick, Microsoft decided to bring the data center to the water instead of the water to the data center. They have experimented with submerging data center containers under water at the bottom of the ocean. This is an innovative cooling solution that doesn’t impact above-ground water supplies because the bottom of the ocean is continuously very cold—the average temperature is 39 degrees Fahrenheit or 4 degrees Celsius. This means that heat generated by the equipment is continually dissipated by its frigid environment.

Google has committed to “climate-conscious” cooling in their data centers. They are implementing a three-part strategy. First, Google will work with communities to understand what water resources are available, and they will be transparent about their water usage. Second, Google wants to replenish community water resources with 120 percent of the water their data centers use. And third, the company is now developing new water-cooling technologies to use less water (as much as a 50 percent reduction). 

One missing element in these commitments to lower water consumption is a plan to open facilities deliberately near large water supplies rather than near their customers. This indicates that, for now, even the mega-corporations that could theoretically afford to experiment with alternative facility locations still deem it a better business decision to stay near the customers rather than branch out for the sake of the water supply. It will be interesting to see in the coming months and years whether that decision changes if water supplies continue to dwindle.

ServerLIFT® is committed to environmentally-friendly practices. With deep cycle, commercial-grade batteries that can last for days without recharging, even our powered ascenseurs de centre de données are designed so that they contribute minimally to power usage in data centers. To find out more, contact our Client Support team today. 

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