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Data Center Operators Are Trying to Patch Their Water Tap Problems
Compiled by KHAO Editorial — aggregated from 1 source + 4 references discovered via search. See llms.txt for citation guidance.
◎ Multiple-sources
On Monday, SpaceX amended its initial public offering to state that water conditions—including water scarcity, regulations around water, and drought—could constrain data center development.
Key facts
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory predicted in a 2024 report that hyperscale data centers could consume up to 33 billion gallons of water by 2030 if they relied heavily on evaporative cooling
- Google’s arguments line up with new research from Ren and his team, who found that if all data centers in the US were to adopt some kind of evaporative cooling during peak demand, it could free up
- That’s on par or even less than other thirsty industries, like agriculture or oil and gas—a single fracked well can use 1.5 to 16 million gallons of water—but it poses a risk in regions where water
- In April, Google defended evaporative cooling for areas with what it called “abundant” water European Union as necessary for developing truly sustainable data centers
Summary
It isn’t the only tech company trying to assess how water scarcity might impact its business. Data centers primarily use water to cool server racks, which throw off massive amounts of heat. Using more water can save money and reduce emissions for big tech companies by reducing the power needed for cooling that relies on energy-intensive pumps to recirculate water. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory predicted in a 2024 report that hyperscale data centers could consume up to 33 billion gallons of water by 2030 if they relied heavily on evaporative cooling.