According to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, water covers approximately 71% of the Earth’s surface. Less than 1% of that water is accessible and suitable for use in drinking, agriculture and industrial applications.
Although water is one of our scarcest resources, data centers use a lot of water for cooling and power generation. That’s why investing in more effective heat management and energy efficiency solutions is essential for minimizing data centers’ massive impact and creating a more environmentally friendly future.
Why Do Data Centers Need Water?
Data centers generate enormous quantities of waste heat. In the past, this heat was usually managed using air cooling techniques like hot and cold aisle containment and strategically placed cooling fans.
Today, those requirements have changed significantly. Because chilled water cooling systems are more efficient than air conditioning or fan systems, incorporating these techniques into your facility can help prevent heat buildup and improve energy efficiency.
Some of the biggest drivers for increased water usage in data centers include:
New hardware: New servers and computer chips have higher transistor densities that require more computing power than previous models. As a result, air cooling alone is no longer sufficient for modern data centers.
Higher operating temperatures: New data center equipment can withstand higher temperatures for longer, which allows facilities to safely operate at temperatures between 59 and 89.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
Loss of server density: As servers become increasingly larger and more spread out, data centers need to figure out how to expand their heat sinks and install more fans. Water cooling can help improve heat removal and energy efficiency, even if the data center gradually implements it.
How Do Data Centers Use Water?
The specific cooling system a data center uses will depend on the facility size, rack layout and other needs. Some of the water-based temperature control systems that data centers use to cool their facilities include:
Rear-door water cooling: Equipment fans draw ambient air into a cabinet, passing it over a heat exchanger matrix that transfers the thermal energy into the refrigerant. Because the cooling unit connects to the water main line, the cycle can continue until the room reaches the desired temperature.
Evaporative cooling: This technique uses a large fan to pull warm air through a series of water-saturated pads. The air cools as the water in the pads evaporates and leaves the room, and the cycle continues.
Waterborne data centers: In some circumstances, the company will build a floating data center on a barge in the ocean or another large body of water. The data center can then pull water from its surroundings to cool its equipment and return it to the environment after use.
Additionally, some manufacturers are developing new products with features specifically designed for water cooling. Thermal design will likely continue to improve as computing intensity rises, leading to a greater need for effective cooling technologies.
How Much Water Do Data Centers Use?
The data center industry is one of the top commercial water consumers in the United States. According to the latest estimates, U.S. data centers consume more than 400 million gallons of water each day.
That number is several times the amount a hundred thousand homes use in a year. Most of a data center’s water supply goes to direct cooling applications, while the rest goes to generating electricity to power the data center, or indirect cooling.
The relationship between data centers and water usage is typically linear, as larger data centers with more advanced equipment will naturally require more cooling than smaller, more conventional ones. However, the following factors can have a significant impact on how much water your data center needs to function properly:
Data center location: Depending on the local climate, your data center may have higher or lower cooling requirements.
Server rack organization: The more server racks you have, and the closer they are together, the higher your facility’s cooling needs will be.
Emergency equipment: Fire suppression systems and emergency showers require a reliable water supply to minimize damage in the event of an emergency.
Water quality: Poor water quality in your cooling systems makes it difficult to reuse water without damaging or even destroying equipment. As a result, you need to consume more than a center with treated water would.
Staff needs: Your employees also use water for basic needs such as bathrooms and break rooms. While this usage is significantly smaller than that of the rest of your facility, it’s still a key consideration.
Important Environmental Considerations for Data Center Water Usage
Data centers draw the water they need from 90% of the nation’s watersheds, which can have a serious impact on nearby communities and ecosystems.
Consider Google’s data centers in The Dalles, Oregon. Over a period of five years, the center’s water requirements tripled — by 2023, the campus used more than a quarter of the city’s total water consumption.
That data center’s usage is expected to rise over the coming years, which is likely to harm nearby wildlife and source water streams if it exceeds a certain threshold.
Sustainability Practices and Future Trends
As technology continues to evolve, data centers are finding new ways to make their operations more sustainable. Some of the most promising trends to watch include:
Live monitoring: A system that tracks and reports on water usage in real time can help you understand your current requirements, which is essential for optimizing your data center cooling system’s efficiency.
Automated controllers: Combined with a real-time monitoring solution, advanced controllers can automatically feed treatment chemicals into the water cooling system to ensure it maintains its high level of function.
Heat reuse: Capturing waste heat and redirecting it to other nearby applications, like heating greenhouses and public buildings, can help reduce your center’s global warming potential — especially when used in conjunction with liquid cooling.
Water treatment: Treating your data center’s water removes impurities that could cause issues such as corrosion and scale buildup. You can then reuse that water multiple times, boosting your data center’s energy efficiency and reducing your environmental footprint.
As supercomputing applications such as artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing continue to improve, data center water consumption will continue to rise — experts predict AI servers will use as much as 6.6 billion cubic meters of water annually by 2027.
Choose Chardon Laboratories to Service Your Data Center’s Water Cooling Systems
If you’re looking for a custom data center water treatment solution, the experts at Chardon Labs can help you design one that meets your data center’s specific requirements. We’ll consider your needs and service level agreements at every step of the design process.
With our ISO 9000-certified service team, your data center can count on us to deliver high-quality results without excessive disruption. We also deliver all water treatment chemicals and safely dispose of the containers, so you can focus on getting back to work.
Matt Welsh is the Vice President and Water Consultant at Chardon Labs. He helps consult a wide range of customers utilizing various methods of water treatment, from chemical to chemical-free approaches, large and small applications, and across a wide range of geographical influences. With 20 years of water treatment experience, including a wide range of troubleshooting and service in potable water and non-potable HVAC and industrial applications, he is an expert in water treatment chemistry for cooling towers, boilers, and closed-loop systems.
