"Without new water efficiencies, datacenters across America may require 697 million to 1.45 billion gallons of extra peak water capacity per day by 2030, the study estimates. This compares with New York City's daily water supply of about a billion gallons. Even with the most optimistic projected water use reductions, the new capacity required could amount to half of New York's supply for most of the year."
"A study by researchers at the University of California, Riverside, acknowledges that water is an efficient means of cooling for server farms, which are looking to minimize their power usage. But it warns that the growing water demand will lead to substantial peak withdrawals, which many communities in the US do not have the capacity to supply, particularly during the hottest days of the year."
"Facility-level cooling transfers heat from the facility to the outside environment. This may involve water consumption depending on the technology employed, such as cooling towers that rely on evaporation, or air-cooled systems supplemented by direct evaporation or adiabatic cooling to reduce the peak power demand during the hottest days of the year."
Datacenters use water-based cooling systems to minimize power consumption, but this creates significant peak water demand challenges for U.S. communities. A UC Riverside study warns that without efficiency improvements, datacenters could require 697 million to 1.45 billion gallons of additional peak water capacity daily by 2030—comparable to New York City's entire daily supply. Even with optimistic water reduction projections, required capacity could equal half of New York's supply. The peak demand problem occurs during facility-level cooling, where evaporation-based cooling towers consume millions of gallons daily during hot periods. Many American communities lack infrastructure capacity to supply these peak withdrawals, particularly during extreme heat events.
#datacenter-water-consumption #infrastructure-capacity #cooling-systems #peak-demand-management #water-sustainability
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