Study: 25% of data centers are located in water-scarce areas — ScienceAlert
About 25% of the 9,347 data centers identified worldwide are located in areas where, for at least one month a year, water demand exceeds available supplies. There are 2,315 such facilities, ScienceAlert reports, citing a study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
Water for cooling
The study was conducted by a group of scientists led by a team from the Carnegie Institution for Science in the United States. They compared the locations of data centers with local water supply conditions. Large facilities can consume as much water per day as a city with a population of 50,000. Evaporation is often used for cooling, so freshwater is generally preferred.
Unlike electricity, which can be transmitted over long distances through grids, water for data centers usually has to be obtained locally — from rivers, lakes, or underground aquifers. Its availability may vary depending on the season.
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Competition for local resources
According to the authors of the paper, 41% of data centers worldwide compete directly for water with cities and municipalities. For another 28% of facilities, agriculture is the main use of water in the area. At 523 data centers, accounting for more than 5% of the total, water scarcity is already recorded for at least nine months a year.
The modeling also showed that if the average global temperature rises by 3°C compared with the 1900 level, the share of data centers in water-scarce areas could increase to 33% within ten years or sooner. The largest number of data centers expected to cross this threshold due to warming is projected in the United States, while changes in the United Kingdom and Germany will be minor, according to the model.
The scientists noted that companies do not always disclose the volumes of water consumed by data centers. Among the possible ways to reduce dependence on freshwater, they named the use of wastewater, treated seawater, and improvements to heat removal systems.
