Even that is overblown and based somewhat on misinformation. Most data centers are closed loop systems and really don’t use all that much water. When they’re built, they get like a swimming pool’s worth of water and then can go years without needing anymore. The estimates you hear in headlines and news articles are 90% hyperbole and alarmism. There are ones that use evaporative cooling, but they’re not standard and usually aren’t built in places with water shortages. There are exceptions like that monstrosity O’Leary is trying to build in Utah.
Most data centers are closed loop systems and really don’t use all that much water. When they’re built, they get like a swimming pool’s worth of water and then can go years without needing anymore.
This is by far the absolute fucking dumbest thing I have ever read on this website. I cannot comprehend how utterly fucking stupid it is.
Approximately 80% of the water (typically freshwater) withdrawn by data centers evaporates, with the remaining water discharged to municipal wastewater facilities.
YTO 40, a data centre being built in the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke [Ontario], was approved to use up to 39.75 litres of water per second for cooling purposes, according to planning documents submitted to the city.
But according to Microsoft, its new Canadian data centres will only use a fraction of that amount, because of design features that allow them to be cooled using outdoor air and recycled rainwater.
So you’re choosing to believe MICROSOFT instead of actual legislation proving how much water they are consuming per day?
Fair enough, thank you for providing such solid sources, that’s rare these days and pretty refreshing. My mistake looks like it stems from newer designs which ARE closed-loop, but aren’t being widely adopted since they require more power. In a perfect world, these would be the norm and the increased power would simply be covered by wind/solar/nuclear, but we don’t live in a perfect world.
AI being bad.
You might want to get outraged when your drinking water runs out.
Even that is overblown and based somewhat on misinformation. Most data centers are closed loop systems and really don’t use all that much water. When they’re built, they get like a swimming pool’s worth of water and then can go years without needing anymore. The estimates you hear in headlines and news articles are 90% hyperbole and alarmism. There are ones that use evaporative cooling, but they’re not standard and usually aren’t built in places with water shortages. There are exceptions like that monstrosity O’Leary is trying to build in Utah.
This is by far the absolute fucking dumbest thing I have ever read on this website. I cannot comprehend how utterly fucking stupid it is.
https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/data-centers-and-water-consumption
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2304.03271
Would you like to try your comment again, or is ignorance an inherited trait of yours?
Here’s another one.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/ai-data-centre-canada-water-use-9.6939684
So you’re choosing to believe MICROSOFT instead of actual legislation proving how much water they are consuming per day?
Fair enough, thank you for providing such solid sources, that’s rare these days and pretty refreshing. My mistake looks like it stems from newer designs which ARE closed-loop, but aren’t being widely adopted since they require more power. In a perfect world, these would be the norm and the increased power would simply be covered by wind/solar/nuclear, but we don’t live in a perfect world.