Water is required to answer your question to an AI chatbot. You may ask, what does water have to do with my question? Actually there is a deep connection between these two. Chatbots depend on the server to answer your questions. These servers are stored in a large data center, which requires billions of liters of water to keep them cool. If we understand from an example, Google used 22.7 billion liters of water to keep its data center cool in 2023. This water is equal to the entire requirement of a small city. It is also a matter of concern that the number of data centers is increasing every year and along with it the need for water to keep them cool is also increasing. Protests are also going on in many countries regarding this. In today’s explainer, we will know why the number of data centers is increasing and why water is needed to keep them cool.
What are data centres?
Computer servers are required to run Internet and AI services. Data centers are built to house these computer servers. These can be spread over several acres and contain huge servers. Heat is generated due to their continuous running. If the heat increases, the systems installed in them may get overheated and get damaged and the entire server will crash. To prevent this, the data center is kept cool and water is used for this.
Have data centers started being built now?
It is not that data centers have started being built now. Data centers have been present for many years, but now with the advent of Artificial Intelligence, their number has increased rapidly. Now large data centers have become necessary for global digital infrastructure, large language models, generative AI apps, real-time analytics and cloud-based machine learning services etc. In view of the advancement in AI, every country is emphasizing on building data centers. According to a report by the US Department of Energy in 2024, the energy spent in data centers has increased three times in the last decade and it may increase by another 2-3 times by 2028.
Why does a data center need water?
AI infrastructure and especially large data centers require water for their operations. Cooling systems designed to manage the heat generated by high-performance computing run on water. Broadly speaking, water is required in two ways in a data center.
Data Center Cooling System- The direct use of water in AI infrastructure is for data center cooling. Cooling towers are built in big data centers, where heat is dissipated through steam. Lakhs of liters of water is used daily in this process. This cost increases further in hot and humid weather. Advanced systems use liquid cooling, in which a pipe filled with water or dielectric fluid is placed near a heat-generating component. This improves thermal efficiency, but the cost of water is also high here.
Need of water for energy generation- Apart from direct cooling, data centers also need water. Actually, to power these data centers, electricity is required, which is produced from water only. Even today, many technologies for generating electricity are completely dependent on water. This increases the challenge in those areas where water has to be supplied for agriculture and people’s needs.
How much water do data centers use?
According to a report, large data centers can use 5 million gallons of water daily. Due to this, drinking water problems have started in many areas. It is estimated that by 2028, large data centers will consume 16-33 billion gallons of water annually. In such a situation, in areas where big data centers have been built or are being built, there may be problems ranging from drinking water to ground water.
Where are most data centers?
America has the largest number of data centers compared to any other country in the world. Many companies have data centers here in Northern Virginia, Texas, Arizona and California. Northern Virginia is called the hub of data centers. Talking about Europe, many companies are setting up data centers in countries like Ireland and Netherlands due to cold weather, sufficient amount of water and access to renewable energy. Ireland is emerging as a new data center hub and its impact is already visible. In the cities where data centers are being built, most of the water and electricity supply is going to these data centers away from the people, after which the administration has had to take steps at its level.
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