As the scale of data centers have grown, so has their water usage. Hyperscale data centers can require vast amounts of water, both onsite and offsite.
Data centers generate a lot of heat, and use water onsite for cooling. The amount of water consumed onsite depends on how the data center is cooled. A hyperscale data center using evaporative cooling can use more than 365 million gallons of water a year, equivalent to what 12,000 Americans use in that time. Closed loop cooling is less water intensive, but requires much more energy usage.
Data centers also use lots of water offsite, due to their intense energy demand. Coal, gas, and nuclear power plants are some of the larger water consumers in the state, because cooling a power plant uses a lot of water. On the other hand, data centers powered by renewable energy have very little offsite water usage, because renewables do not use water!
How Can I Voice My Concerns?