We’ve been hearing a lot about data centers consuming alarming amounts of water but the situation has reached a dangerous figure.
Experts at the Financial Times have brought to attention how the situation is getting worse and can have dangerous consequences. Each year, more and more data centers pop up and the amount of water they consume is on the rise.
When figures were compared to previous years, it was just shocking to see how big names in the tech world such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft led the pack. Levels have gone up by nearly two-thirds that seen in 2019.
By the next decade, it will pose a serious threat to the world’s natural resources and the arrival of AI is not making things any better. Most computing infrastructure located in Virginia used 1.8 billion gallons of water last year. The trend is similar across different parts of America.
As a whole, data centers continued to consume more and more water, close to 75 billion gallons last year. This is what the capital of the UK uses over four months.
The news is devastating in terms of the effects it will have on the future as the matter keeps getting worse with time as more data centers arrive. Remember, water is used for cooling equipment and it’s not labeled as energy-efficient. Even if companies continue to reclaim it as recycled, the reality is far from it.
For example, we saw search engine giant Google speak about the advantages linked to Generative AI but it went on to admit how the latest effort does come with a cost to the environment. This is water consumption that has gone up by 14 as more water supplies are needed to cool data centers.
Meanwhile, let’s not forget another very important factor here. That is related to electricity supply. Today, data centers are using power supplies equivalent to supplying 6.5 million residences in the country. These figures were attained from Carbon Collective who raised concerns on the issue. Meanwhile, The Bank of America spoke about data centers in the US being the 10th biggest user of water in the country.
Image: DIW-Aigen
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