Data center water scam

Data gets hot. Computer servers get hot. They need to be cooled. There is a direct correlation between the amount of energy a server or data center is using and the amount of water required to keep it cool. “On average, between one to nine liters of water are evaporated during the cooling process of one kilowatt hour (kWh), measuring the amount of energy needed to power one machine that consumes 1,000 watts for one hour,” Maxim Melamedov wrote for Data Center Dynamics in 2024.

With AI, this digital thirst is surging. Our data is drinking more water than we do. Why does data need to drink so much water? Because, despite there being a global freshwater crisis, water is sold to Big Tech at super-cheap rates. Thus, it can be up to 10 times cheaper for Big Tech to choose water as a cooling agent versus other options.

If you look at the back of some fridge freezers you will find piping running back and forth. A server rack can have the same type of intricate and extensive piping, down which water—or other liquids—flow. As the servers hum, their heat is transferred through these pipes into the water. When the water reaches a certain temperature, it moves along the piping out of the server room and into what is called a cooling tower. There, the pipes are sprayed by other water to cool them down. So, there are two sets of water involved, one that is in the pipes and one that is in the cooling tower, and they don’t mix. As the water is sprayed on the pipes in the cooling tower, much of it evaporates. This is what is called evaporate cooling. As the water evaporates, it leaves behind a waste made up of minerals, metals and salt. Historically, data center water systems had been known as a source for Legionnaires’ disease. To avoid such infectious risks, chlorine and bromine-based chemicals and disinfectants are added. Bromine is highly toxic for living systems, targeting the nervous system and brain. Even with chemical treatment, the water in these pipes cannot be used endlessly, as data center expert Steven Gonzalez explained to me:

“As water is being warmed and flowing through these data centers, microorganisms flourish in these conditions. That is one reason why data centers turn to drinking water because that water has already to some degree been treated, so there is less of a risk of these microbial blooms happening. For the same microbial reason, the water can’t be endlessly recycled. It has to be dumped or returned to the sewers because even with reverse-osmosis filters and other techniques, these microbes will flourish.”

It is important to understand that we are only scratching the surface of data center demand for water, energy and other materials. A tsunami would not sate the big mouth of Big Tech. And be certain that, as water gets scarcer, Big Tech will be first in line to drink its fill. We are only at the beginning of the age of Big Tech’s hunger for atoms.