As AI guzzles water and energy, we are facing a choice: datacentres or homes?
theguardian.comFear mongering as usual meanwhile much worse uses of water get largely ignored.
Coca-Cola has a license for 1.59bn litres a year in Sidcup and 377m litres a year in Morpeth. Sources ALMA can take up to 1.5bn litres from Armathwaite. Nestle 880m litres in Derbyshire and Pembrokeshire. Schwarz with 700m litres also in Derbyshire. Danone 460m litres a year in Harrogate. Highland Spring 1.85bn litres from Speyside Glenlivet. The list goes on.
And thats water that by large a sizeable amount is getting bottled up and exported abroad, leaving the system. A bit of evaporative cooling for a data center is going right back into the cycle of things, it isnt lost water.
A bit of evaporative cooling for a data center is going right back into the cycle of things, it isnt lost water.
Agreed on everything you said, just adding that most data-centers are closed loop cooling and I have been in countless data-centers, some of the biggest in the US. I agree that data-center water usage pales in comparison to soft drinks which by themselves are a net negative to human health.