There are lots of places where the only impediment to additional usable water is simply building a facility to treat more water, facilities which these AI data center owners are themselves paying for (usually indirectly via a bill from the water utility). The article also doesn’t mention any reasons whatsoever why water usage is an issue. It isn’t like dehydrating crops in the Sahara will be impacted by water cooled data centers in Columbus, OH.
Because many cities are already draining aquifers which aren’t being replenished due to the lower rains and higher demand, and once those are gone, both servers and people will be absolutely fucked?
I was wondering about this. Why wouldn’t it be closed loop? My buddies and I allegedly built a moonshine still in high school and the coiled pipe or hose coming out the top recondenses the liquid that boils off. Why not do something similar and pump the hot water under snow covered sidewalks to melt them and then send it back to the data center to get heated again once it has lost enough heat?
There are lots of places where the only impediment to additional usable water is simply building a facility to treat more water, facilities which these AI data center owners are themselves paying for (usually indirectly via a bill from the water utility). The article also doesn’t mention any reasons whatsoever why water usage is an issue. It isn’t like dehydrating crops in the Sahara will be impacted by water cooled data centers in Columbus, OH.
Because many cities are already draining aquifers which aren’t being replenished due to the lower rains and higher demand, and once those are gone, both servers and people will be absolutely fucked?
Generally true and that’s why I often read these articles scratching my head. Make them closed loop! They almost always use chillers…
Water use becomes a concern if the water is moved too far and/or too fast like your Sahara example.
I was wondering about this. Why wouldn’t it be closed loop? My buddies and I allegedly built a moonshine still in high school and the coiled pipe or hose coming out the top recondenses the liquid that boils off. Why not do something similar and pump the hot water under snow covered sidewalks to melt them and then send it back to the data center to get heated again once it has lost enough heat?
Evaporative cooling. Low cost.
If it’s a closed loop system is there anything better than water that can be used?
Milk :D Build a heat pasteurization plant next to your data center and you can use the server heat for something productive.