this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2023
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We don’t know how much water data centers use. We just know it’s a lot

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (15 children)

Why would a data center need to continously consume water to cool itself? Leaks?

[–] TenderfootGungi 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Evaporative coolers are cheap. It can be done with non-evaporative coolers, but is far more expensive to build.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Not to mention a much higher carbon footprint.

The reason evaporative coolers are cheap is because they use a fraction of the electricity that chillers do.

And note that the majority of data center water usage is indirect via power generation, so using less water on site but more indirectly by consuming more power is both more expensive and less efficient.

Unfortunately, evaporative coolers are the best way to go, for now.

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