Data centres are gobbling up water they cannot replace – there is a solution

Every Google search, photo upload, or ChatGPT response passes through a bank of high-powered, water-guzzling computers situated at a data centre, writes Muhammad Wakil Shahzad

The total use of water by data centres globally reaches over 560bn litres annually.

Data centres are the invisible engines of our digital world. Every Google search, Netflix stream, cloud-stored photo, or ChatGPT response passes through banks of high-powered computers housed in giant facilities scattered across the globe.

These data centres consume a staggering amount of electricity and increasingly, a surprising amount of water. Unlike the water you use at home, much of the water used in datacentres never returns to the water reuse cycle. This silent drain is drawing concern from environmental scientists. One pre-print study (not yet reviewed by other scientists) from 2023 predicted that by 2027, global AI use could consume more water in a year than half of that used by the UK in the same time.