The proposed and opposed Tulsa County Data Center (click here for previous story) will require massive amounts of water, a precious resource Oklahoma has suffered without historically. Tulsans in particular, have invested huge amounts of public funds over decades to secure long-term access to water.

Online research returns a wide range of perspectives of Data Center water usage and the 500 acre Tulsa County project suffers from nondisclosure agreements which limit details the community should know. County Commissioner Stan Sallee (Dist. 1) asserts that additional information will be delivered in a public meeting this coming Wednesday July 16th, but in advance, Tulsa Today suggests a comprehensive guide for public consideration.

The “Data Center Water Usage: A Comprehensive Guide” is maintained online by Dgtl Infra at this link and begins:

Data centers are significant consumers of natural resources, and while carbon emissions and electricity consumption often capture most attention, water usage is also gaining increased recognition. Water is essential in data center cooling systems to control the heat produced by these massive facilities, ensuring their internal servers run uninterrupted 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Data centers use large amounts of water for their cooling systems, which include cooling towers, chillers, pumps, pipes, heat exchangers, condensers, and computer room air handler (CRAH) units. Additionally, data centers need water for their humidification systems and facility maintenance.

Globally, data centers are located in all different types of countries and climates, including many data center facilities in water-stressed regions prone to droughts. According to the United Nations, by 2025, 50% of the world’s population is projected to live in water-stressed areas, making data center water usage a key environmental area to prioritize change.

Dgtl Infra provides a comprehensive analysis of data center water usage, detailing their annual consumption and specific water-related metrics. Furthermore, we offer a thorough examination of water sustainability initiatives undertaken by leading global data center operators, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft, Google, Facebook (now Meta Platforms), and Apple.

Click here for more from Dgtl Infra.com on water usage in data centers.