Photo: A data center cooling tower / Rsparks3, Wikimedia Commons / CC0
By: JBizNews Desk 🌎
Artificial-intelligence data centers billed as using “closed-loop” cooling can still draw millions of gallons of water a day, because shedding heat to the outside air trades water against electricity, especially in hot weather, CNBC reported.
Closed loops use little water inside the building. The trade-off comes at the cooling equipment outside, which can use more water on hot days or more electricity to stay dry.
Meta’s planned 1-gigawatt data center in Lebanon, Indiana, could have a water allocation of up to 8 million gallons a day by 2031, according to its law firm, CNBC reported. Meta says that figure is a peak for the hottest days of the year, reached only a few days annually, not an average.
Elon Musk’s xAI Colossus 1 site near Memphis has an allocation of up to 1.28 million gallons a day from Memphis Light, Gas and Water and has not reached it, CNBC reported. Musk’s proposed $80 million water recycling plant for the site was put on hold in April.
For residents weighing a proposed AI campus, the report said, the key numbers are both the peak water allocation and the electricity the site will need.
JBizNews Desk | New York
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