A data center like Meta’s, which was completed last year, typically guzzles around 500,000 gallons of water a day. New data centers built to train more powerful A.I. are set to be even thirstier, requiring millions of gallons of water a day
I naively assumed these were closed loops. Where does the water go? I would think it just gets warm and does not evaporate.
There are a few common cooling technologies that use a semi-closed loop, not completely closed.
It's a recycled loop of water with loss. Structures such as cooling towers mist the cooling water over a waterfall-like system with fans blowing over it. They use make-up supplies from municipal water to refill evaporative losses and provide "free" cooling.
There are also heat exchanges that mist water over the air it pulls in to lower the air temperature. Data centers use these all the time.
Look into adiabatic cooling.
For something truly shocking look into "once through cooling". It's being/been phased out but is a disgusting waste of water.
Reminds me of the time the backup generators at my colocation provider overheated during a power outage. The reason? The fire at the nearby substation needed a lot of water to cool off the electrical fire and the generators were cooled open loop off the same potable water system. SRE has to cast a wide net to be effective!
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Look into adiabatic cooling.
For something truly shocking look into "once through cooling". It's being/been phased out but is a disgusting waste of water.
Yes AI is wasteful, but if they couldn't get water they wouldn't build there.