TechUK research suggests that concerns about profligate water use by datacenters in the UK are overblown, after research showed many are not using water for cooling.

The research comes as concern over data resource use continue to ramp. Last week, the UK government’s National Drought Group flagged datacentres’ water consumption and advised consumers to delete photos and emails from online services to ease pressure on cloud providers’ as the UK works it way through drought conditions.

In the foreword to the report, Luisa Cardani, head of the datacentres programme at techUK, said that “Over half of surveyed sites use waterless cooling systems, and nearly 90% either measure water use or deploy systems that do not require water for cooling.”

Data centres not water-intensive

This means, she claimed, that “Contrary to some public perceptions, commercial data centres in England are not intensive water users. But as climate pressures mount and digital demand grows, continued vigilance and innovation will be essential.”

The report acknowledged that “Water use has entered the public debate, as data centres sometimes use water to cool hardware, and operators face a trade-off between energy use and water use, as today’s waterless cooling systems require more energy.”

At the same time, “digital solutions” enabled by datacentres could support innovation to improve water management.

The survey covered 80 datacentre sites, and suggests that “in England, commercial data centres are not intensive water users.”

See also: Queen Mary updates HPC data centre to liquid cooling, hot showers; says cloud too pricey

The main use of water within a datacentre comes through traditional evaporative cooling. But just 5 percent of companies responding relied on water-based cooling, with 44 percent using a hybrid of air, water and refrigerant cooling.  And 51 percent were “waterless”.

Just under two thirds used less than 10,000 cubic meters of water a year, which is apparently similar to a Premier League football club, while 4 percent use more than 100,000 cubic meters year per year.

By comparison, England’s golf courses, use 490m3 a day over the summer, while 3 million m3 of water per day is lost to leakage across England and Wales.

So, when it comes to internal water use, the picture seems not as bad as it is painted.

However, the majority of water use attributed to datacentres is actually down to the generation of the electricity they consume. And there’s little prospect of that hunger for power abating any time soon.

And the survey captures just a slice of the UK’s data centre capacity, with estimates of the country's total datacentre fleet ranging from 400 to 500. Arguably there is plenty of server capacity – which still needs cooling – that is not captured by that figure.

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