DATA CENTRES AND THE WATER CRISIS

[Oscar]

DATA CENTRES AND THE WATER CRISIS

by Sandra Steingraber, Ted Schettler, and Carolyn Raffensperger, the Science and Environmental Health Network

August 15, 2025

EXCERPT: "The water impacts of data centers are inextricably linked with their energy needs.

Data centers are energy intensive, requiring 15-100 times more electrical power per square foot than typical commercial buildings. Most of this energy is provided by the electricity grid that is used to power the servers and digital storage equipment themselves. However, some of it is used to push water to the data centers and, indirectly, to treat the water discharged by them.

An average-sized data center consumes 300,000 gallons of water every day, the equivalent of 1,000 residential homes. Large hyperscale data centers consume far more than this. This water consumption takes place both on site and off site and has four components. . . . ."

[ https://www.sehn.org/sehn/2025/8/14/dat ... 3A02%3A28Z ]

[Oscar]

Alberta’s tech sector is embracing an AI data centre boom. Will it pay off?

By Madison McLauchlan - June 2, 2025 . . . .

EXCERPT: "In Alberta, a new long-term vision is afoot: to shape the province not only into a destination for AI development, but the backbone of the nation’s AI infrastructure.

As the provincial government moves forward on an ambitious $100-billion plan to build AI data centres, local tech leaders are enthusiastic. They say the projects will lead to company creation, reinforce control over Canadian data, and build on the tech sector’s momentum. But these proposed projects, which are multi-year efforts, could potentially strain the province’s electrical grid and significantly drive up carbon emissions. . . . ."

[ https://betakit.com/albertas-tech-secto ... t-pay-off/ ]