Concerns are being raised again about the environmental impact of data centers in the US state of Virginia, claiming their water use has increased by almost two-thirds since 2019 and that AI could make this even worse.
Virginia is called the data center capital of the world, especially Northern Virginia – as reported by The Register As we know, there are supposed to be around 300 facilities there.
According to the Financial Times, Bit Barns’ water consumption in some areas has increased significantly by almost two-thirds over the past five years. Citing data collected through Freedom of Information requests, the newspaper claims that more than 1.85 billion US gallons were used in 2023, up from 1.13 billion gallons in 2019.
These figures come from water authorities in Northern Virginia in Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William and Fauquier counties.
Water is typically used for cooling in data centres, and the FT points to concerns about the expected increase in demand for computing infrastructure due to artificial intelligence, which is power-intensive, particularly in the processing used to train large models. Some existing facilities have been reported to be located in water-scarce regions, including parts of Virginia suffering from drought.
The region’s data center ecosystem is already experiencing significant growth, with industry association Northern Virginia Technology Council reporting a five-fold increase in capacity between 2015 and 2023.
Previously, concerns were raised that data centers in Virginia would consume land, electricity and water resources. A number of organizations supporting climate change and historic preservation formed the Virginia Data Center Reform Coalition in late 2023 over concerns that data centers would be built without considering the impacts, according to a report by Grist, a media organization that covers environmental issues.
It claimed that drinking water consumption by data centers served by the Loudoun Water Utility increased by more than 250 percent between 2019 and 2023 and that water use peaks in the summer months when the risk of drought is highest.
Not everyone agrees. Michael Lesniak of water utility Aquatech commented on the FT article in a LinkedIn post, claiming that most data centers in Loudoun County use recycled wastewater that would otherwise be discharged into the Chesapeake Bay. He also claimed that most new facilities do not use water for cooling.
The larger bit stable operators like AWS have certainly committed to doing something about water consumption. Back in 2022, AWS announced its intention to achieve positive water consumption by 2030.
However, Microsoft admitted last year that water consumption at its facilities had increased by a third, attributing this to the boom in generative AI adoption.
And this isn’t just a problem in the US. Last year, controversial British water utility Thames Water announced that it was considering measures to force data centre operators in its catchment area to reduce their water consumption, including installing flow restrictors or charging higher rates at peak times. ®
