[dnw]

I had some questions in my mind about DCs using closed loop systems and read the article a little. In case anyone else also has similar thoughts: —-

The company said its water consumption was so high last year because of temporary construction-related activities, such as concrete work, dust control and site preparation. Once operational, the company said the data centers only will use water for domestic needs, such as bathrooms and kitchens. That will total the equivalent of what four U.S. households use per month, the spokesperson said. That may not happen for another few years, however. The company is still actively building and expanding its Fayetteville data center campus. It aims to finish in three to five years.

——

[Neywiny]

I was just thinking about this relative to the headlines that datacenters don't consume as much water as we think, so thanks

[culi]

This industry line about closed loop systems not using much water is so pervasive on HN and so wrong. So many people are spreading industry propaganda

First of all, only about 10% of data centers use closed-loop systems. Pointing to a technology that technically exists but is far from standard to represent the entire industry is ridiculous.

Second of all, these facilities do NOT infinitely recycle water. They must regularly "bleed the lines" to remove toxic sludge. The build-up of PFAS is of particular concern. Not to mention the water itself needs to be treated with anti-freezes, anti-fungals, and anticorrosives in order to last multiple cycles.

They also require about 40% more electricity usage. So the trade off is about 70% less water for 40% more electricity and an extremely toxic sludge problem.

TL;DR: closed loop systems are a tiny minority of DCs and their net benefits over open loop are not even clear

[cyanydeez]

I'm sure that's the plan; I'm also sure a MBA will suddenly be in charge of operations and compare their cooling bills with their water bills and conclude it's cheaper to just pump water than run the cooling units.

[alterom]

Will is doing a lot of heavy lifting in this paragraph.