Water has become one of the most talked about subjects in data centres, and much of the conversation is loud. Some headlines treat every data centre as a problem to be stopped. That isn't our view, and it isn't a useful one for anyone making real decisions.
Here is how we think about it.
Water is local, carbon is global
A tonne of carbon has the same effect wherever it is emitted. A litre of water does not. Drawing water in a region with plenty of it is a very different decision from drawing the same amount in a region under stress, or during a drought.
That is why water may become one of the deciding factors in where data centres get built over the next few years. It is also why the answer can never be the same everywhere.
Nothing is good or bad in the abstract
We don't believe any cooling technology or design is good or bad on its own. What matters is whether it is the right choice for that place, at that time, for that workload. Liquid cooling, air cooling, closed loop systems and heat reuse all have their place. Each also has trade offs.
What we want is data.
Three questions to ask
First, understand the location. What is the water situation in that region now, and what is it likely to be over the life of the facility?
Second, understand your scope and boundaries. Are you measuring the facility alone, or the water behind the energy that powers it too? The answer can change the picture completely.
Third, check you are choosing the right technology for that place, at the right time, and measuring the right things.
If you can answer those questions openly, you can have a grown up conversation about water with regulators, communities and customers.
The same rule we apply to hardware
Our position on water is the same as our position on servers: understand what something costs before you commit to it. That cost is measured in money, energy and carbon, and increasingly in water too.
It also connects directly to IT efficiency. When your servers do more useful work per watt, the energy you need falls, and so does the water tied to producing and cooling it.
That is also why Interact Verify's Environmental Compliance simulation takes facility water data alongside your servers and energy, so you can see your position against the EU frameworks for data centres in one run.
To see where your estate stands, visit interactdc.com/buy-a-simulation.