this post was submitted on 10 Mar 2026
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Technology

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AI datacenters may gulp NYC's daily water supply at peak (www.theregister.com)
submitted 6 hours ago by Powderhorn@beehaw.org to c/technology@beehaw.org
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Public water supplies in America will need billions invested to meet the peak requirements of datacenters during the hottest periods of the year, even if their overall annual consumption is relatively modest.

A study by researchers at the University of California, Riverside, acknowledges that water is an efficient means of cooling for server farms, which are looking to minimize their power usage.

But it warns that the growing water demand will lead to substantial peak withdrawals, which many communities in the US do not have the capacity to supply, particularly during the hottest days of the year.

Without new water efficiencies, datacenters across America may require 697 million to 1.45 billion gallons of extra peak water capacity per day by 2030, the study estimates. This compares with New York City's daily water supply of about a billion gallons.

Not like we have any other uses for water in a rapidly heating world.

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[–] cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

They could also use treated waste water for cooling the data centers instead of dumping it in the ocean.

[–] tal@lemmy.today 1 points 28 minutes ago

Yeah, there's some nuclear power plant here in the US that uses sewage for cooling. It's out in the middle of the desert, Arizona or New Mexico or something, somewhere where it'd be a pain to bring in a bunch more water.

searches

Arizona.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palo_Verde_Nuclear_Generating_Station

The Palo Verde Generating Station is a nuclear power plant located near Tonopah, Arizona[5] about 45 miles (72 km) west of downtown Phoenix. Palo Verde generates the second most electricity of any power plant in the United States per year, and is the second largest power plant by net generation as of 2021.[6] Palo Verde has the third-highest rated capacity of any U.S power plant. It is a critical asset to the Southwest, generating approximately 32 million megawatt-hours annually.

At its location in the Arizona desert, Palo Verde is the only nuclear generating facility in the world that is not located adjacent to a large body of above-ground water. The facility evaporates water from the treated sewage of several nearby municipalities to meet its cooling needs. Up to 26 billion US gallons (~100,000,000 m³) of treated water are evaporated each year.[12][13] This water represents about 25% of the annual overdraft of the Arizona Department of Water Resources Phoenix Active Management Area.[14] At the nuclear plant site, the wastewater is further treated and stored in an 85-acre (34 ha) reservoir and a 45-acre (18 ha) reservoir for use in the plant's wet cooling towers.