Data Centers Are Growing in Texas, But Big Questions Remain About Water UseData centers could potentially account for 3% to 9% of Texas’ water...

Data Centers Are Growing in Texas, But Big Questions Remain About Water Use
Data centers could potentially account for 3% to 9% of Texas’ water use by 2040, according to a new white paper from The University of Texas at Austin that recommends greater transparency in the industry’s water use and better coordination among stakeholders to reduce the impact of data centers on the state’s water supply.

The estimate, which includes both water used for cooling and to produce the power needed for data centers, is part of a study that investigates water issues associated with the booming industry in Texas. Currently, data centers account for less than 1% of the state’s water use. Researchers estimate that number could increase depending on industry growth, the cooling technologies used, and the source of electricity powering the data centers.

For comparison, manufacturing accounts for about 7% of the state’s water use, according to the current state water plan.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding the water use for data centers,” said Mariam Arzumanyan, a postdoctoral fellow at the Bureau of Economic Geology, a research unit of the UT Jackson School of Geosciences. “People don’t know the scale of how much water is going to be needed. There is not a unified understanding of the technologies used for cooling, or how much water that technology would use.”

The white paper, “Water Use Requirements for Data Centers in Texas,” was developed by the COMPASS research consortium, which was created by the Bureau of Economic Geology. COMPASS works closely with industry leaders, policymakers and local communities to help understand and manage the impact of the growing data center sector on issues such as power use, land use, infrastructure planning and workforce issues.