DATA MANAGEMENT We need water more than data
Our reliance on data comes at a cost – water wastage in particular is part and parcel of keeping data centres operational. There is a balance to be had, however, and the latest developments in water recycling and monitoring mean considerable savings can be made when it comes to preserving this valuable asset. James Greenwood, from the WCS Group, discusses
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e are all bound to the internet. Without it, the modern world as we know it would grind to a halt – work, leisure, travel, communication and
banking, all rely on this essential tool. But what does this have to do with water? Researchers at Imperial College London found that every gigabyte (GB) of data we consume has a water footprint of up to 200 litres. In 2018, the average person used 2.9GB of data every month – by 2020 average monthly usage had increased to 4.5GB. That’s a lot of water. This water use comes from the essential need to keep data centres cool. Overheating can cause breakdown and operational outage, with potentially disastrous and costly consequences. If equipment is not kept at a constant temperature of 20°C to 24°C servers will start to perform inefficiently and unreliably – and eventually shut down completely.
Water cooled and wasteful
Data centres are commonly chilled by cooling towers, hybrid systems, which combine dry and evaporative cooling, or adiabatic technology. Cooling towers are the most wasteful culprit in this list, relying solely on evaporative cooling, but equally are amongst the most energy efficient ways of removing heat from a building so it’s understandable why they may be chosen. Adiabatic coolers consume less than 1% of the water used by traditional cooling towers and around 2-4% of that used by wetted surface hybrid coolers. Cooling towers can be made more water saving by using water recycling and utilising
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idealheating.com 26 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER SEPTEMBER 2022 Read the latest at:
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