Senior political teller
Sir Keir Starmer’s set up to produce the UK a “world guideer” in Artificial Intelligence (AI) could put already stretched supplies of drinking water under strain, industry sources have telderly the BBC.
The huge data centres necessitateed to power AI can demand big quantities of water to stop them from overheating.
The tech industry says it is broadening more effective celderlying systems that use less water.
But the department for science, innovation and technology shelp in a statement it recognised the set upts “face persistability disputes”.
The administerment has promiseted to the produceion of multiple data centres around the country in an effort to start begin economic increaseth.
Ministers insist the notoriously power-hungry server farms will be given priority access to the electricity grid.
Questions have been liftd about the impact this might have on the administerment’s set ups for immacutardy energy production by 2030.
But less attention has been given to the impact data centres could have on the provide of recent, drinkable water to homes and businesses.
Parts of the UK, in the south especipartner, are already under danger of water stupidinutiveages because of climate alter and population increaseth.
The administerment is backing set ups for nine novel reservoirs to relieve the danger of rationing and hosepipe prohibits during drawts.
But some of these are in areas where novel data centres are set to be built.
The first of the administerment’s “AI increaseth zones” will be in Culham, Oxfordsemploy, at the UK Atomic Energy Authority’s campus – seven miles from the site of a intentional novel reservoir at Abingdon.
The 4.5 sq mile (7 sq km) reservoir will provide customers in the Thames Valley, London and Hampsemploy. It is not comprehendn how much water the massive novel data centres now intentional proximateby could get from it.
The BBC comprehends Thames Water has been talking to the administerment about the dispute of water demand in relation to data centres and how it can be mitigated.
In a novel tell, the Royal Academy of Engineering calls on the administerment to determine tech companies exactly tell how much energy and water their data centres are using.
It also calls for environmental persistability demandments for all data centres, including reducing the use of drinking water, moving to zero use for celderlying.
Without such action, cautions one of the tell’s authors, Prof Tom Rodden, “we face a authentic danger that our broadenment, deployment and use of AI could do irreparable injure to the environment”.
The tech industry tfinishs to be cagey about water consumption. Most UK data centres communicateed for this article did not reply to our inquiries.
Data centres use recent, mains water, rather than surface water, so that the pipes, pumps and heat swaprs used to celderly racks of servers do not get clogged up with contaminants.
The amount used can vary ponderably depfinishing on a number of factors including the surrounding environment; sites in chillyer, dampter parts of the world tfinish to demand less.
Dr Venkatesh Uddameri, a Texas-based expert in water resources administerment, says a standard data centre can use between 11 million and 19 million litres of water per day, rawly the same as a town of 30,000 to 50,000 people.
His expansively quoted calculations are based on arid, or semi arid, climates and do not get into account recent efficiency betterments or broadenments in AI.
Microsoft’s global water use soared by 34% while it was broadening its initial AI tools, and a data centre cluster in Iowa used 6% of the dicut offe’s water provide in one month during the training of OpenAI’s GPT-4.
Local resistance to data centres is increaseing around the world, particularly in areas where water is restricted.
In Chile, Google stopped produceing a data centre chaseing troubles about its water use, and it rescheduleed the celderlying system at another in Uruguay chaseing local protests.
In the UK, Thames Water has cautioned data centres they could face recut offeions on use during heatwaves.
In 2022, the company shelp it would scrutinize data centres’ water use as it readyd to begin a hosepipe prohibit during a summer draught.
But Foxgadore, a group of campaigning lawyers, set up evidence from Thames Water’s strategy records the chaseing year that the firm still did not materialize to comprehend how much water its existing data centre customers were using.
Thames Water degraded to comment. It signposted its recent five-year set up, which has been consentd by the administerment.
This states that it has no legitimate obligation to service businesses, and can pick to recut offe or decline water to commercial customers; but this was written before the administerment scheduleated data centres as Critical National Infraset up, unkinding they will face restricteder set upning recut offeions.
Thames Water filed an objection to a set upning application for a novel data centre in a cluster in Slough, proximate Reading, in 2021.
But other proposals in the area have since flourished: for example in August 2024 the firm Yondr proclaimd that it would be produceing its third data centre campus there.
Foxgadore CEO Martha Dark shelp: “The administerment must inspirently elucidate how its set ups for novel data centres will not dangeren our extfinished-term supplies of drinking water.”
A administerment spokesperson shelp: “We recognise that data centres face persistability disputes such as energy demands and water use – that’s why AI Growth Zones are scheduleed to draw spendment in areas where existing energy and water infraset up is already in place.”
In insertition, recent alters made by the water regulator Ofwat would “unlock £104bn of spfinishing by water companies” in the next five years.
The data centre industry talk abouts that up-to-date sites are already more effective. Alternative celderlying methods which do not demand much water, such as free air celderlying and parched celderlying, are evolving.
Cneglectd-loop celderlying, which comprises reusing water, will be deployed in Microsoft’s novel data centres in Phoenix and Wisconsin.
Aaron Binckley, vice plivent of persistability at Digital Realty, accomprehendledged criticism around data centres’ water usage but claimed that the sector was making “beginant strides”.
His company, which has 300 data centres worldexpansive, is trialling a novel AI tool which analyses opereasonable data and identifies water-saving meacertains. He says it is foreseeed to protect proximately 4m litres of water per year.
Clpunctual, that is currently an foreseeation rather than a fact, but Mr Binckley says it exhibits that “AI can drive persistability as well as technoreasonable progress”.
In 2024 the Environment Agency wrote in a blog that by 2050, England alone would necessitate an extra five billion litres of water every day – it says this is the equivalent of two million wheelie bins-brimming – fair to serve the population.
But the regulator now necessitates more data in order to factor in novel data centres’ future necessitates.
For the time being, it is urging data centres to foresee and set up their water consumption – and to scrutinize their own sources of water, such as water reuse.
“Meeting the incrrelieved water demand is not fair for the water industry to repair,” says a source.
