Water is used in data centers primarily for cooling, either through chilled water systems, cooling towers, or liquid cooling for high-density servers, helping maintain optimal operating temperatures and protect equipment from overheating.
Join Data Center Asia Malaysia 2025
Data Center Asia Malaysia 2025 is your gateway to Southeast Asia’s dynamic data center market. Connect with operators, cloud providers, and technology innovators, attend practical seminars, and explore solutions in energy efficiency, AI, and 5G to accelerate your digital initiatives.Secure your spot as a visitor or exhibitor!
Primary Use of Water in Data Centers: Cooling Systems
- Heat Generation Challenge: Servers and networking equipment generate enormous amounts of heat during operation. A single server rack can produce as much heat as a small apartment, and large data centers contain thousands of these racks. Without proper cooling, equipment would overheat and fail within minutes.
- Water-Cooled HVAC Systems: Most large data centers use water-based cooling systems because water is far more efficient at transferring heat than air alone. These systems use chilled water loops that circulate through air handling units, absorbing heat from the server environment and transferring it to cooling towers or chillers.
- Cooling Towers: These large structures use evaporation to dissipate heat from the data center. Hot water from the cooling system is sprayed over fill material while fans draw air through, causing evaporation that removes heat. This process requires continuous water replenishment as water literally evaporates into the atmosphere.
Direct Liquid Cooling Explained
- Server-Level Cooling: Modern high-performance computing and AI workloads generate so much heat that traditional air cooling becomes insufficient. Direct liquid cooling systems circulate water or specialized coolants directly to server components like CPUs and GPUs, providing much more efficient heat removal.
- Immersion Cooling: Some cutting-edge data centers submerge entire servers in non-conductive liquid coolants. While these systems don’t always use water directly, they often require water-based heat exchangers to remove heat from the coolant.
Environmental and Sustainability Concerns
- Water Scarcity Issues: As data centers proliferate and climate change affects water availability, the industry faces increasing scrutiny about water consumption. Some regions have restricted new data center construction due to water supply concerns.
- Alternative Cooling Methods: The industry is developing water-free cooling solutions including advanced air cooling, liquid immersion systems using synthetic coolants, and innovative heat rejection methods. However, these alternatives often require trade-offs in efficiency or cost.
- Water Recycling: Modern data centers increasingly implement water recycling systems, treating and reusing cooling water multiple times before disposal. Some facilities achieve 90%+ water reuse rates through advanced filtration and treatment systems.
Summary
The relationship between data centers and water represents one of the industry’s most significant environmental challenges. While water remains essential for efficient cooling, the sector continues innovating toward more sustainable solutions as digital infrastructure demands grow alongside environmental responsibilities.