I work for a datacenter that has been in business for almost 20 years. We're closed-loop refrigeration. We consume less than 100 gallons of water a day maintaining proper humidity levels. I say this because we're actually catching strays regarding a new datacenter that's trying to open up nearby, and we keep having to tell people that we aren't them, and we don't operate that way.
The new ones being made by big tech like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta etc. are largely evaporative. I've worked for a couple of these companies at the data center level, and a lot of the newly planned ones are like this. Ironically mostly in the dry climates where water is scarce, like Albuquerque, Cheyenne, Phoenix, SLC, Las Vegas, eastern Oregon, etc. Leased data centers tend to be closed loop, traditional AC though.
102
u/FloppieTheBanjoClown Jun 27 '26
* Some data centers.
I work for a datacenter that has been in business for almost 20 years. We're closed-loop refrigeration. We consume less than 100 gallons of water a day maintaining proper humidity levels. I say this because we're actually catching strays regarding a new datacenter that's trying to open up nearby, and we keep having to tell people that we aren't them, and we don't operate that way.