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How is the water 'consumed'? I see that in the article that they say that they only draw water in on hot days, but what happens to it after? Surely they can't h

How is the water 'consumed'? I see that in the article that they say that they only draw water in on hot days, but what happens to it after? Surely they can't hold onto all of it. Is it just discharged, but a bit warmer? Wouldn't it at worst just be pumped out to a holding pond until it's cooled enough to release it back into the water supply?

1letterunixname 3y ago
I wager these journalists don't know what they're talking about, as usual. Unless a data center were poorly-designed to utilize municipal potable water directly as a substitute for a co-gen chilled water plant or were using evaporative cooling on a large scale, then the water is either used for heat pump cooling (thermal gradient) or as input feed for co-gen plant chilled water supply (in-lieu of individual inefficient HVAC units) using non-potable fresh water, where possible. Chilled water is then routed to datacenter galleries where they cool air using heat exchangers. The water isn't destroyed, it's run through the system. It's remains fresh water usable downstream for filtration into potable water, just possibly a bit warmer than it was and maybe containing very dilute, biodegradable disinfectants to prevent Legionnaires' and n. fowleri. Example source: https://www.greenbiz.com/article/sip-or-guzzle-heres-how-googles-data-centers-use-water https://www.greenbiz.com/article/sip-or-guzzle-heres-how-goo... Most of the water "consumed" isn't potable, it's river water. The water that is potable either comes from a municipal source or is purified on-site. Google claims they are aim to be net positive water, returning more than "consumed".
- phil21 3y ago
  Evaporative cooling is largely industry standard. Going to of course depend on local geography but it's certainly been the go-to over the past 15 years from what I can tell. I'd be highly surprised at any other use here. It's definitely not stored and then returned to any water system. It is consumed.
  - bcrl 3y ago
    Many of the colocation facilities within 151 Front Street West in Toronto make use of the Enwave's deep lake chilled water intake from Lake Ontario for cooling, saving a lot of energy. It claims to be one of the largest district energy systems of its kind, and the water goes on to other uses, which is much better than an evaporative system.

1letterunixname 3y ago

I wager these journalists don't know what they're talking about, as usual. Unless a data center were poorly-designed to utilize municipal potable water directly as a substitute for a co-gen chilled water plant or were using evaporative cooling on a large scale, then the water is either used for heat pump cooling (thermal gradient) or as input feed for co-gen plant chilled water supply (in-lieu of individual inefficient HVAC units) using non-potable fresh water, where possible. Chilled water is then routed to datacenter galleries where they cool air using heat exchangers. The water isn't destroyed, it's run through the system. It's remains fresh water usable downstream for filtration into potable water, just possibly a bit warmer than it was and maybe containing very dilute, biodegradable disinfectants to prevent Legionnaires' and n. fowleri. Example source: https://www.greenbiz.com/article/sip-or-guzzle-heres-how-googles-data-centers-use-water https://www.greenbiz.com/article/sip-or-guzzle-heres-how-goo... Most of the water "consumed" isn't potable, it's river water. The water that is potable either comes from a municipal source or is purified on-site. Google claims they are aim to be net positive water, returning more than "consumed".

phil21 3y ago
Evaporative cooling is largely industry standard. Going to of course depend on local geography but it's certainly been the go-to over the past 15 years from what I can tell. I'd be highly surprised at any other use here. It's definitely not stored and then returned to any water system. It is consumed.
- bcrl 3y ago
  Many of the colocation facilities within 151 Front Street West in Toronto make use of the Enwave's deep lake chilled water intake from Lake Ontario for cooling, saving a lot of energy. It claims to be one of the largest district energy systems of its kind, and the water goes on to other uses, which is much better than an evaporative system.