3 ms·
Let's do the math, instead of just being scary by using gallons as a unit inappropriately. The article says Microsoft wanted ~15 million gallons per month. The
by jeffbee 3y ago
Let's do the math, instead of just being scary by using gallons as a unit inappropriately. The article says Microsoft wanted ~15 million gallons per month. The water works says it delivers 63 million gallons per day. Which mean Microsoft's datacenters demanded <1% of the water. Which I assume they contracted for.
Microsoft's global sustainability report says they "used" i.e. evaporated 6399 megaliters in 2022, globally. That is only 5161 acre-feet, for Americans. That's ~$2 million worth, globally.
- jeroenhd 3y agoAccording to the original article, the water usage during particular hot months (when the water was needed most), Microsoft used 6% of the available water. According to their own spec sheet (which may just be greenwashing, it's Microsoft after all) they're using a cooling technique that only requires additional water when the air is over a certain temperature (just above 29℃). Total water usage isn't very interesting in this case. Their water usage increases right when drought conditions become the worst, during the weeks or months where temperatures rise and remain high. Worldwide, their water usage is negligible, but water shortages are local problems.
- bb88 3y agoI'm pretty sure they're the number one customer for water in WDM during the hot summer months. [1] > Yes, but: They (Microsoft West Des Moines Datacenter) consumed as much as 11.5 million gallons of water a month for cooling, or about 6% of WDM's total usage during peak summer usage during the last two years, according to information from West Des Moines Water Works [1] https://www.axios.com/local/des-moines/2023/09/18/ai-iowa-epicenter-microsoft-water-useage-data-center https://www.axios.com/local/des-moines/2023/09/18/ai-iowa-ep...