Communities and water utilities grappling with the impacts and opportunities introduced by data centers have a new strategic resource at their disposal, after the American Water Works Association (AWWA) released a white paper titled Cooling the Cloud: Water Utilities in a Data-Driven World.
As artificial intelligence and digital services expand, data centers are emerging as increasingly common and high-impact customers for water utilities. Cooling the Cloud provides a comprehensive overview of how data centers affect water utilities and communities, examining increased water demands and costs, infrastructure strain, and the need to assess alternative water supplies.
“While utilities are experienced in managing industrial customers, the rapid growth of data centers demands faster, more adaptive planning and coordination,” the paper observes. “Although data centers present unique concerns, the water sector possesses the foresight to meet the moment.”
Key insights include:
- With proactive engagement, thoughtful analysis, and collaboration, utilities can mitigate risks associated with data centers and support long-term system sustainability.
- The choice of cooling technologies employed throughout data centers can greatly impact water and energy consumption.
- Examples from Loudoun Water (Virginia) and Aurora Water (Colorado) illustrate how utilities are adapting through proactive planning, infrastructure coordination, and policy development.
- Emerging legislation in states like New York, New Jersey, and Minnesota reflects growing interest in regulating water usage at data centers.
The paper also outlines eight planning priorities for utilities anticipating data center development, ranging from evaluating customer impacts to financial modeling.
In addition to Aurora Water and Loudoun Water, contributors to the report include experts from Arcadis, MITRE, Freshwater Society, Kurita, Tetra Tech, and the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators.
The full white paper is available on AWWA’s Water Resources Planning & Sustainability page.
Source: American Water Works Association
