Data Centers: Consuming Our Water and Polluting Our Air

Utah is swamped with data centers, each swallowing up water. About 40 of them stretch from Ogden to St. George. Now, two large data centers are being proposed for Millard County. How much water might they use? The Utah Rivers Council estimates such large data centers can consume up to 5 million gallons of water per day-- enough to serve a city with 40,000 people for a year.

Utah should be concerned. This is arid desert country. We should be very protective of our water as it is a precious commodity. 

Of the two projects in Millard County, one says it will have a closed-loop cooling system, using non-water fluids and thus resulting in 90 percent less water use. These two claims, however, come from the company and have not been independently verified.

The second project in Millard is expected to be the largest data center in the nation. It too will have a closed-loop heating and cooling system. No water usage estimates have been released for it.

Company officials at the larger data center have said it will have its own power plant. Owners of the other center-- the Creekstone/Creek Energy project-- have hinted at the same, but that has not been confirmed. The larger project-- the Joule center-- is to be powered by 69 natural-gas generators per building. Since six buildings are proposed, that adds up. With that many generators running night and day, it means toxic emissions of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxides, volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter all being poured into Millard County and Utah's air.

(Blog)