In the Netherlands, it has been revealed that a data center used 84 million liters of potable water in 2021. At the same time, a water shortage has been declared in the country, which limits farmers’ water use.
The huge data center built by software company Microsoft in Northern Holland has sparked outrage in the country after it was revealed that the center consumed up to 84 million liters of potable water in 2021.
In total, data centers in North Holland consumed 550 million liters of water in 2021. According to the Dutch statistics authorities, that is 0.075 percent of the water consumption of the entire country. The biggest water consumers in the country were households, 35 percent, and agriculture, 11 percent.
New centers and the weather have increased water use
Like most data centers, Microsoft’s facility also normally uses air for cooling. Water is only used if the outside air temperature rises too high for cooling.
The revelation in Noordholland’s Dagblad says that instead of the previously estimated annual consumption of 12-20 million liters, Microsoft used 75 million liters in 2021 for cooling and 9 million liters for “other”.
During the past year, water consumption increased when new data centers were built in the area. Data Center Dynamics (you switch to another service) estimates that the consumption will increase even more in 2022, because even the new centers will operate throughout the year, and because the weather has been clearly hotter, which has meant that water cooling has had to be resorted to in the data centers more often than the previous year.
According to Microsoft, it uses water cooling only when the outside temperature rises above 25 degrees. That limit was crossed in the region of North Holland only on six days in 2021, weather statistics show. This year, in the first two weeks of early August alone, the temperature rose above 25 degrees on six days.
Farmers, who have become the biggest sufferers of the water shortage, have opposed the establishment of data centers in the area precisely because of their water consumption. However, in early 2021, the municipality of Hollands Kroon approved the construction of new Microsoft data centers in addition to the already existing facilities. After the water consumption figures became public, Hollands Kroon has now put the construction of new data centers on hold.