Nvidia wants to cut data center water use, but that’s not the same as fixing AI’s water problem

Nvidia has developed a warm-water cooling system that the company claims eliminates water use inside data centers by recirculating coolant in a closed loop rather than consuming fresh water. However, this solution only addresses a portion of data center water consumption because it ignores water used outside the facility walls, particularly in electricity generation and chip manufacturing, which can double or triple the total water footprint. Fossil fuel power plants that supply about half of all data center power are major water consumers, using between 1.17 liters per kilowatt-hour for natural gas plants and 2.2 liters per kilowatt-hour for coal plants. Because natural gas and coal are expected to provide more than 40 percent of new electricity needed for data centers through 2030, significant water consumption will persist regardless of improvements made within data center facilities themselves.