Thames Water has no information on how burgeoning data centre industry will affect water supply
The water company has started a consultation on diverting water from the River Thames during drought as at least three companies plan to build data centres in the Ealing area
Research from pressure group Foxglove has revealed that Thames Water, along with seven other English companies held no data on the data centres they supply and the volume of water they use. Thames Water has previously warned that a single data centre could use as much water as 50,000 households.
West London is becoming a popular site for data centres. In recent months, three companies have submitted plans for two centres in Southall and one in Park Royal, in addition to several that exist in Ealing, Hillingdon and Hounslow. Slough has an estimated 30 data centres.
Third new data centre planned for Ealing area
The National Grid has taken action to provide new data centres with the power they need by submitting proposals for two new substations at Iver in Buckinghamshire.
National Grid announces new substations to power Ealing area data centres
Meanwhile Thames Water has launched a consultation on taking 75 million litres per day from the Thames at Teddington during a drought and replacing it with the same amount of triple-treated sewage water.
Thames Water unveils £430 million project to stop London drying out
Donald Campbell, director of advocacy at Foxglove, said: “With droughts on the way this summer, it is deeply alarming that over half our water companies have no clue how many data centres they supply, nor how much water they are hoovering up.”
It’s not clear how much water the next generation of data centres will require. Cyrus One, which plans to build a centre in Southall, said its facilities “neither consume large amounts of water nor emit large amounts of carbon”. On its website, it states: “To achieve net positive water status, we first reduce the amount of water that is needed and then partner with environmental nonprofits to restore 20 percent more water than we withdraw from the local watersheds. This makes our presence in a community a net gain for water.”
Pure Data Centres, which aims to build a data centre in Park Royal and Global Technology Realty, which plans a centre in Southall both say they will use a “closed loop” system to cool their systems, meaning that they will need a single injection of water to operate their centres.
Water companies in England and Wales are required to produce a Water Resources Management Plan which forecasts supply and demand, and sets out how they plan to provide a “secure supply of water for your customers and a protected and enhanced environment.” These are to be produced at least every five years, and reviewed annually, according to legislation and the Government’s Water Resources Planning Guideline.
Foxglove sent Environmental Information Requests to 14 water companies in England and six replied that they had information on data centre water use. Thames Water said they did not hold this information but added: “There are many different types of data centres in use across the UK and we are currently working to identify and determine which ones within the Thames Water area fall into which category.”
Campbell said that the next generation of data centres will use millions of litres per day yet the government and water companies seem unprepared. “By 2050, we’re facing a shortfall of 5 billion litres of water a day – the government has already raised the prospect of rationing drinking water in the next decade. Yet instead of grappling with the unfolding disaster, ministers and water companies have their heads in the sand while the Big Tech firms do whatever they want. Ministers and water companies need to wake up – the likes of Amazon, Microsoft and Google must not be given carte blanche to drain our rivers and streams,” he said.