Data Centres and Water Shortages in the UK

The UK's National Drought Group has said data centres are causing water shortages. The group did not say to what degree these facilities are causing drought conditions. Data centres in the UK use up to 10 billion litres of water per year to cool their facilities. A large centre can use as much water as 50,000 houses. Despite environmental concerns, the UK is building more centres. The UK said the centres would drive economic growth. The NDG asked people to cut back on water usage. People should delete unwanted emails. This could cut the demand for the huge amounts of water data centres need to cool their systems. The NDG said deleting email could "really help the collective effort to reduce demand and help preserve the health of our rivers and wildlife". However, experts say the water saved from deleting emails is a drop in the ocean and may not help with water shortages.