Google used over 4 billion gallons of water in its knowledge facilities all over the world in 2021, with 3.Three billion of these being within the US and 971 million the remainder of the world, new figures have revealed.

The figures got here to mild after media outlet The Oregonian challenged the town of The Dalles, Oregon to disclose how a lot water a Google knowledge middle within the area consumed.

The authorized dispute rattled on for 13 months, as the town of The Dalles sought to stop the discharge of Google’s consumption knowledge. Nevertheless, the town finally relented, and revealed that the tech big used 274.5 million gallons of water in 2021 alone.

Opening the floodgates

 Town additionally promised to make such knowledge out there going ahead.

The Oregonian additionally reported (opens in new tab) that the services had virtually tripled their water utilization inside 5 years, claiming that they now use over 1 / 4 of all the town’s water. What’s extra, this solely seems to be set to extend additional, as Google has plans to construct two extra knowledge facilities in The Dalles.

Google claims that this water consumption is just like that of 29 golf programs within the US. It additionally maintained that these numbers don’t embody the seawater that it makes use of. 

The issue of knowledge middle water utilization is widespread, and colocation suppliers are engaged on enhancements as rules governing such consumption are set to take maintain in varied areas.

A report from the IT advisory agency Uptime Institute (opens in new tab) discovered that presently, solely half of knowledge middle operators report their water utilization. It additionally really helpful easy fixes to satisfy future sustainability standards, akin to overlaying empty server racks to enhance airflow, and upgrading legacy cooling methods which can be nonetheless in use.  

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