UK Faces Water Shortage for Planned AI Data Centers, Report Says
The UK government aims to triple computing capacity by 2030, but official water consumption forecasts exclude data centers, which require significant water for server cooling. Current usage of 6.6 million liters per day could jump to 19.8 million liters.
A report by Water UK warns that Britain may lack sufficient water to support the government's planned expansion of AI data centers. The government intends to triple computing power by 2030, yet official water demand projections fail to account for the cooling needs of these facilities.
Data centers currently consume approximately 6.6 million liters of water daily. If the expansion proceeds as planned, that figure could rise to 19.8 million liters. New data centers are being built mostly in regions already facing water stress, and constructing large reservoirs could take up to 15 years.
Source: ForkLog