Calls for efficiency standards for data centre water use

The Water Services Association of Australia has released a report on water use in data centres across Australia, outlining key approaches that will deliver efficient and sustainable water use in date centres over decades to come.

The report, ‘Data Centres and Water in Australia: A resource for sustainable data centre development’, sets out five key policy principles that should be prioritised to ensure the sustainable development of future data centres across Australia.

These include:

• early engagement between data centre customers and water utilities;
• building trust through transparent reporting of water and energy use metrics;
• efficiency standards to embed best practices across the market;
• recycled water and circular economy solutions as preferred pathways; and
• fair, consistent and future-ready regulatory and cost-recovery frameworks.
   

The report was authored by the Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA), the peak body for the water sector in Australia and New Zealand, which represents more than 150 water utilities supplying safe water and wastewater services to 24 million people.

WSAA Executive Director Adam Lovell said water efficiency standards for new data centre development would help provide greater planning and development certainty, help reduce future costs, accelerate approvals and build trust.

“Australia is well positioned to become a global date centre hub, and that needn’t be at the expense of our water resources,” Lovell said. “The key is to help the sector become smart water users.

“We have a history in Australia of developing innovative solutions to make sure industrial users through to residential consumers have reliable access to water supplies.

“But that needs to be balanced against using every drop as efficiently and effectively as possible.

“The experience from around the world shows that strong efficiency standards and regulation are the smartest ways to help data centres use water wisely.

“Water efficiency standards will drive best-practice water solutions, help build community trust and provide longer-term reductions in water use costs.”

The report is designed to help data centre proponents and water utilities work collaboratively to deliver the most efficient and effective resource use solutions in new data centre developments.

Report author and WSAA Manager for Policy and Customer Danielle Francis said the water sector was well placed to work with the data centre industry to embed the transition towards efficient cooling.

“One of the key issues is transparent reporting of water and energy use,” Francis said. “Market-wide, consistent reporting across the sector would improve transparency, support broader performance uplift and build community trust.

“There are examples in Asia, Europe and the US that shows that strong transparency and water efficiency standards work.

“The water sector will work positively with governments and data centres to help set these standards here sooner, so we can build more sustainable water solutions into new projects.

“A good starting point would be to expand the NABERS energy rating tool to water and incorporating detailed water-use data into servicing applications.

“If we get this right now, it will have a lasting legacy for decades to come.”

Image credit: iStock.com/VectorFusionArt