NORTEK DCC
The sustainability imperative With large air-cooled data centres consuming up to 5 million gallons of water daily, the industry is facing a massive sustainability hurdle, especially with a projected 56 % gap in global freshwater supply by 2030. How exactly do liquid cooling solutions fundamentally alter a data centre’ s water and energy footprint?
No two data centres are the same. Just as each data centre’ s set of cooling needs and challenges is unique, so is the road to minimise a data centre’ s water footprint.
A data centre is an ecosystem. Reducing water consumption is a function of understanding how all the interrelated parts interact. While CDUs are a closed-loop system( cooling chips, for example, are 100 % closed-loop) the overall water consumption depends largely on how the facility rejects heat.
Cooling towers may lose water through evaporation, while dry coolers and other approaches can significantly reduce or bypass that water use. The most efficient facilities use water only when conditions require it.
80 October 2026