Can salty, dirty water cool data centers? Research points to desalination as a cooling option

Can salty, dirty water cool data centers?

Researchers from The University of Texas at Austin found that desalination technology—a process for separating salt from water—is a strong candidate to treat salty or contaminated water to help data centers’ cooling needs, reducing pressure on local water supplies. 

Can salty, dirty water cool data centers? Research points to desalination as a cooling option

Data centers need water. And water byproducts from oil and gas and other industries need to go somewhere.

Salty, Dirty Water Could Quench Data Centers' Thirst for Cooling

University of Texas at Austin researchers show that existing desalination technology can turn salty groundwater and oilfield wastewater into cooling water for data centers while easing pressure on local supplies.

ReWater-DC Evo: A Three-Stage, Renewable-Assisted System for Recovering Data-Center Cooling Water

Data-center expansion driven by artificial intelligence is increasing demand for cooling water, while the blowdown discharged from cooling towers carries concentrated salts, heavy metals and organic residues that make reuse difficult. This paper presents ReWater-DC Evo, a three-stage, renewabl...