Artificial intelligence (AI) is ramping up fast. Some 57% of Americans have already used it for personal purposes, and over half of U.S. businesses are putting AI to work, the research organization Brookings reports.
AI can spark creativity, enhance communications, and drive new efficiencies. But those benefits come with a steep environmental cost. A single data center can consume 5 million gallons of water per day, or roughly the same amount used by a town of 50,000 people.
But experts point to a range of strategies that can help bring AI to life without killing the planet in the process.
VVater CEO and co-founder Kevin Gast talked with USA Today about the solutions we’re already building and how VVater’s advanced water treatment systems lower costs and boost resiliency for industrial facilities, data centers, and communities.
“When it comes to water, the solutions already exist,” Gast told USA Today. “This isn’t some moonshot problem where we need to wait for a genius in a lab coat to save us.”
He points to closed-loop recycling systems, on-site treatment, alternative water sourcing from treated wastewater and stormwater capture, along with other existing strategies as ways to make data centers more sustainable. But there’s a snag.
“The actual problem is that we’re stuck in a 100-year-old infrastructure mentality. We still pipe water miles to a centralized plant, treat it, then pipe it miles back,” he says. Every mile of that journey represents potential water loss.
“The future is decentralized. Treat the water where you need it. Recycle it on-site. Stop making data centers compete with families for drinking water,” he says. “Some operators are already doing this, and the efficiency gains are remarkable.”
The rise of AI creates a precarious moment, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
“The good news is that this is entirely fixable,” Gast says. “If the AI industry can figure out how to generate a Pixar-quality movie from a text prompt, I’m pretty confident we can figure out how to recycle water.”
Read the full article >> USA Today: AI data centers are becoming more eco-friendly. Here’s how
Contact the VVater team to learn how on-site water treatment works for your operation: https://vvater.com/contact-us/