UK government suggests deleting files to save water
Can deleting old emails and photos help the UK tackle ongoing drought this year? That’s the hope, according to recommendations for the public included in a press release today from the National Drought Group.
There are far bigger steps companies and policymakers can take to conserve water of course, but drought has gotten bad enough for officials to urge the average person to consider how their habits might help or hurt the situation. And the proliferation of data centers is raising concerns about how much water it takes to power servers and keep them cool.
“Simple, everyday choices – such as turning off a tap or deleting old emails – also really helps the collective effort to reduce demand and help preserve the health of our rivers and wildlife,” Helen Wakeham, Environment Agency Director of Water, said in the press release.
“Simple, everyday choices – such as turning off a tap or deleting old emails – also really helps the collective effort”
The Environment Agency didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry from The Verge about how much water it thought deleting files might save, nor how much water data centers that store files or train AI use in the UK’s drought-affected areas.
A small data center has been estimated to use upwards of 25 million liters of water per year if it relies on old-school cooling methods that allow water to evaporate. To be sure, tech companies have worked for years to find ways to minimize their water use by developing new cooling methods. Microsoft, for example, has tried placing a data center at the bottom of the sea and submerging servers in fluorocarbon-based liquid baths.
Generating electricity for energy-hungry data centers also uses up more water since fossil fuel power plants and nuclear reactors also need water for cooling and to turn turbines using steam, an issue that transitioning to more renewable energy can help to address.
August ushered in the UK’s fourth heatwave of the summer, exacerbating what was already the driest six months leading to July since 1976. Five regions of the UK have officially declared drought, according to the release, while another six areas are in the midst of “prolonged dry weather.”
The National Drought Group says pleas to residents to save water have made a difference. Water demand dropped by 20 percent from a July 11th peak in the Severn Trent area after “water-saving messaging,” according to the release. Plugging leaks is another major concern. Fixing a leaking toilet can prevent 200 to 400 liters of water from being wasted each day, it says.