As the artificial intelligence industry expands at a blistering pace, its escalating demand for water is placing significant strain on local resources and energy infrastructure. In response, the water management firm Ecolab is positioning a suite of technologies designed to help AI data centers reduce their consumption by treating water not as a consumable resource, but as a reusable asset. The solutions focus on optimizing cooling systems, where the majority of a data center’s direct water usage occurs, by creating a more circular and efficient management cycle.
The challenge is substantial, as the computing power required for AI models translates directly into immense heat, which must be managed through water-intensive cooling processes. A single typical data center can use between 11 million and 19 million liters of water per day, comparable to a town of up to 50,000 people. This consumption is compounded by the indirect water footprint from the thermoelectric power plants that supply the enormous amount of electricity these facilities require. Ecolab’s strategy aims to mitigate this impact by implementing systems that reduce initial water intake, reuse it internally, and reclaim it for future cycles, addressing what CEO Christophe Beck calls a critical component of sustainable growth.
The Escalating Water Demands of AI
The rapid development of artificial intelligence has introduced a significant environmental cost that extends beyond its massive electricity needs. Data centers, the physical backbone of the cloud and AI, are now recognized as one of the fastest-growing consumers of fresh water. This consumption occurs in two primary ways: direct use in cooling systems and indirect use through power generation. Direct consumption involves using chilled water to absorb heat from servers. Many facilities use evaporative cooling towers, which dissipate heat by turning water into vapor, leading to constant water loss. Training a single large-language AI model alone can consume hundreds of thousands of liters of fresh water through this process.
Indirectly, the water footprint is even larger. The majority of data centers are powered by electricity from fossil fuel-based grids, and thermoelectric plants are themselves incredibly water-intensive, requiring vast amounts for their own cooling towers. This dual demand creates concentrated strain on local water supplies, particularly as tech companies build data centers in arid regions. In Virginia, the world’s largest data center hub, water usage surged by two-thirds between 2019 and 2023. This growing thirst has made water management a central issue for the technology sector, pushing companies to find more sustainable methods for cooling the powerful processors that drive AI.
Ecolab’s Water Management Framework
To address this challenge, Ecolab has developed a systematic, four-stage process designed to provide clients with a comprehensive view and control over their water usage. The approach moves from high-level risk assessment to granular, real-time operational adjustments, aiming to integrate water efficiency into the core of a data center’s infrastructure. The company reports that by applying these principles, it helped customers save 226 billion gallons of water in its most recent reporting year.
From Risk Assessment to Digital Monitoring
The process begins with the Smart Water Navigator, a complimentary tool that helps companies identify and quantify water-related risks within their operations. This is followed by Water Trac IQ, a system that analyzes operations to pinpoint specific opportunities for water reduction. The implementation phase is handled by the company’s core hardware and software solution, 3D TRASAR Technology, a treatment system that actively monitors and adjusts water chemistry. Finally, clients can track their performance and operational data through ECOLAB3D, a digital platform that provides ongoing monitoring and insights.
Advanced Cooling and Chemical Monitoring
At the heart of the company’s offering is its 3D TRASAR technology, which has been adapted for the unique demands of modern data centers, including direct-to-chip liquid cooling. This system provides real-time monitoring of coolant health, tracking key indicators such as temperature, pH, flow rates, and glycol concentration. By continuously analyzing the coolant, the technology helps prevent issues like glycol degradation, which can lead to microbiological growth, corrosion, and the clogging of critical cooling components. For more traditional cooling towers, the system manages scale, corrosion, and fouling by precisely administering treatments only when needed, optimizing water chemistry to minimize waste and protect equipment.
Implementing a Circular Water Economy
Ecolab’s strategy is centered on promoting a circular approach to water management, a significant departure from the traditional linear model where water is withdrawn, used, and discharged. The circular model is built on three core principles: reducing initial consumption, reusing water within systems, and reclaiming it after use. This philosophy treats water as a strategic asset that can be managed and recycled, rather than a disposable utility. By integrating practices such as closed-loop cooling, wastewater recycling, and rainwater harvesting, facilities can achieve significant reductions in freshwater withdrawal, with some estimates suggesting potential savings of 50–70%.
Connecting Water Savings to Climate Goals
The benefits of efficient water management extend directly to a facility’s carbon footprint. Moving, heating, cooling, and treating water are energy-intensive processes. By reducing the volume of water that needs to be managed, data centers can lower their overall energy consumption. Ecolab reports that customer implementations of its technologies helped avoid 3.6 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions in a single year, with a goal to increase that figure to six million metric tons annually by 2030. Within its own facilities, the company has reduced its water impact intensity by 29% and sources 71% of its electricity from renewables, demonstrating the interconnected nature of water and energy stewardship.
A Broader Push for Sustainable Technology
While the immediate focus is on the thirsty AI sector, the principles of circular water management are applicable across numerous industries. Ecolab has applied similar solutions to enhance food safety and reduce resource consumption in food supply chains, partnering with its subsidiary Nalco Water to help a Brazilian sugar and ethanol producer cut its sulfuric acid consumption by 22% annually. This cross-sector application underscores the universal importance of treating water as a non-renewable resource.
The initiative is part of a larger, industry-wide movement toward greater environmental accountability. As the operational and reputational risks associated with high water consumption grow, major technology companies are setting ambitious goals to become “water-positive,” meaning they aim to replenish more water than they consume. This shift requires a fundamental rethinking of data center design, location, and operation, with circular water management emerging as a critical component. The solutions being developed today aim to ensure that the continued growth of AI and other digital technologies does not come at the expense of the world’s most vital resource.
