Water use can be reduced by making the data centers use a closed water system. Cooling towers and large reservoirs for cooling would mean that they make one big buy and buy much less over time. If the reservoir is covered by solar panels that would reduce evaporative losses, provide shade for additional water cooling, and help generate the electricity they need. This is already used in California’s Central Valley.
In my area peak demand occurs between 6PM and 9PM when energy demand from solar customers begins. We have no coal plants, backup support is from natural-gas powered generators.
Nevada Energy is restructuring their billing based on each customer’s peak demand. This is not the same as time-of-use billing. Customers with solar systems will pay slightly more.
In my area, new construction of “wet” cooling towers was banned in 2024. Traditional cooling towers use water evaporation for cooling.
New systems must be air cooled. Air-cooled towers consume much more energy than evaporative systems. Chiller plants are closed loop, there is no water loss in that part of the system.
23 data centers were built in Southern Nevada prior to the ban in 2024.
In February 2024, the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) enacted the most aggressive data center water policy in the United States: an outright ban on evaporative cooling in all new commercial construction across Las Vegas, Henderson, and the surrounding valley. The rationale was sound. Twenty-three Southern Nevada data centers consumed 716 million gallons of water in 2024, every drop permanently lost from the Colorado River system. Google’s Henderson campus alone accounted for 352 million gallons — water that cannot be returned to Lake Mead, cannot earn return-flow credits, and cannot be recovered for the 40 million people downstream who depend on the river.
But many aren’t. And the ones that do use closed water systems it only reduces their water usage. It does NOT eliminate their usage. Even in a closed loop cooling system they still consume a lot of fresh water.
We have a lot of commercial EV vans coming onto our market here in Australia.Sales are slowly increasing,Farzon(Chinese) Hyundai Staria,Ford Transit, Renault Master,KIA PV5(range of roughly 400 + kms).The KIA is a really nice van,LDV E deliver range( Chinese again).
In my area, and pretty much anywhere east of the Mississippi watershed there is enough water for wet cooling towers to be used. Each locale can decide what works best for them.