Cloud computing is notoriously demanding on natural resources, due to the energy intensive and cooling needs of the data centers that host it. While more efficient cloud management has helped mitigate energy use, not much can be done about the water waste involved in cooling high-powered computer servers in data centers.
Until now, that is. Last week, Amazon Web Services (AWS), the world’s largest provider of cloud computing, announced that it would be “water positive” by 2030, returning water to communities instead of consuming it.
This initiative is aptly known as “Water+,” and is particularly relevant in South Africa, where AWS has built several data centers in the water-stressed city of Cape Town. These data centers are among the first 20 in the world to actually use recycled water for cooling. The next step is to return water to the communities in which the utilities operate.
AWS says it uses sustainable water sources, such as recycled water and harvested rainwater, wherever possible, in order to conserve drinking water for communities and the environment.
“Once all of our current renovation projects are complete, it will return approximately 2.4 billion liters of water each year to communities and the environment,” the company announced this week, during its annual Re:Invent cloud conference in Las Vegas. A city stressed by water.
AWS invests in water renewal projects in the communities in which we operate. These projects expand access, availability and quality of water in the community by restoring watersheds and providing clean water, sanitation and hygiene services to water-stressed communities.”
In Cape Town, she works with the global NGO The Nature Conservancy, and is a partner in the Greater Cape Town Water Trust’s watershed restoration activities, which aim to remove invasive plants that feed on water from major catchment areas. To date, the project has cleared more than 47,000 acres, returning 8.9 billion liters annually to the regional water system. This in turn allowed the fynbos native to the area to recover in the cleared areas.
Views of misty cliffs, fynbos and the ocean from Scarborough, Cape Town. © Roshni Lodia
AWS data centers alone are expected to return approximately 2.4 billion liters of water each year to the communities in which they operate globally.
During the inaugural Re:Invent keynote last Tuesday, AWS CEO Adam Celebski said that AWS has been constantly innovating to improve water efficiency.
“We are a leader among cloud service providers with an efficiency measure of 0.25 liters of water consumed per kilowatt-hour in our data centers. We are committed to becoming water positive by 2030. This means we will return more water to our communities than we use in direct operations.”
AWS has previously achieved water efficiency in part by using advanced cloud services, such as Internet of Things technologies, to analyze water usage in real time and identify and fix leaks, and by eliminating the use of cooling water in many of its facilities by relying on outside air in colder climates . Ireland and Sweden do not use water to cool their data centers for 95% of the year.
The one response Selipsky didn’t expect was that customers would use the cloud less.
“There are so many pressing problems and challenges in the world right now. It can be tempting to cut back and slow down. But when it comes to cloud, many of our customers know they should lean on it precisely because of economic uncertainty, not in spite of it. The cloud more cost effective.”
He gave the example of global agricultural solutions company AGCO: It cut costs by 78% even while increasing data retrieval.
“So if you’re looking to tighten your belt, the cloud is the place to do it.”
Water stress isn’t about to go away. But then no cloud computing.
“In just a few years, half of the world’s population is expected to live in water-stressed areas,” Celebski said. “So, to ensure that all people have access to water, we all need to invent new ways to help conserve and reuse this precious resource.”
Originally posted 2022-12-06 11:03:43.