• About Us
  • Partnership Opportunities
  • Privacy Policy

Data Center Frontier

Charting the future of data centers and cloud computing.

  • Cloud
    • Hyperscale
  • Colo
    • Site Selection
    • Interconnection
  • Energy
    • Sustainability
  • Cooling
  • Technology
    • Internet of Things
    • AI & Machine Learning
    • Edge Computing
    • Virtual Reality
    • Autonomous Cars
    • 5G Wireless
    • Satellites
  • Design
    • Servers
    • Storage
    • Network
  • Voices
  • Podcast
  • White Papers
  • Resources
    • COVID-19
    • Events
    • Newsletter
    • Companies
    • Data Center 101
  • Jobs
You are here: Home / Sustainability / Facing Climate Urgency, Facebook Plans to Be Water Positive by 2030

Facing Climate Urgency, Facebook Plans to Be Water Positive by 2030

By Rich Miller - August 19, 2021

Facing Climate Urgency, Facebook Plans to Be Water Positive by 2030

The cooling "penthouse" design of a Facebook data center in Prineville, Oregon. Servers are cooled with fresh air that enters through the louvers on the right, reducing the need for use of water and electricity. (Photo: Rich Miller)

LinkedinTwitterFacebookSubscribe
Mail

In response to growing concerns about climate change and water scarcity, Facebook says it intends to be water positive by 2030, meaning it will return more water to the environment than it consumes in its global operations. The announcement follows the unveiling of major water conservation projects to support a new data center near Phoenix, which raised concerns that the facility could tax the region’s water resources during a drought.

“The climate crisis demands urgent action from all of us,” Facebook said in a blog post. “Reaching this ambitious goal will require a combination of water restoration efforts starting in
regions that are highly water stressed, as well as technologies to increase water efficiency at our facilities.”

The announcement will have minimal impact on how the company operates its data centers, as Facebook already uses fresh air to keep servers cool, reducing the need for chiller systems or water towers that use large amounts of water.

The biggest impact will be outside the Facebook campuses, in the communities around the company’s data centers and offices. Facebook said it has already invested in water restoration projects in New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Utah, Oregon, and California that will replenish more than 850 million gallons of water per year.

Water Scarcity Threatens the Southwest

“These water restoration projects offer significant benefits both to local communities and their surrounding ecosystems, particularly in water stressed regions,” the company said. “We partnered with trusted, local environmental non-profits and utility providers to identify projects that would have the greatest impact. In the coming years we plan to expand this work internationally, including in Ireland, Singapore, India, UK, and Mexico.”

The data center project that Facebook announced last week in Mesa, Arizona drew national attention when a Mesa council member expressed concerns about reports that the data center might use as much 1 million gallons of water a day, calling it “an irresponsible use of our water.” To address those concerns, Facebook outlined three water restoration projects that will restore more than 200 million gallons of water per year in the Colorado River and Salt River basins and help provide greater water security for Arizona.

In Arizona, 83 percent of the state is currently facing “severe drought” conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. On Monday, the federal government declared a water shortage for Lake Mead, the primary sources of water for much of Arizona and Nevada, triggering restrictions on the use of water by farmers and residents. The cuts will reduce use of Lake Mead water by 8 percent for Arizona, with the brunt of the impact to be felt by farmers who must either find other water sources or cut back their production.

The cuts will lower Nevada’s water draw from the Colorado River basin by 7 percent. Meanwhile, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that the state may soon face mandatory water restrictions as the state endures its third straight year of drought conditions.

Designing Data Centers for Low Water Impact

Facebook said it will continue to find ways to reduce its water usage by using onsite recycled water systems at offices. and “working to develop new technologies and operational efficiencies
to make our data centers even more water efficient.”

Fresh air passes through dampened cooling media inside a Facebook data center in North Carolina. (Photo: Rich Miller)

Fresh air passes through dampened cooling media inside a Facebook data center in North Carolina. (Photo: Rich Miller)

In most of its data centers, Facebook uses direct cooling, bringing filtered outside air into the data hall and circulating it through racks to remove the heat generated by servers and storage units. In its current implementation, fresh air enters Facebook data centers through louvers, and then is filtered and is cooled by passing through media that has small amounts of water flowing through it. Facebook says this process uses 60 percent water than traditional cooling.

Facebook has also begun using StatePoint liquid cooling system (SPLC), which was developed in partnership with cooling specialist Nortek and uses membrane energy exchanges, a new approach to evaporative cooling. SPLC uses a liquid-to-air energy exchanger, in which water is cooled as it evaporates through a membrane separation layer. This cold water is then used to cool the air inside the data center.

“We continue to use direct evaporative cooling with outside air to cool our data centers,” said Facebook spokesperson Melanie Roe. “As for SPLC, it is currently being implemented at our data center in Ireland and we anticipate it will be operational at the beginning of next year. We have not implemented it at U.S. locations since direct cooling works at these locations and uses less water than SPLC.”

Facebook continues a massive global expansion of its infrastructure. Over the past year, it has announced new data centers in Illinois and Tennessee, as well as major expansions of existing campuses in Utah, Georgia and Prineville, Oregon, where the company is rolling out a multi-story data center design featuring two floors of server rooms to boost capacity.

LinkedinTwitterFacebookSubscribe
Mail

Tagged With: data center water, Facebook, Water

Newsletters

Stay informed: Get our weekly updates!

Are you a new reader? Follow Data Center Frontier on Twitter or Facebook.

About Rich Miller

I write about the places where the Internet lives, telling the story of data centers and the people who build them. I founded Data Center Knowledge, the data center industry's leading news site. Now I'm exploring the future of cloud computing at Data Center Frontier.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Voices of the Industry

Building an Enduring World Begins with Accountability and Defining an Approach for Long-term Success

Building an Enduring World Begins with Accountability and Defining an Approach for Long-term Success TJ Faze, Head of ESG Strategy and Engagement at Vertiv, outlines the company's learnings around its recent ESG efforts.

White Papers

data center health

Top 40 Data Center KPIs

A new white paper from Sunbird outlines 40 of the most critical data center KPIs that managers should monitor. The report covers KPIs from nine areas: capacity, cost, asset, change, space, power, efficiency, cooling, and connectivity.

Get this PDF emailed to you.

We always respect your privacy and we never sell or rent our list to third parties. By downloading this White Paper you are agreeing to our terms of service. You can opt out at any time.

DCF Spotlight

Data center modules on display at the recent Edge Congress conference in Austin, Texas. (Photo: Rich Miller)

Edge Computing is Poised to Remake the Data Center Landscape

Data center leaders are investing in edge computing and edge solutions and actively looking at new ways to deploy edge capacity to support evolving business and user requirements.

An aerial view of major facilities in Data Center Alley in Ashburn, Virginia. (Image: Loudoun County)

Northern Virginia Data Center Market: The Focal Point for Cloud Growth

The Northern Virginia data center market is seeing a surge in supply and an even bigger surge in demand. Data Center Frontier explores trends, stats and future expectations for the No. 1 data center market in the country.

See More Spotlight Features

Newsletters

Get the Latest News from Data Center Frontier

Job Listings

RSS Job Openings | Pkaza Critical Facilities Recruiting

  • MEP Coordinator - Data Center Construction - Ashburn, VA
  • Data Center Facility Engineer - Chantilly, VA
  • Data Center Site Operations VP - Seattle, WA
  • Senior Electrical Engineer - Data Center - Denver, CO
  • Senior Estimator - Data Center Construction - Denver, CO

See More Jobs

Data Center 101

Data Center 101: Mastering the Basics of the Data Center Industry

Data Center 101: Mastering the Basics of the Data Center Industry

Data Center Frontier, in partnership with Open Spectrum, brings our readers a series that provides an introductory guidebook to the ins and outs of the data center and colocation industry. Think power systems, cooling, solutions, data center contracts and more. The Data Center 101 Special Report series is directed to those new to the industry, or those of our readers who need to brush up on the basics.

  • Data Center Power
  • Data Center Cooling
  • Strategies for Data Center Location
  • Data Center Pricing Negotiating
  • Cloud Computing

See More Data center 101 Topics

About Us

Charting the future of data centers and cloud computing. We write about what’s next for the Internet, and the innovations that will take us there. We tell the story of the digital economy through the data center facilities that power cloud computing and the people who build them. Read more ...
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

About Our Founder

Data Center Frontier is edited by Rich Miller, the data center industry’s most experienced journalist. For more than 20 years, Rich has profiled the key role played by data centers in the Internet revolution. Meet the DCF team.

TOPICS

  • 5G Wireless
  • Cloud
  • Colo
  • Connected Cars
  • Cooling
  • Cornerstone
  • Coronavirus
  • Design
  • Edge Computing
  • Energy
  • Executive Roundtable
  • Featured
  • Finance
  • Hyperscale
  • Interconnection
  • Internet of Things
  • Machine Learning
  • Network
  • Podcast
  • Servers
  • Site Selection
  • Social Business
  • Special Reports
  • Storage
  • Sustainability
  • Videos
  • Virtual Reality
  • Voices of the Industry
  • Webinar
  • White Paper

Copyright Endeavor Business Media© 2022