Canada duck factory paying the price for AI.

[hdshot]

Sounds like water is not for the duck factory for much longer or much more stress at best.

200,000-square foot data centre, can churn through 70,000 liters of potable water a day.

Canada is jumping into the AI construction race with few mechanisms to protect its water supply.

locals were being asked to limit their own water use.

Etobicoke data centre, approved to use up to 39.75 liters of water per second for cooling purposes, 1.2 billion liters a year.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/ai-data-centre-canada-water-use-9.6939684

 “position Alberta as a global leader in AI-driven data centre operations.”

https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/water-woes-from-data-centres

[metlhead]

I'll pass on the panic button till I understand what the numbers mean. Anyone here have experience with the cooling system of a data center? Could it be a closed loop chiller system that recycles the gazillion litres of water indefinately? A drop in the ocean. Reuze the heat someplace else that lowers energy demand elsewhere. If it is a wasteful open system I'm sure the water doesn't disappear. Surface wetlands for cooling? Energy plants in Texas use a doomsday amount of water that is just recycled by way of cooling lakes that provide awesome recreation. Duck Factory won't go dry cuz our use of water, rather from land use that destroys areas that it pools up.

[andersonjk4]

I'll pass on the panic button till I understand what the numbers mean. Anyone here have experience with the cooling system of a data center? Could it be a closed loop chiller system that recycles the gazillion litres of water indefinately? A drop in the ocean. Reuze the heat someplace else that lowers energy demand elsewhere. If it is a wasteful open system I'm sure the water doesn't disappear. Surface wetlands for cooling? Energy plants in Texas use a doomsday amount of water that is just recycled by way of cooling lakes that provide awesome recreation. Duck Factory won't go dry cuz our use of water, rather from land use that destroys areas that it pools up.

 

Although I haven't worked on any of the new giant data centers, I am in the commercial HVAC industry.  Any source of cooling that is "using" water is either using cooling towers that loose water due to evapoation (very unlikely in Canadian climates), or some sort of water source heat pump.  In the later case, the water source is usually well water.  When well water is used in a "pump and dump" application it is either re-injected back into the aquifer through a separate well, or it is pumped out to a holding pond.  While it may cause concerns for locals who rely on the aquifer, I would'nt think this would have any appreciable impact on surface water for waterfowl habitat.  Like stated before, the disturbance of the building itself is likely to cause more harm than the water used.   

[metlhead]

Kinda what I was thinkin. A good closed system with heat pump chillers wouldn't need evap or even put back into ground. Fill it once. Transfer heat through closed hydronic loop to reefer chillers and dump heat to atmoshere. Zero yo minimal water loss. System like this could cycle massive amounts of water daily, but it is the same water over and over. Numbers look terrible until we really understand the plan. Heck, my Ford 'uses' many gallons of water as coolant every time I drive it. Multiply that by every vehicle on the road and enviro numbers would prolly surpass data centers.
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