Researcher explains data centers' water and power demands

Data centers have been the subject of much discussion and debate in Virginia and around the United States due to the impacts on the communities where they are located.

While Northern Virginia, with roughly 150 data centers, is considered the world's data center headquarters, more and more data center operators are looking to Central Virginia to build.

Varying in size, resource use and location, data centers' overall impact can be a complex idea to comprehend.

Virginia Tech researcher Eric Sjostedt is part of a team studying data center impact.

"We're trying to figure out how, or more broadly, what are utilities experiencing in their infrastructure systems tied to the rapid expansion of data centers and other digital infrastructure," Sjostedt said.

Water usage is one subject he says is often discussed, as water is used to cool the large-scale computers housed within data center.

While research shows data centers use a lot of water, he said it is actually a very small percentage of total water usage in the U.S.

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