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200,000 gallons of water a day: Heat from AI data centers could power desalination plants

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200,000 gallons of water a day: Heat from AI data centers could power desalination plants

Turning the tables, American technology innovation companies are positioning AI data centers as major water producers rather than water guzzlers.

​The companies said that with new forward-osmosis-based desalination plants, data centers can produce up to 200,000 gallons (about 750,000 liters) of clean water a day from brackish groundwater for every megawatt of computing capacity.

​To make this a reality, two US-based technology innovation companies, Endeavor and Trevi Systems, announced a partnership Thursday to scale up heat-driven desalination plants, with the first pilot deployment at Endeavor’s data center.

They plan to use the heat generated by AI data centers to power a process that makes fresh water from brackish or produced water, reducing the need for additional electricity to drive the process.

​This technology works like a smart water-cleaning machine that uses heat instead of a lot of extra electricity or fresh water. It uses a closed-loop, waterless cooling system, which means it doesn’t need to keep adding new water.

​The heat it creates is used for Trevi’s forward osmosis, where water is pulled through a special membrane by a draw solution, much like water being gently sucked through a filter.

​Unlike reverse osmosis, it does not require very high pressure. Then the draw solution is regenerated with 60 to 80°C heat so it can be used over and over. This system removes salt and other contaminants while turning the brine into solids, using almost all waste heat.

​The system can make up to 31 liters of clean water for every 1 kWh of computing , the company said.


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