Hickenbottom Working to Reduce Water Used in Data Centers

CHEE assistant professor Kerri Hickenbottom is working the crossroads of data and water. In a project with the Arizona-based Salt River Project, she is researching innovative ways for data centers to operate while reducing water and energy consumption. In an interview with Water Online, Hickenbottom explained that data centers require tremendous amounts of water and energy, and if we can change that, we’ll make a real impact.

"SRP is unique in providing both water and energy, and they have a significant presence in the state," Hickenbottom told Water Online. "Because of its proximity to extensive fiber optic networks, low energy costs, and minimal risk for natural disasters, Phoenix is set to become the second largest data center hub in the U.S. The computing capacity that data centers in this region can provide is enormous, and there’s an excellent opportunity to make a difference."

Hickenbottom is currently on her fourth year collaborating with SRP. The total energy consumption in our nation’s data centers in 2006 was approximately 61 TWh, which is the equivalent amount of energy used by 7.1 million four-person homes. That calculates to billions of gallons of water. 

"We’ve developed a multi-criteria decision support tool for stakeholders to assess how cooling system selection and data center operation impact their water and energy consumption," Hickenbottom said. "They can also see how much energy each option uses and how the cooling systems rank in terms of reliability and maintenance. This past year, we’ve been working on expanding the decision support tool to include the potential for onsite water and energy reuse. Our tool is open source and the first of its kind."