(BEAVER DAM) Tech giant Meta is addressing concerns about how its $1 billion artificial intelligence data center will affect the area’s groundwater supply.
AI data centers use large quantities of water to cool the extreme amount of heat generated by their powerful computer chips. According to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, a medium-sized data center can consume up to roughly 110 million gallons of water per year for cooling purposes.
At Wednesday’s announcement about Meta’s Beaver Dam data center, a Meta representative said the company plans to restore all of the water it uses.
“We have a goal to be ‘water positive’ by 2030. That means that we will restore more water than we actually consume,” said Meta Director of Data Center Community & Economic Development Bradley Davis. “In Beaver Dam we will restore 100% of the water consumed in our data center operations to local watersheds.”
Davis also said Meta will work with Ducks Unlimited and other groups to restore 570 acres of wetland and prairie surrounding the data center.
Image computer rendering of the Beaver Dam AI data center courtesy of Meta
