- U.S. tech companies are using data center heat to produce clean water.
- New technology reduces electricity demand, using heat to drive the water extraction process.
- The Trevi system can reduce energy requirements by 85%, effectively treating saline wastewater.
- Data centers may reuse heat in the future, enhancing desalinated water production capacity.
U.S. tech innovation companies are positioning artificial intelligence data centers as primary producers of water rather than consumers of water resources. These companies state that with new forward osmosis desalination facilities, data centers can produce up to 200,000 gallons (approximately 750,000 liters) of fresh water daily for every 1 megawatt of computing power generated from saline groundwater. To achieve this goal, two U.S. tech innovation companies, Endeavor and Trevi Systems, announced a partnership on Thursday to expand heat-driven desalination facilities, with the first pilot deployment set to be located at Endeavor's data center.
Innovative Use of Data Center Heat
This initiative will utilize the heat generated by artificial intelligence data centers to drive a process that extracts clean water from saline or produced water, reducing the need for additional electricity. The technology functions like a smart water purification machine, using heat instead of large amounts of extra electricity or clean water. It employs a closed-loop, waterless cooling system, meaning there is no need to continuously add new water. The heat generated is used in Trevi's forward osmosis process, which gently pulls water through a special membrane using an extraction solution, similar to how water is gently drawn through a filter. Unlike reverse osmosis, this process does not require extremely high pressure.
Then, the extraction solution is regenerated using heat at 60 to 80°C to allow for reuse. This system can convert saline water into solids while removing salt and other contaminants, effectively utilizing waste heat.
According to company data, every kilowatt-hour of computing power can produce up to 31 liters of clean water. This means that a 100-megawatt facility could function like a water plant producing 20 million gallons daily, with the energy required coming from its adjacent computers. In addition to producing clean water, this technology also helps avoid a major bottleneck typical of desalination plants. For every liter of fresh water produced, a typical seawater desalination plant returns about 1.5 liters of saline water to the ocean. The cost and energy required to treat this saline wastewater are high, so it is often discarded due to the prohibitive costs of processing saline water in concentrated systems.
Advantages of the Trevi System
Compared to traditional desalination plants, Trevi's system can reduce energy requirements by 85%. This is due to its zero liquid discharge technology, which evaporates saline water into solid salt, reducing the need for liquid waste treatment.
Jakob Carnemark, founder and CEO of Endeavor, stated, "Over 100 million cubic meters of saline water are discharged back into the ocean every day globally. The heat used in Trevi's process is typically wasted, which changes the calculation." According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), data centers consumed 415 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2024. This figure is expected to more than double, reaching approximately 945 terawatt-hours by 2030. If future data centers can capture and reuse heat in this manner, it could theoretically generate "more than half of the 130 million cubic meters of clean water produced daily by every desalination plant on Earth," the statement noted.
The Future of Data Centers and Water Resource Management
As global water scarcity issues become increasingly severe, converting data center heat into clean water presents an innovative solution. This approach not only effectively utilizes waste heat generated by data centers but also reduces reliance on traditional desalination plants, lowering energy consumption and costs. As the technology matures, data centers may play a significant role in water resource management, providing new solutions to the global water crisis.