Why Liquid Cooling Doesn’t Mean High Data Centre Water Use

Liquid cooling does not mean water use. 

“We do not need to consume water to operate data centres,” said Tuan Hoang, Head of Cooling Technology and Product Development at Schneider Electric, to a room full of journalists in Buffalo, New York, as part of the Schneider Electric & TeraWulf Global Press Event.

His comments address a wave of recent investigative reports highlighting the water footprints of Gen AI data centres, which have raised public concern over localised water scarcity. 

“Zero water is needed to cool AI data centres,” Tuan said. “Liquid cooling is required but it’s for the load and radiators.

“Water consumption for data centres is a choice – a geographical choice dependent on power, land and what is required.”

While water consumption is a choice that some data centres may make, it is not a requirement, unlike liquid cooling for a rack of 400kW, which is an absolute necessity. 

Cutting water consumption by half: two case studies

To illustrate the gap between air-cooled (traditional) and liquid-cooled facilities, Schneider Electric presented two theoretical case studies based on data and projections for data centres in Dallas, Texas and Paris, France.

The projections demonstrate that transitioning to liquid cooling can slash annual water consumption by roughly half.

For instance, the projected water usage for the Dallas data centre reduced from 382,000 cubic meters per year using traditional air cooling to 197,000 cubic meters with liquid cooling – a 48% reduction. 

Similarly, the Paris facility dropped from 108,000 cubic metres to 51,000 cubic metres, representing a 53% savings.

“It’s a choice to how you reject the heat and the myth that all data centres with liquid cooling are using lots of water, isn’t true,” Tuan said. “We focus on high-efficiency chilling.”

For example, the Uniflair XCA line is a series of pre-engineered, air-cooled chillers by Schneider Electric designed for data centre environments. It “does not use water, just radiates heat out,” Tuan noted.

These systems provide continuous cooling up to 2.4MW per unit, with fast restart capabilities and dual-feed power redundancy.

This is achieved through closed-loop engineering. Rather than relying on external water consumption, the system uses a dedicated, factory-sealed volume of high-quality cooling fluid.

The specific formulation is tested in Schneider Electric’s Motivair factories to ensure it remains trapped safely within the system. 

Because there is zero evaporation or discharge, the fluid supply is built to endure the entire operational life of the data centre.

Why liquid cooling is no longer optional for AI

Liquid cooling has been around since the 1980s but “now it isn’t an option, it’s mandatory”, according to Rich Whitmore, CEO of Motivair by Schneider Electric, which has been developing liquid cooling systems for 400kW racks for over 10 years, making it fully prepared to equip today’s AI factories. 

“People don’t have a choice – if you want advanced AI systems going in, you have to cool them.”

It is a shift that redefines the resource entirely. Implementing closed-loop liquid cooling isn't an act of water consumption, but an act of thermal efficiency that dramatically reduces a data centre’s reliance on external water supplies.