DATA CENTRE WATER use has almost doubled during the summer months compared to the start of the year, according to new figures from Uisce \u00c9ireann.<\/p>\n
In a summer which has led to widespread water restrictions for households, close to 17 million litres of water per day were used by data centres connected to the public water supply during May, June and July this year.<\/p>\n
This compares to nine million litres of water per day used by the same data centres during the first four months of this year.<\/p>\n
Converting these figures to monthly use, approximately 514 million litres of water was used between May and July, compared to 276 million litres between January and April.<\/p>\n
July saw the highest water use this year to date among data centres, during which Uisce \u00c9ireann introduced a nationwide hosepipe ban due to a lack of rainfall.<\/p>\n
During this month, data centres used over 200 million litres of water, according to the figures, or the same amount as roughly 50,000 people.<\/p>\n
Commercial users, such as data centres, but also golf courses, car washes and launderettes, are exempt from the hosepipe ban.<\/p>\n
The figures were provided to Labour TD Ciar\u00e1n Ahern following a desktop review of known data centres in Ireland by Uisce \u00c9ireann. It found 57 data centres connected to the public water supply.<\/p>\n
As water is used in data centres for cooling, it is normal for more water to be used during the summer months, and Ireland\u2019s exceptionally hot summer has undoubtedly contributed to the rise in water use<\/a>.<\/p>\n The hot weather began in May when temperatures reached 31 degrees in parts of the country, and it has largely continued since.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last month was Ireland\u2019s driest July on record and saw Uisce \u00c9ireann impose a nationwide hosepipe ban until the last week of August.\u00a0<\/p>\n But Ahern told The Journal that while households were being told to ration their water use, \u201cdata centres connected to Uisce \u00c9ireann\u2019s supply more than doubled their consumption over the summer months.\u201d He added:\n<\/p>\n This is yet another example of the preferential treatment given to big businesses and tech oligarchs by the State.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cWater is a precious commodity,\u201d Ahern said, adding that during dry periods everyone should do their part to conserve it, \u201cbut that message obviously isn\u2019t being heard nor enforced by data centre operators\u201d.<\/p>\n The Journal Investigates has previously reported that Ireland\u2019s largest data centres used almost one billion litres of water last year<\/a> \u2013 enough water to fill 400 Olympic-sized swimming pools, or the equivalent of approximately 20,500 people\u2019s annual water use.<\/p>\n And while other industries like pharmaceuticals use a lot more water, the concentration of data centres in the Greater Dublin area has raised concerns about the pressure placed on water supplies in the capital.<\/p>\n Just two of Ireland\u2019s largest data centres are located outside Dublin: Meta\u2019s campus in Meath and an Amazon data centre on the border of Meath and Louth in Drogheda.<\/p>\n Uisce \u00c9ireann has said that data centre water use accounts for just a fraction of the total production, and they told Ahern that the fluctuation during the hotter summer months \u201cis not a risk to the public water supply\u201d.<\/p>\n They added that \u201cthe development of data centres is a matter of government policy\u201d but that in planning future water supplies \u201cdata centres are not a concern for Uisce \u00c9ireann\u201d.<\/p>\n The Journal has also previously reported that the government\u2019s data centre report cut recommendations<\/a> for introducing \u201cmeasurable and comprehensible targets for water use\u201d as a means of addressing local community \u201cperceptions\u201d.<\/p>\n Instead, the final version calls for \u201ctransparent reporting on energy and water use\u201d even though the European Commission has collected key metrics like energy efficiency and water consumption from data centres since 2024.<\/p>\n\n