Amid a severe drought in the UK, the National Drought Task Force has issued unusual advice to the public, including a call to delete old emails and photos. According to representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency, such actions can help reduce the load on data centers that consume significant amounts of water to cool servers. This is reported by The Verge.
The press release notes that even simple daily habits — like turning off the faucet or deleting old emails — can help reduce overall water use and preserve ecosystems. However, the exact amount of water that can be saved by deleting files was not specified.
Data centers, especially those using traditional cooling methods, can waste about 26 million liters of water each year. Big tech companies, including Microsoft, are already experimenting with alternative solutions — such as submerging servers in liquid or placing them on the seabed.
Generating electricity for powerful data centers also requires significant amounts of water, as thermal and nuclear power plants use it to cool systems and convert steam into mechanical energy that turns turbines.
The UK has been in a drought for six months now. August brought its fourth heatwave, and the period from February to July was the driest since 1976. Five regions have been officially declared drought-prone, with six more experiencing a prolonged lack of rainfall. The group says water use in the Seven Trent area has fallen by 20% since the peak on 11 July following an information campaign.