However, if the temperature and humidity are too high to effectively cool the servers with outside air alone, evaporative cooling is used. This involves spraying water onto an absorbent material that Amazon water specialist Beau Schilz describes as “a highly developed, giant sponge.” “It works similarly to sweating,” explains Schilz. “Evaporation removes heat from your body so you don’t overheat.”
In addition, in recent years, Amazon has gradually increased the operating temperature of its data centers and designed its servers to tolerate higher temperatures. Water is now only used to cool the incoming air when the ambient temperature exceeds around 29.5 degrees Celsius.
Goal: Water positive by 2030
Thanks to these methods, only half as much water is used today as it was five years ago, explains Amazon. The company’s goal is to become water positive by 2030. “This means that for every liter of water we use in our data center operations, we will return more than a liter of water to the communities in which we operate,” the company writes. Three quarters of the way there have already been achieved.
