Britain ‘Does Not Have Enough Water’ for Planned AI Data Centre Boom

The UK faces water shortages because government forecasts do not take into account the expansion of data centres, water companies have said.

The government has “all but forgotten that most data centres require water to cool their systems”, according to a briefing to MPs from Water UK, a trade body representing water companies. 

The briefing suggested weakening environmental protections so that more water can be drawn from the environment to expand the AI sector.

The government’s forecasts for water usage “explicitly exclude” data centres, the briefing said. The stinging critique said the government’s data centre plans said official forecasts are “fatally flawed”.

Meanwhile, three government plans – the department for Science, Innovation and Technology “Delivering AI Growth Zones” plan, the AI for Science Strategy and the AI Opportunities Action Plan – all fail to mention water, the briefing said.

“There appears to be an assumption that the country will always have enough water for its economic needs. Nothing could be further from the truth,” it said.

Water UK used its briefing to propose reducing limits on water abstraction in water-stressed parts of the country. “Water companies could have these caps suspended temporarily, to allow them to enable data centre and other growth, while they develop new water supply options,” the briefing said.

More than three quarters of data centres are located in the water-stressed east and south east of England. There are 520 data centres in the UK with around 100 more currently being planned.

The Scottish government is considering a moratorium on building new data centres, which would put the UK’s AI strategy at risk. The proposal said AI data centres represent “overdevelopment”.

One of Andy Burnham’s first acts as prime minister was to invite AI minister Kanishka Narayan to attend cabinet, suggesting that his government may stake a lot on AI boosting the economy.

The most recent Ofwat data shows that water companies are wasting 2.87bn litres of water every day through leaky pipes – a fifth of all the water pumped into the network.