19119_Authority_April_2026

municipalauthorities.org │ 43 By now, everyone should be familiar with topics such as the Cloud and artificial intelligence. These relatively new features of the digital world have one thing in common – the use of data centers that house Information Technology infrastructure needed to operate the services which are part of our new digital world. The concept of a data center is rather simple, in that it is a physical location that contains the infrastructure required to run and deliver the aforementioned services. The concept of a data center is not new; rather, the origin of data centers can be traced back to the mid-20th century where large computer systems were stored in dedicated facilities. As the digital world, including use of the Cloud and artificial intelligence, became more of a presence in our ever day lives, the concept of the data center changed. Today, data centers host the infrastructure required to be shared by multiple users and are of different sizes and dimensions. You may have heard of the term hyperscale, which are traditionally larger data centers run by companies such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon. Although the physical nature of data centers may differ, one common theme is the energy resources and environmental issues unique to these facilities. Although we are at the dawn of modern data center operations, it seems inevitable that such operations will be subject to increased regulatory oversight in the coming years due, in part, to the identification of various environmental and energy issues that are germane to these operations. What are the issues that have drawn the attention of those in the environmental and energy fields as well as communities where such data centers may be located? The intent here is not to provide a list of every issue – some may not yet have been identified – but to give those unfamiliar with data centers a brief overview of some topics of interest in 2026. To be sure, the list today may be different than that in future years as technologies are developed to address some of today’s concerns. Perhaps the most frequent issue raised in the operation of data centers, which can be considered environmental, is the amount of water required to operate such facilities. One can research the various amount of water required to sustain the operation of data centers, but there is enough information to conclude that data centers, depending upon their size, will use hundreds of thousands to millions of gallons of water per day. Without a deep dive into the nuances of data center operations, it is generally accepted that water is required for both cooling purposes and in the generation of electricity. It is certainly within reason to project that the growth of artificial intelligence will increase the demand for water in the very near future. While it is firmly established that water consumption is vital for data center operations, what is less certain is the source or sources of such water. While the general public perception may be that water is plentiful, there are certain limitations governing such perception, such as geography and climate. Many of us in the municipal authority community understand that water may not always be plentiful, such as in drought situations. (As an aside, I pose the question of whether municipal authorities will play a significant role in the supply of water to data centers.) Moreover, there are geographic limitations to the supply of water, with many areas, both in the United States and elsewhere, known for the scarcity of this natural resource. What can be done to address the vast use of water? There are several options that perhaps can be utilized, such as the use of recycled water for cooling or the development of alternative cooling technologies. Certainly, these are issues that bear close attention. Before leaving the topic of water consumption entirely, I did want to raise the issue of water quality and whether the quality of water (e.g. hardness, TDS) used for data center purposes requires additional analysis and discussion. Although water consumption seems to be at the forefront of data center “environmental” issues, one area of potential concern that does not seem to garner as much attention is the impact on wastewater facilities, such as POTWs. It is self- evident that the operation of data centers will have an impact on wastewater systems if such systems are used for discharge purpose s. (Again, as mentioned above, will municipal authorities become part of the equation?) Two issues of concern that immediately come to mind are capacity and the type of constituents being discharged. Certainly, flows from a data center operation, which may not be sporadic, but consistent, could burden the receiving facility. Moreover, W hat type of treatment process will be necessary to prevent surface and groundwater pollution and , if feasible , at what cost ?