Millions Told to Delete Emails to Save Drinking Water

Millions across England were told to delete their emails to save water during a “nationally significant incident.”

England has experienced its driest six months leading up to July since 1976—five areas are officially in drought and six are experiencing prolonged dry weather.

The National Drought Group met on Monday and part of its advice was to delete old emails and pictures “as data centers require vast amounts of water to cool their systems.”

Why It Matters

Deleting emails may not seem the answer to drought, but it is true that the underlying data center infrastructure consumes significant water and energy to cool servers, which run constantly to store and process global internet traffic, including personal emails.

In 2021, Google’s data center in The Dalles, Oregon, used 355 million gallons of water, according to the newspaper The Oregonian. This is enough water to fill roughly 538 Olympic-size swimming pools.

It comes as the United States anticipates an AI data center construction boom. In July, the White House called for streamlined construction permitting and the removal of environmental regulations in its document America’s AI Action Plan.

What To Know

Five areas in England had formal drought declarations: Yorkshire; Cumbria and Lancashire; Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire; the East Midlands; and the West Midlands. Reservoirs averaged 67.7 percent full, down from a typical 80.5 percent for the time of year, and several water companies have imposed hosepipe bans in affected regions.

Newsweek has contacted America’s equivalent of England’s National Drought Group, the National Integrated Drought Information System, for comment.

There are currently more than 5,000 AI data centers in the U.S, according to global marketplace platform Cloudscene. Virginia is has more than 500 of these centers while Texas and California more than 300 each, according to electronics coverage outlet Computer Network (CNET).

Newsweek has contacted state water, environment and development departments, in Virginia, Texas and California, for comment.

California’s Energy Commission (CEC), which deals with some of the state’s data centers, told Newsweek: “When evaluating a project, one of the required questions is: Would the project have sufficient water supplies available to serve the project and reasonably foreseeable future development during normal, dry, and multiple dry years?”

“This is assessed case-by-case and is project specific. Factors considered include the identity of the water provider, other customers in the service territory, the amount of available water supply, and whether recycled water can be used.”

What People Are Saying

Helen Wakeham, U.K. Environment Agency director of water and National Drought Group chair, said in a government press release: “The current situation is nationally significant, and we are calling on everyone to play their part and help reduce the pressure on our water environment. Simple, everyday choices, such as turning off a tap or deleting old emails, also really helps the collective effort to reduce demand and help preserve the health of our rivers and wildlife.”

The California’s Energy Commission told Newsweek: “The State of California Water Code (sections 13550 and 13551) prohibits the use of potable water where recycled water is available and economically feasible, including for cooling. Many data centers also incorporate water-saving measures such as dry-cooled or air-cooled condensers. Additionally, local jurisdictions often have General Plans or Climate Action Plans that require water conservation and the use of recycled water where feasible.”

What Happens Next

Large-scale AI infrastructure investments are likely to continue to reshape local energy and water demands, creating intersections between digital policy, energy planning and local water resource management that will require coordinated responses.