Dry air reduces the risk of corrosion and electrical issues in the sensitive equipment in the data centers. The lack of humidity in water-stressed regions, such as the southwest United States, makes it an attractive location for data centers. This means that the regions in which it is “best” to locate a data center due to its arid environment has the highest marginal cost in terms of water consumption.

In the Phoenix area alone, there are more than 58 data centers. If each data center uses 3 million gallons of water per day for cooling, that equates to more than 170 million gallons of drinking water used per day for cooling data centers. This massive consumption of drinking water for data center cooling puts a strain on the already fragile water supply and raises ethical questions about prioritizing the needs of tech giants over the basic needs of residents and agriculture.