Comment on How do AI data centers manage to *consume* water, but when I cool my house, my A/C *makes* water?

Fiery@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

• cRazi_man@europe.pub ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  Even though there is loads and loads of water on the planet, the amount of fresh/drinkable/usable/accessible water is tiny. This water evaporates and rains back down, but this will most likely fall over the ocean, or on land and go I to the ground, or into some other unusable area/form.

  Water suitable for human use is a scarce commodity and needs to be preserved. Of all the water lost to the atmosphere from server cooling systems, almost none of it can be recaptured again.

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  • Kolanaki@pawb.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Why are they not using a closed loop system with condensers collecting the evaporated water?

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    • surewhynotlem@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      I’ll give you one gue$$

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    • SaltSong@startrek.website ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      A condenser will generate the same amount of heat that they are trying to dissipate.

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      • Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

        Collect and condense the hot water vapor, concentrate the heat until you’ve got steam; then pump it through a steam turbine recapturing that energy as electricity.

        I’m sure there’s some difficulties and nuances I’m not seeing right away, but it would be nice to see some sort of system like this. Most power plants generate heat, then turn that into electricity. Data centers take electricity and turn it back into heat. There’s gotta be a way to combine the two concepts.

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      • zqwzzle@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

        Actually more because thermodynamics is a cruel mistress.

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      • Kolanaki@pawb.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

        A condenser can be as simple as a glass dome in a cool room. There is no need for any electricity or heat.

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  • Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Hadley cells bring them inland does it not where it condenses and rains flowing back towards the ocean where it again evaporates and travels inland rains and goes back to the ocean.

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• Fuckfuckmyfuckingass@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  Just cause you use water in one place doesn’t mean it’ll come back in the same place.

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  • Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    It does though doesn’t it

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    • 4am@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      I mean eventually yeah, but not fast enough for you to keep using it that way.

      Especially now that air holds more moisture since rising temperatures keep the atmosphere warmer and rain is less frequent.

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• Ziggurat@jlai.lu ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  This is the complicated part with water consumption, saving water in the Netherlands won’t make rain in Morroco.

  However, there is only so many rain water stored in the ground at a given time and brought by the rivers. This water need to be used mostly for agriculture, then human consumption, and finally industry. Once it’s back in the cloud we don’t fully know where it will fall again, let alone if it’s polluted.

  Sure it’s a renewable ressource, the problem start when you the water faster than the rate at which it renews, especially during summer. In Europe the problem will be even worse with the global warming. The alpine glacier are disappearing meaning that we’ll loose a major water reserve for summer

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• SirActionSack@aussie.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  Most people are not directly collecting rain to drink.

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  • Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Yea we are

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