England's water crisis renews focus on data centre cooling and consumption

England's drought is putting attention on data centres, which use large amounts of water to keep servers cool, adding to the pressure on already low water supplies

England’s worsening drought has been declared a “nationally significant incident” by the National Drought Group (NDG). While public focus is often on farms, rivers, and households, experts are also pointing to the role of data centres — vast energy-hungry facilities that require millions of litres of water each year to keep servers cool.

 

State of the water crisis

• Five regions of the country, including Yorkshire, Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, and the East Midlands, are officially in drought

• Six more are in prolonged dry weather phase

• Reservoirs are 67.7 per cent full, compared to a typical August average of 80.5 per cent

 

• July rainfall was just 89 per cent of the long-term average, the sixth month in a row of below-normal rain

  Helen Wakeham, director of Water at the Environment Agency, said, “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. Water companies must continue to quickly fix leaks and lead the way in saving water.”

 

Why data centres matter

• Cooling servers in large tech facilities consumes huge amounts of water, often sourced from local mains supplies.

• Environmental groups warn that during droughts, this demand can compete with drinking water, farming needs and ecological protection.

• NDG guidance now lists deleting old emails and photos as a water-saving measure, not because the files themselves hold water, but because storing and processing them in data centres consumes electricity and water for cooling.   

 

What’s being done

• Yorkshire Water reports a 10 per cent fall in household demand since a hosepipe ban — saving 80 million litres per day

• Water companies have invested £700 million in leak reduction over five years

• Smart meter technology is helping find and fix leaks faster. Thames Water alone has repaired over 1,000 leaks in hosepipe-ban zones since June.

 

Impact on farming and food supply

National Farmers’ Union (NFU) Vice-President Rachel Hallos said, "British farmers and growers continue to face extremely dry conditions... Some farms are reporting a significant drop in yields, which is financially devastating for the farm business.”

  Minimal grass growth is already forcing livestock farmers to use winter feed, raising future costs.

 

Environmental toll

• Lower river flows reduce oxygen levels, triggering fish kills and algal blooms

• Wetlands are drying, threatening habitats for rare species

• Wildfires have increased on heathland and moorland

 

How you can save water, even digitally

NDG’s public advice includes:

• Collect rainwater for gardens

• Fix leaking toilets

• Take shorter showers

• Avoid lawn watering

• Delete unused emails, videos, and files — reducing data centre workloads and cooling needs