Data Centres & Water: Sustainable Digital Growth

Developed in partnerhip with Arup and Evides Industriewater, this webinar will explore one of the fastest-emerging infrastructure challenges facing the AI revolution: water.

As governments and industry race to deliver the next generation of AI-ready data centres, attention has largely focused on power as a defining challenge. However, water is another critical resource rapidly emerging as a strategic constraint.

From advanced cooling systems and heat rejection to long-term site viability, water availability is becoming a decisive factor in where and how data centres can be built. As facilities grow larger, more energy intensive and increasingly integrated into industrial and energy clusters, developers are facing new questions around water resilience, permitting, environmental performance and infrastructure planning.

These are not isolated challenges. Across the UK's industrial economy - from hydrogen and carbon capture to sustainable aviation fuel and advanced manufacturing - the same message is emerging: water must be treated as enabling infrastructure rather than simply another utility connection. 

Discussion topics include:

• The growing role of water in enabling AI-ready data centre development.

• Cooling technologies and the future of water-efficient data centre design.

• Planning water and energy infrastructure together to accelerate deployment.

• Opportunities for water reuse, circular water systems and industrial symbiosis.

• Building resilient infrastructure while balancing environmental constraints.

• Integrating data centres into wider industrial and energy clusters.

• Collaboration between developers, utilities, regulators and policymakers to support long-term growth.

• Delivering sustainable digital infrastructure while maintaining a social licence to operate.