Ecolab bets $7bn to tackle AI's growing water problem

A single AI data centre can consume millions of gallons of water a day, and Christophe Beck, chief executive of Ecolab, says he has spent $7 billion in the past six months trying to bring that figure down.

The bulk of that spending went towards a $4.75 billion acquisition of CoolIT Systems, a Calgary-based liquid-cooling specialist, completed this year.

Much of the debate around AI's environmental footprint has focused on electricity demand, but Beck argues water is the more urgent constraint. "We can generate power; we can't generate water," he said, pointing to growing community resistance near data centre sites.

Closed-loop technology, used by CoolIT Systems, can capture heat produced by the high-density chips without misting or evaporating water into the air, according to Beck.

Ecolab is making its first step towards the field of high technology and cooling of computers. The firm has been working for over 100 years to protect the water and food systems of about 3 million clients in 172 countries, earning $16 billion a year.

"The whole idea is helping companies produce better products, outcomes, yield, and data in ways that are respectful of communities and natural resources," Beck said.

The agreement is based on the 2030 sustainability goals of Ecolab, formulated in 2019, to reduce its carbon footprint by half and enable the customers to save 300 billion gallons of water each year.

According to Beck, the CoolIT acquisition can be seen as a further pursuit of this goal instead of a step away from it due to the rare alignment of "more money, more growth, better impact".