Equinix: “Rethinking water in the data centre industry”

In this second episode of our special series with Equinix, host Andy Davis sits down with Alex Setmajer, Sustainability manager in Global Design and Construction team, to explore how water is becoming a key factor in the future of digital infrastructure.

Alex explains how Equinix manages water use across regions, adopts reclaimed sources, and makes choices that support both ecosystems and local communities.

Key topics: 

• The growing importance of water in data centre planning and operations
• How local environmental factors shape infrastructure choices
• Innovative approaches to water reuse and conservation
• Common misconceptions about water consumption in tech
• How Equinix balances performance with ecological responsibility

This episode offers a fresh perspective on how sustainability and operational excellence can go hand in hand, especially when it comes to one of our planet’s most vital resources.

Learn more about Equinix here - Data Center Company & Enterprise Network Technologies | Equinix

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

This is the Inside Data Center Podcast. We talk to the people who are the Data Center Center to give you insider info on everything happening. It's your host, Andy Davis.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

Welcome to the Inside Data Center podcast. This is the second in our series in partnership with Equinix. In this episode, I'm joined by Alex Settmeyer, Program Manager Water and Nature at Equinix. Good morning for you, Alex.

SPEAKER_02 0:41

Good morning. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_01 0:43

I'm good, thank you. Joining us from uh over the water. Afternoon for me, morning for you. Thanks for coming on. Looking forward to talking to you about, as I was just saying before we went online, a very topical topic at the moment. I was reading quite a lot of press in the UK about this subject, but generally water use in data centres and how Equinix are managing that challenge, which is a challenge and one that's a challenge everywhere in the world. And I'm sure we'll go into a lot more detail. Before we go into all of that, do you want to give a quick introduction of who you are and what your role is at Equinix?

SPEAKER_02 1:15

Yeah, absolutely. So my name's Alex Settmeyer. I lead our global water and nature programs within global design and construction here at Equinix. And my background is in architecture. And I uh was a sustainability consultant for almost a decade working in the environment before getting my master's environmental science and management. And then really shifting into this role where I can bring all of that together to think about how we're uh bringing watershed context and supporting biodiversity at our sites.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

I'd always like to ask my guests how you started your career and how you ended up in this wonderful world of data centers.

SPEAKER_02 1:58

Yeah, well, um I yeah, I started with my background in architecture. And when I was working as a sustainability consultant, I worked on all uh types of infrastructure and building projects. And so it was actually at my second role uh where I got more introduced to all of the tech companies and uh the data center development projects, um, everything from Equinix's co-location projects to other uh hyperscalers, huge um campuses. So that is how I got involved with Data Center specifically. And then I had the opportunity to come over to the Equinix side of things and really help build this program from the inside.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Yeah, and one of the big advantages of working, obviously, for Equinix is the experiences and opportunities that you get along the way. So have you got any examples of anything that's helped you sort of develop your career within Equinix?

SPEAKER_02 2:57

Oh, I would say that having a really broad background in all sustainability topics and understanding the building process from site selection and site search, all the due diligence that we do to find the right site through um construction, operations, handover, um, has been really helpful in terms of having an overarching view of the process to find and build a data center and what it needs to be successful as it moves into operating long term.

SPEAKER_01 3:31

Yeah, interesting. And I guess as well, like the opportunity to work on developments all over the world. You know, it gives you that exposure to different regions, different cultures, and different challenges.

SPEAKER_02 3:42

Definitely, and different um rules and regulations. Some we're talking about water today. And one thing that's really important about water that not a lot of people maybe realize is that unlike carbon, which is a very global topic, carbon is the same unit everywhere in the world. Water is extremely local. And so every watershed, every location has a different water context, a different way that water moves through the watershed, a different way that the city might be supplying their water or treating their water, different challenges in terms of water stress or um resiliency. And um it's really interesting to have the opportunity to learn about so many different locations around the world and what their specific water context is through this role, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 4:35

Yeah, and water's become such a critical challenge, I guess, for the industry. And it's and we were saying it's become it's become much more public now, I think. It's you you're seeing a lot more media talking about water use within data centers, because obviously there's a water challenge, you know, like in the UK, we have host pipe bands at the moment. So obviously water becomes a topic of conversation. And I know this is transient across the globe as well, but you know, why is water such a critical issue for data centers? And I guess how's Equinix approach to it evolved during your career and over the time of Equinix?

SPEAKER_02 5:10

Yeah, so water is a critical issue for data centers because when a data center uses cooling for water, or sorry, uses water for cooling, they are uh reliant on that resource coming in consistently in order to make sure that the building uh maintains the right temperature for the servers to stay cool and to continue functioning and working. So cooling is essential so that these servers don't overheat and break. And uh when we choose the option of using evaporative cooling, we need to have that supply consistently. Uh this really ties into the energy, water nexus of balancing these two really important resources for a data center. As you know, um, energy is also a really important resource for data centers. And when we use water for cooling, we're able to use the energy more efficiently and use less energy overall for cooling the building, which frees up more energy potentially for additional server space or um uh aim constrained grids for us to not be using that amount of energy. So there's a a lot of um kind of context-specific considerations that we need to balance when we look at water and energy um at a data center. And uh for Equinix, it's always been important to be sensitive and uh be a responsible user of water and consumer of resources. But over the years, especially in the last two years, uh adding more definition to what this means in terms of our water context evaluation process has been really important for us as pressures have increased and we're seeing more concern about water stress and uh climate change effect on water reliability and stress in various locations. So, this um has also been coupled with a really wonderful increase in tools and data availability that has come out of the market that's allowed us to uh leverage these resources and make better decisions with more and more data to help us understand exactly what's happening in each watershed. So since 2023, our approach has been that for all new data centers, um, we evaluate the water context for water stress and water sustainability now and into the future. And if an area is facing water stress, we will not be using water to cool that building. Instead, we'll be using that energy approach, air-cooled approach.

SPEAKER_01 7:53

Yeah, and it's interesting you link it to energy again, because I guess the when I look at it from a media perception type perspective, you've got that big energy use challenge that data centers is having in the in the media right now, like they use a lot of energy, et cetera, and we know that. And but then you you tie that into water, you've kind of got it coming from two angles, haven't you? But like you say, they're very, very well intertwined, really.

SPEAKER_02 8:18

They are intertwined. And this is why balancing that energy water nexus and really understanding what the local context is in terms of the source water body, the watershed, the water planning of the cities, the communities, and and also the power planning side is really important for us to consider and evaluate.

SPEAKER_01 8:40

Yeah, and another another point I wanted to sort of touch on was the the challenge around implementing reclaimed water systems as well, uh, where where there's regions without that supportive infrastructure. Have you got any sort of examples of that or anything you can share around that topic?

SPEAKER_02 8:55

Yeah, so I am really excited about reclaimed water. Reclaim water is post-consumer water, so wastewater that has been treated to a non-potable standard, so not drinking water standard that can be used for purposes like irrigation or uh cooling in industrial buildings like data centers. And so I'm really excited about this solution because it is post-consumer, non-potable, and we're not impacting a community's drinking supply or um access to water in that uh in using that resource. Now it's a growing trying to reclaim water, and the access to that has been around for decades in certain areas of the world, but it is not extremely widespread. There's a bit of an egg factor that a lot of communities have had to get over. Um, but it is exciting as a solution uh when it is available. There are a number of challenges that we have to overcome in order to be able to use reclaim water at our facilities. And they're really at the legislative rulemaking and infrastructure and time and cost perspective. So uh to start with the legislative rulemaking piece. So I live in the US. Um, and in the US, the rulemaking for allowing reclaim water is not done at the federal level. It's actually done at the state level. And so every single state has to come up with their own rules, their own permit processes, their own uh water quality requirements, their own allowances for what the reclaimed water can be used for before a community can put forth a plan to start using reclaimed water. And so we're seeing that some states have allowed it already, and other states are still working on it. But there's a lot of uncertainty in how how long that will take in every um state that we're looking at. And in other places of the world, it's all it's the same idea of it's happening in a very like, oh, there's a precedent here, we can apply it, but what considerations do we need to change to make it applicable to our location and so forth. Then once it's planned, uh sorry, once it's allowed, the community needs to plan to um add a tertiary treatment system to their wastewater treatment. So another treatment process in order to get that wastewater to the quality level that it can be used for reclaim water. Um and that requires getting a lot of people on board, potentially doing a long-term water planning, having a forecast of their prediction of how much water they're going to be needing so that they can ensure they're not making this kind of investment without demand to actually use it down the line. Um and then once we get all those pieces into play, we actually have to build the thing, fund it, build it, um, and build the pipeline to deliver it. Because since that water is non-cotable, it is delivered in purple pipe, which is a completely separate pipe network, even under the roads everywhere in the buildings, um, everywhere. Completely separate pipe network that delivers that water to all the locations that use it. Um, and so that can be additional cost too, especially if it's under roadways, you have to dig in that um and uh and so forth. So we look for opportunities where an existing reclaimed water distribution network might be relatively nearby us in our sites, and we can extend that. You know, if a community is planning on using reclaimed water, we're really interested in talking to them about how we can uh support that and enable it and bring it to our sites. We're also interested in talking to communities who are uh have the capacity, but maybe haven't uh fully built out the treatment processes yet so that they can um uh deliver reclaim water specifically to our sites. Um and I'm really excited about the future of what could be possible as they continue to try to solve these problems. But what's most important for us is that the projects are far enough along that for our really fast delivery timelines on day one, if we're relying on cooling, uh evaporative cooling, we're gonna have that water um available to us.

SPEAKER_01 13:17

Yeah, I was just about to say that it's obviously now a very, very critical component of the site selection process, isn't it? Which again, a lot of people listening may not understand that. But you know, water, if if required, is a huge component when you're looking for sites.

SPEAKER_02 13:33

Yeah. Yeah, it is. It's if we're using it for cooling, it's absolutely essential that we're having a consistent flow at the consistent volume every day 24-7.

SPEAKER_01 13:44

Yeah. And have you got any examples of where Equinix is is adapted or changed your cooling strategy because of the water stress or challenges around water in the region?

SPEAKER_02 13:55

Yeah. Yeah. The overall trend that we've seen related to this is that, uh, which may surprise you, is that larger cities, especially in areas that are more familiar with drought, they've already been doing a lot of planning, a lot of long-term thinking about how they're going to maintain their water supply for their constituents into the long term. So they're thinking about diversifying their water supply. So maybe they're just relying on groundwater. And now they're also going to be pulling in surface water or desalination or reclaim water or some other solution. And they're really looking at into 2050 and beyond, what are they going to do? And when there is a drought situation, what is their framework for reducing water usage so that they can continue to meet um minimum requirements or basic needs as the they're waiting to get through that drought situation? And so what we have found in um at, for example, at a site in Europe is that the area is known to be facing water stress. Uh, but as we did our analysis, we found that actually that specific city had done a large amount of water resiliency preparation. They had an abundant backup supply, they were prepared and from a baseline feasibility perspective, they could deliver us that water. However, we know that from our water context evaluation that the communities that themselves are really concerned about water stress. They're really concerned about uh making sure that their water needs are met. And we don't want to impact a community's needs, ability to need their own water needs. So we actually decided to switch that building from using evaporative cooling to using dry cooling in order to make sure that we're reflecting the uh position and the concerns of the community. And um, another part of the trend that we're seeing is that in smaller and more rural communities, they're a lot less diversified in their water supply. And they are also in their long-term water planning, have not necessarily been planning for a large industrial user to come in and ask for what might be half or most of the water supply growth that they've been planning. And so it's really important for us to be sensitive to that and to be transparent about what our ideal water goals and needs would be and to try to find solutions with them in terms of, oh, you're looking at this alternative water supply. You know, is there a way for us to expand that so that we're not impacting your needs, but we are also able to meet our potential needs because we're overall we're not seeing this area as being too stressed if we're using this specific supply. And there's been situations where a community has um said, Hey, we'd love to have you here. And you know, here is the you can use this water supply that we have allocated for you. Um but in our analysis, we learn that, oh, that water supply is actually quite stressed and uh we it wouldn't be able to recharge or replenish if we were to actually use it. So in those kinds of situations, we also make the decision to use dry cooling instead of evaporative cooling, unless we can find a really good alternative water solution like reclaim water.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

Yeah, interesting. And with um with all the changes in the world at the moment, technological innovation, there's a lot of a lot of change happening right now, isn't it? And a lot of it is very beneficial to some of the challenges we're facing. But are there any particular innovations or partnerships that you're excited about when it comes to sustainable water use?

SPEAKER_02 17:54

Yeah, I am really excited about reclaimed water. Uh and it's funny because it's not necessarily the most new or innovative technology or approach, but it is becoming more widespread and um there's kind of a growing moment and then using it. Uh, so I'm really excited about the potential of that resource. There's also a lot of new innovations coming out that are related to increasing our water efficiency of our actual systems. And we have a wonderful um innovation and engineering team that looks, works with our operations teams to pilot those solutions and look at how we can use the water coming into our facilities more efficiently to increase our cycles of concentration and uh increase the water quality leading our building and all those different types of things. So it's really exciting to see those two pieces come together.

SPEAKER_01 18:56

Yeah, and I think those are the type of point, which is why we're doing this podcast. We need to talk more about, isn't it? We need to share this, these innovations, this technology. Because again, like, you know, the the reclaim water is something that is probably just not known. Like, you know, if we can explain it and that this this is an option, it's out there, you can do it. Hopefully, more people will take it on board.

SPEAKER_02 19:17

Yeah, yeah. When we're seeing a growing interest in this as well. So we're um involved in the Water Reuse Association, which is uh uh an industry association that involves uh private companies, it involves uh municipalities, it involves policymakers, and the whole goal of the association is to bring and enable more um reclaimed and even potable, non-potable, sorry, water, potable water reuse for communities and for industrial users. And so I think that that's really exciting to see a lot of different organizations coming together to work on that through that kind of association.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

Yeah, and looking ahead, I mean, I guess this applies to myself and everyone as a consumer as well, as an industry. Like, you know, from a water use perspective, you think there'll be technologies that will come in that will just impact how we use water or how we think about using water? Will there be, you know, are there any trends that you you're looking at and you think this is the way it's going? Because I think personally there's definitely more exposure at it as a consumer, isn't there? Like how we use water, you know, to actually consider what we are doing with water, you know, don't leave the tap on, have a shout, etc., etc. It's definitely become more similar to energy. But is there any, have you got any views on that as a sort of an overarching point?

SPEAKER_02 20:39

Yeah, I mean, water is life and it moves through the water cycle, and we are stewards of that, all of us. We have the technologies available to use water more efficiently. We are able to, you know, as individuals, we can manage our own water use and make sure that we're not just letting it run down the tap. Um and from an industrial perspective, we have a lot of uh efficiencies that we bring in and a lot of considerations that we can take to make sure we're using it responsibly. When we're looking at new innovations, it's so important to make sure that we're balancing the energy and water trade-offs of that, and even looking at the upstream energy and water involved in those solutions. So, one um thing that I'm really excited about is that we recently completed a research project with a group of graduate students at the University of California in Santa Barbara, where we looked at the upstream water energy nexus of our water and power delivery to our sites in California. And uh that was really interesting to see just how much energy is involved in water delivery, especially in a location like California. Waters traveling across the entire state from one less water-stressed area to one more water-stressed area, as well as the water intensity of creating and delivering power, which is something that I don't think a lot of us are thinking about. So there's innovations necessary along every step of the way. But I think that we also just need to think about how we can use the technologies and solutions that we already have and apply them in new situations for being useful.

SPEAKER_01 22:32

I visited Stark Campus in in Portugal earlier this year, and they obviously have seawater cooling technology as well, which again, things like that you're not always aware of until you actually can see them in action and understand that obviously that's not an option for everybody, but technology like that is being utilized, I think, in in areas across the world.

SPEAKER_02 22:53

Yeah, yeah. Desalination is another great solution for a really water stress area to add to their potable water supply. It does come with a very intensive energy cost, and you're producing a lot of brine or waste products that you have to then do something with and manage. And so that's something to be really careful to when you're considering that kind of solution as well.

SPEAKER_01 23:18

Yeah. And do you think because of the because of the increase in density and rack, obviously AI has has caused all these conversations and the conversation around density of RAC is something that happens every day. We're all talking about nobody knows where that's going. But has that again put more exposure onto water and how we cool as a whole? Because obviously the heat is increasing.

SPEAKER_02 23:42

Yeah, AI is uh increasing the size of data centers, it's increasing the power required. And when you think about uh what determines cooling for a building, it's the the load that the servers are managing and the amount of heat that they're producing. So as those chips and those servers become more powerful, they're also producing more heat, which needs to be managed and rejected from the building. And when we're using evaporative cooling, that means that more cooling is necessary. So by association, more water is necessary to cool that. Um and I think a big misnomer that is not widely understood in the public that we need to be better explaining to is the difference between um evaporative cooling at the building level, which is what makes that most of our global footprint, our global water footprint, versus liquid cooling. Um and that as a a new uh server level cooling solution. Because liquid cooling is not necessarily using water. It might be using a different liquid that can transfer that heat really well and efficiently. Um but it's also moving that liquid around in a closed loop. So there's not a lot of evaporation happening or or consumption of that water happening. So it's actually not a really a large impact on overall water consumption or use at all.

SPEAKER_01 25:06

Yeah, we definitely need to get better at telling the story around that, I think, as an industry. Yeah, having conversations like this really helps, I think, increase the the knowledge externally about water use within within data centers, like I say, within other industries as well as not just data centers.

SPEAKER_02 25:24

Yeah, and I'm really passionate about translating and helping to communicate how data centers use water for anyone to be able to understand. And that's why over the last year I've been working with my amazing comms team to develop blogs, videos, and um graphics that help to explain how all of these different pieces work and how data centers use water, how we have a choice to use water, you make that decision, it's not necessarily required. And um uh how we're you working to use water responsibly. So I'd encourage anyone to go check those blogs and YouTube videos out.

SPEAKER_01 26:05

Yeah, definitely. Yeah, and we can we'll we'll put some in the show notes as well so we can direct people there. And finally, on the water, is there any sort of myth? I love debunking myths in this industry. So is there anything that, you know, in relation to water, any myths that you'd like to debunk right now?

SPEAKER_02 26:25

The first myth would be that uh water is required for cooling a data center. Well, it's a choice to use water. It's more energy efficient to use water, but it's not required. Um and then the second myth um is again that liquid cooling is the same thing as evaporate cooling. It's not. They're two very different technologies. Um and you know, the third one is I think that with all of the press and the focus on AI and data center slightly, people think that data centers are using more water than any other industry or any other effort on the planet. Um, and that is just that's just not the case. Um data centers are consumers of water when they're using it, uh, absolutely. But when we compare industry level water usage from data centers to industries like fashion or agriculture, um, data centers are not using much water at all, less than less than a few percentage, percentage points.

SPEAKER_01 27:27

Yeah, there's positives and negatives to being the the fad industry, aren't they? All all eyes are on us and everybody wants to talk about us, and that that creates questions and challenges, I guess, within the within the external media. So yeah, I agree with your point. It's about highlighting, we just have to highlight what we are doing, not worry about anybody else, and this is what we are doing, but get the real story out there.

SPEAKER_02 27:50

Definitely. And I think it's so important for us to be transparent about our water data, which is why we publish that in our annual reports and um provide explanations of what it means as well. Um, and I am hopeful that as time goes on, we'll continue to see more and more transparency, more granular transparency about water data or sorry, water data of data centers, because I think that will really help policymakers and the public understand how data centers compare to other industries, which will help to build overall trust and understanding there.

SPEAKER_01 28:26

Yeah, completely agree. And final question, not water related. So we we've had we've talked water now, but more career related. And just, you know, I ask everyone on my podcast the same question. But if you could give one piece of advice to anyone looking to develop a career in the sector, what would it be?

SPEAKER_02 28:44

Yeah, uh if you're interested in working in uh water, nature, sustainability in data centers, especially on the sidings through construction side of things, I would say it's really important to become a generalist in understanding sustainability topics. Uh, a really great way to do that is through learning about the lead uh certification framework because it covers a holistic range of topics really well that apply to buildings. Um and it's also really important to learn about the stages of building design and construction because it's quite consistent. It's just a matter of how quickly or slowly different pieces are done. Um and um and how to read drawings. You absolutely have to know how to read drawings and how cool the systems work in order to be successful in this industry.

SPEAKER_01 29:32

Yeah, definitely. And and watch some of your videos as well. Another another good piece of advice.

SPEAKER_02 29:36

Yeah, that can help you get started. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 29:39

No, definitely, but I think content's a really big thing, isn't it? And now we're we're so fortunate there's so much content out there. Whereas you go back to when I started my career, you had to you know ask people for for advice. Now you can now you can find it on Google or find it on YouTube, and there's so much great content out there to to help people on their just to learn really and develop their careers. Excellent.

SPEAKER_02 29:58

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 29:59

Well, thanks for your time. Enjoyed that chat. I think water's a really, really important topic again, and it's not talked about enough. So well done for doing what you do in regards to content, but also thanks for thanks for coming on today. If if anyone's got any questions, they'd like to learn more, what's the best way to get hold of you?

SPEAKER_02 30:15

Um, I think that you could email our sustainability at equinix.com uh address, and they can forward any related questions to me or help you answer uh more general sustainability questions as well.

SPEAKER_01 30:29

Excellent. Well, thanks, I keep keep out the good work, keep keep spreading the good message, and and hopefully, you know, we can do this conversation again. And there's been a lot of innovation and technology that's that's come into the water, so the water side of things.

SPEAKER_02 30:42

Yeah, definitely. There's a lot of opportunities for us to be exploring. I'm excited about it.

SPEAKER_01 30:47

Thanks, Alex. Enjoy the rest of your day.

SPEAKER_02 30:50

Thank you. You too. Have a good one.