SPAN Suggests Measures To Address Data Centre Issues

PUTRAJAYA, Jan 21 (Bernama) — The National Water Services Commission (SPAN) has proposed several measures to safeguard potable water supply amid growing public anxiety over data centres, whose operations consume large amounts of water and energy.

In a statement released today, SPAN emphasised that developing an orderly and sustainable data centre while incorporating decarbonisation efforts to achieve the 'net zero' target, can support future economic growth and national well-being.

"Data centres including large-scale data centres have begun to be developed rapidly following the development of the digital economy and high technology in line with the development of 5G applications, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud storage, BitCoin mining, digital or commercial banking and so on," according to SPAN.

It said that the trend of water resource availability is undergoing significant changes due to climate change, thus putting pressure on the entire clean water supply operation by operators.

Following that, SPAN suggested that the development of data centres should take into account the availability of raw water sources in the development area, the reduction of dependence on treated water supply and the feasibility of using alternative water sources as well as the availability of water supply system infrastructure and related investments.

It also proposed several long-term measures to improve the efficiency of water use among data centre developers for five years, including the use of reclaimed water, efficient cooling technology and rainwater collection systems.

To manage water supply demand between domestic users and data centres, SPAN suggests that the government implement several policies in collaboration with various agencies.

They include the establishment of a sustainable data centre operating policy, the need for state governments to ensure the sufficiency of raw water resources before approving the development of data centres and for water supply operators to plan the development of water infrastructure to ensure sufficient water supply to all users.

"With these measures, data centres can reduce water consumption and increase the effectiveness of their operations," said SPAN.

— BERNAMA