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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Environment
Josh Taylor and Petra Stock

Thirsty work: how the rise of massive datacentres strains Australia’s drinking water supply

Australia CDC Sydney Water Sydney Canberra Melbourne Melbourne Water NextDC
An illustration of a sun made of data connections over parched red earth
Sydney Water has estimated up to 250 megalitres a day would be needed to service the datacentre industry by 2035. Illustration: Richard Giliberto/The Guardian

As Australia rides the AI boom with dozens of new investments in datacentres in Sydney and Melbourne, experts are warning about the impact these massive projects will have on already strained water resources.

Water demand to service datacentres in Sydney alone is forecast to be larger than the volume of Canberra’s total drinking water within the next decade.

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