F E A T U R E
WHY EARLY WATER DECISIONS MATTER FOR LONG-TERM DATA CENTRE RESILIENCE
As governments ask tougher questions about data centre water use, the pressure is on to address it earlier in development. Moorthy Palanivelu, Head of Data Centres & Hydrogen Generation, EMEA, Envirogen Group, explains why site-wide water planning needs to sit alongside power, land and connectivity from the outset and how early specialist input can help operators avoid costly redesign later on.
D ata centre water planning has long been a core design consideration for major projects. What’ s changing is how early the site-wide water strategy is coming under scrutiny within the broader development process.
In Scotland, new rules introduced in September 2026 mean applications for new data centres exceeding 50MW power capacity require an Environmental Impact Assessment( EIA). In Texas, authorities are also asking more detailed questions about projected water demand, supply sources, reuse and cooling technology.
Across Europe, the picture is also becoming more structured. The EU reporting framework already includes total water input and Water Usage Effectiveness( WUE), and on 21 September 2026 the European Commission proposed a common EU rating scheme to make data centre energy and water use more transparent. Norway is taking a different resource-efficiency route, requiring cost-benefit analysis of excess-heat utilisation for new data centres above 2MW.
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