Data center water math: 10MW of servers ≈ 15 m³/h of evaporation
AryHHAry · x · 2026-10-01
An Indonesian technical thread lays out the physics of data center cooling water:
- Make-up water replaces evaporation and blowdown losses, not water circulating in pipes.
- High flow rate doesn't prevent evaporation; it only spreads heat over more mass to lower ΔT — total heat Q must still leave the system.
- Nearly all IT power becomes heat: 10MW of servers ≈ 10MW to reject, plus chiller overhead.
- Via evaporation, roughly 1MW of heat ≈ 1.5 m³/h of steam (latent heat 2,400 kJ/kg).
The real question isn't flow rate but how many MW leave as vapor — and whose water supply pays for the make-up.
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