Using water more responsibly

Our aim is to reduce pressure on nature. So we have set a target to reduce our dependency on ground water, a resource that is more and more scarce.

Therefore, we partnered up with the local utility company in Falun to instead source surface water from the nearby lake Rogsjön, pictured above with Falun in the background.

We invested around 20 million SEK to lay new pipes and upgrade the water processing system, to start using surface water of poorer quality from Rogsjön rather than ground water. That means we can use filters rather than chemicals to clean the water to meet our technical requirements.

We use this water source for the newest building, Data Center 1C, and will do the same in the remaining centers. There are good reasons for doing this.

First, improving the local water infrastructure means other industries can use the same surface water source, potentially offloading pressure on ground water supplies even more than our own consumption of surface water does.

Second, we typically need more water for cooling during summer periods when ground water levels can become strained.

Third, by using a decommissioned reservoir and existing water infrastructure we reduce the need for new construction which saves resources.

We want to reduce pressure on nature. By taking as little water as possible, and taking it from sources that are more easily replenishable and accessible, we increase the water resilience in the area.

We assess our sites' general water risk and water stress levels using the World Resources Institute (WRI) tool Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas.

Our data centers are in areas of Sweden where the water risks are low, according to the WRI tool. Both current and future water risk levels and water stress levels are considered very low in the geographic areas where our data centers are located.