Our technology relies on water. Don’t take it for granted | Opinion

Artificial intelligence is invisible. It’s in the cloud, weightless and seamless.

Much has been said recently about the amount of water needed for artificial intelligence and generative AI. The headlines are everywhere: “AI is draining water from areas that need it the most,” or “AI data centers are coming for your land, water and power.” These headlines, while sensational, do have nuggets of truth to them: Artificial intelligence has a hidden water cost, but it doesn’t have to stay hidden — and it’s certainly not the only thing using more water than you may realize.

As a water process engineer, I design water and wastewater treatment plants to ensure compliance with local, state and federal regulations. I work with public utilities and industries to produce clean water and treat waste to protect public and aquatic health. It’s not quite as sensational as the AI boom, but the infrastructure I work with on a daily is the backbone of what makes every interaction with your favorite large-language-model possible — from ChatGPT to Gemini to Claude — these programs all rely on one thing: water.

Every October, the National Water Alliance hosts Imagine A Day Without Water, a one-day campaign focused on rallying resources and engaging schools and social media with a simple fact: We simply cannot function without reliable, clean water.

We should get serious about valuing and protecting it. Much of the messaging around this campaign focuses on the basics — showering, brushing your teeth, flushing the toilet. These are easy to visualize because the water quite literally goes down the drain. But, what about the unseen? That’s where AI comes in.

The instant gratification and ever-improving abilities of AI are impressive, and it’s being integrated into almost every aspect of our lives, which is what makes it a relevant anchor in modern conversations about water use, conservation and environmental health. But that hidden cost — the cooling of data centers — goes beyond the headlines of the day.

A simple Google search, even without its newly enhanced AI functionality, uses water. Listening to your favorite song on Spotify uses water. Anything stored in the cloud — photos, videos, word processing documents — uses water. Cryptocurrency uses water. Scrolling on your favorite social media app uses water. Online shopping uses water. Every smart device in your home uses water. I could go on. If it relies on the cloud or data, or is connected to the internet, it’s probably using water.

Only about 2% to 3% of all water on Earth is fresh water, with the rest containing salt. Data centers tend to rely on fresh water sources. Salt water be used by some, but it’s more labor intensive on the maintenance side — salt water is extremely corrosive, after all. For coastal regions, it may at least be an option. But here in the middle of the country in a landlocked state, salt water isn’t a realistic alternative. That makes the issue of water supply and conservation vital as we increase our reliance on technology.

Water makes our modern, connected lives possible, and without it, we’d lose a lot of the luxuries many of us might take for granted. Knowledge is power, but collective action is power too. Kansas City is a national hub for the engineering companies that maintain our water infrastructure and keep that invisible system running. The work we do may not make headlines, but it powers every search, stream and post you make.

When you water your lawn, you see the sprinkler. When you refresh your social media feed, you don’t see the water used to cool those servers. This Imagine A Day Without Water, Oct. 16, try to visualize the water that powers our digital lives. When you turn the water off while brushing your teeth or you wait until your dishwasher is completely full to run it, think — without AI — about the many ways you used water today.

The cost of water in tech is largely unseen, but the sooner we get real about it, the sooner we can begin treating water as the finite and increasingly scarce resource that it is.

Rachel Swezy is a Kansas City-based water process engineer for Garver, specializing in the design of water and wastewater treatment plants that comply with local, state and federal regulations to protect public and aquatic health.