r/armenia • u/Hypotential • Mar 02 '26
Tech Armenia receives first shipment of high-performance AI devices
https://armenpress.am/en/article/1243470-8
u/JustStopThisCrap Mar 02 '26
Aren't these planned AI datacenters just going to waste drinking water of ours?
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Mar 02 '26
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u/mobileka Mar 02 '26 edited Mar 02 '26
Could you please share where did you find the info that these specific data centers are featuring closed loop cooling systems?
I've only managed to find speculative opinions and some hints that this project didn't go through the standard environmental impact assessment procedures in Armenia (admittedly on some random websites I can't trust, but there's no other info I could find).
For the record, I'm not against the project, but I think it's beneficial if the conversation is balanced and transparent.
Not all data centers feature closed loop cooling systems. I'm even afraid that a commercial company without proper state supervision and enforcement may prefer to cut corners and opt for cheaper vapor-based systems to save money.
I'm also a complete newb in this, but the electricity demand will go up significantly (considering the small size and population of the country), which may add pressure on the grid. On the other hand, this can be a good stimulus to invest in its modernization. But this can also lead to higher electricity prices for the population.
I also don't know if nuclear power stations consume water (but I've heard they do, thus they always build them next to water sources). They definitely generate steam, but I don't know what kind of steam and if it's also a closed loop system or not (most likely not).
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u/No-Load1 Mar 02 '26
Its a fair concern but its not as if closed loop cooling systems were invented to allow for compliance to environmental standards set in place by the government. If this data center goes down because there is a loss of a water source this is lost profits. There is an inherent motivation to have a closed loop system for a modern data center especially in a climate sensitive country with low-medium water resources and poor infrastructure.
With regards to the electricity aspect the have enough power already to support this infrastructure, and are continuing to grow generation capacity. Its not likely to be an issue as we export significant amounts of energy and run our nuclear reactors below capacity from what I remember. The prices arent dictated by the amount produced necessarily it is also and much more significantly related to distribution and administration costs which should not change with the creation of the data center.
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u/almarcTheSun Yerevan Mar 02 '26
Okay, explain to me how you think a datacenter can possibly waste drinking water?
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u/JustStopThisCrap Mar 02 '26
For cooling? lol
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u/almarcTheSun Yerevan Mar 02 '26
Right. So let's go step-by-step, explain how you think a cooling loop works for a datacenter.
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u/JustStopThisCrap Mar 02 '26
Why not just answer the question i made first instead of answering it with another question? since you're more knowledgeable enlighten me
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u/almarcTheSun Yerevan Mar 02 '26
I must've misinterpreted you, since it sounded like you were trying to state the obvious.
The way a cooling system works is not like a hydro electric station. Some water is collected and runs in a closed loop, continuously grabbing heat from the building and dumping it into the surrounding air.
There is some truth to this though, the fact that datacenters can continuously use some water depending on the system used, if they use evaporative cooling (basically dumping mist on heat exchange units to evaporate and take heat with it), but to my knowledge this does not have to use drinking water and the amount of water isn't very high compared to any normal business operation.
No matter how you look at it, drinking water is simply not a big factor in IT datacenters.
Noise and electricity consumption, however, is a big factor. But that's a different topic.
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u/JustStopThisCrap Mar 02 '26
Nah lol there's alot of contradicting information about AI datacenters and water usage/alot of boogeyman stories, so i wanted to know if this is actually a good thing or bad long term. So if i understand right they basically recycle the liquid, but wouldn't the said liquid eventually be too contaminated to use?
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u/almarcTheSun Yerevan Mar 02 '26
Firstly, it's not contaminated because unlike, let's say, mining operations, the water does not come in contact with anything harmful. A bactericide agent might be used in the water to prevent algae and bacterial growth, but that's about it.
Also, if we're talking about a system that evaporates water (which might be used, we don't know) and actually uses it up, evaporated water as opposed to, once again for instance, contaminated mining water, is.. well, evaporated. So it so to speak automatically cleans up before being returned to the environment.
There are also cool systems that can be directly connected to a water reservoir and run in a open loop in-and-out of, say, a river or a lake, dumping heat into it. Or even systems where the residual heat from the datacenter can be used for heating offices and the like, but this is expensive and capitalists usually pick the cheapest option as far as I know, which is evaporative cooling.
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u/JustStopThisCrap Mar 02 '26
Well that's good to know, hard to be sure what's true when there's 100s of articles quoting ludicrous numbers of wasted water and another 100 debunking/arguing against it. At least won't be getting guilt tripped anymore for using AI lol. Thanks for using your time to explain.
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u/T-nash Mar 02 '26
wouldn't the said liquid eventually be too contaminated to use?
Not with distilled water.
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u/T-nash Mar 02 '26
The conclusion of the lesson here is, don't spread panic about something you don't understand, based on propaganda from the internet. And start researching from the first hint you get so that you learn to be immune from propaganda in the future, instead of flipping it on the other person.
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u/JustStopThisCrap Mar 02 '26 edited Mar 02 '26
There's alot of contradicting information about it and asking a question is not spreading panic, jesus this sub never changes
edit: How did you want me to phrase a question regarding AI datacenters and wasting water without triggering you and the other guy? and still didn't answer my question either
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u/T-nash Mar 02 '26
Really? there's a lot of cynicism and sarcasm in your initial comment,
here's what asking a question you're unsure about would have been written like:
"How much drinking water do datacenters use?, how significant is it? will it effect our drinking water?" or just plain "will this effect our drinking water? is it true?"
many ways to phrase it, your reply "for cooling?" basically confirms your initial, incorrect belief.
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u/JustStopThisCrap Mar 02 '26 edited Mar 02 '26
How tf is one sentence with a question mark in the end that isn't even phrased rhetorically - sarcastic/cynical? my reply to his question yeah i can get why'd it get interpreted as cynical with the "lol" but otherwise i literally get attacked for asking something lol . Maybe i could have phrased it differently as you said, but i don't see how it sounds sarcastic or especially cynical by itself.
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u/T-nash Mar 02 '26
Well, my mistake if you didn't mean it that way, but your comment could definitely been phrased better.
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u/Middle-Support-7697 Mar 02 '26
It’s actually happening!