The UK’s ambitious plans to expand artificial intelligence infrastructure are facing criticism after Water UK warned that future datacentre growth could be limited by insufficient water supplies. In a briefing submitted to Members of Parliament, the industry body said current government water forecasts do not account for the significant water requirements of datacentres, despite their growing role in supporting AI services. Datacentres rely on large volumes of water to cool high performance servers, and Water UK estimates facilities in England already consume around 6.6 million litres of drinking water every day. If the government succeeds in tripling datacentre capacity by 2030, daily water demand could rise to nearly 20 million litres. The organisation also noted that most UK datacentres are located in the south and east of England, regions already experiencing water stress and hosepipe bans. The UK government said it is committed to balancing AI growth with environmental protection through new water infrastructure, improved resource management, and plans to build nine reservoirs while exploring alternative cooling solutions for future datacentres.
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