The Netherlands has a unique relationship with water. One-third of the country lies below sea level, and almost 20% of the mainland is water – largely due to the 6,000 kilometers of waterways that support industry and recreation.
Pumping and diverting and blocking water is what made the Netherlands possible, turning it into a vital European trading hub and top agricultural exporter. But now, the masters of controlling water are facing a new challenge: worsening drought.
That’s why Google partnered with North Water, a Dutch water treatment company, to harness water from a network of canals to cool its data center.
The €45-million project featured construction of a pipeline that can carry 10 million cubic meters of water each year to the data center. It also required a new treatment plant to treat and filter the water. The project illustrates the creative, sustainable methods for cooling data centers that Google is deploying around the world.
Learn more about Google’s partnership with North Water and Google’s water sustainability commitments. After you listen to the episode, watch a short documentary film about the project here.
Season 2: More Stories About the People Who Run the Internet
Six: The Future
Five: What If?
Four: A Quest for 24/7 Clean Energy
Three: When the Data Center Came to Town
Two: Inside the Walls
One: You Use Data Centers
Introducing "Where the Internet Lives"
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The Unbelivable Truth - Series 1 - 26 including specials and pilot
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