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Microsoft has created an environmentally-friendly design for its data centers that recycles water, reducing consumption and maintaining a “closed loop” system. The new design is estimated to save 125 million liters of water per data center annually. The company plans to implement this in new projects in Arizona and Wisconsin beginning 2026, with an expectation of zero-water evaporation data centers going live by 2027. Despite the water-saving design, Microsoft’s current data centers will continue using standard cooling tech for now. The shift coincides with rising profits in their AI-powered Azure business.

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Microsoft has come up with a fancy new blueprint for their data centers that’s all about being kind to the environment. Instead of constantly guzzling water to cool down all their tech gadgets, they’ve designed a system which doesn’t require a single drop! They introduced this cool (pun intended!) idea back in August, saying their plan is to have a “closed loop” system which just circulates the same water around, cooling it down between cycles.

They’ve made it so that the water doesn’t evaporate either, meaning the water levels stay the same, not needing additional top-ups. But don’t fret – even with all this water-saving going on, they’ll still have plenty for the important stuff, like brewing a cup of tea in the kitchen or using the loo! Each year their smart new design could save more than a staggering 125 million liters of water per data center.

Now just to put things in perspective, some folk who are super clued up on the environment have raised concerns about how all this tech we love can actually be a bit of a drain on resources. Data centers, the big computer brains behind popular stuff like AI, cryptocurrency and even just our everyday emails, use loads of electricity and water. Did you know that just 100 words typed by OpenAI’s ChatGPT uses around half a liter of water? And cooling the computers needed for a single Bitcoin transaction could fill up your swimming pool?!

But don’t worry – Microsoft’s existing data centers will continue to use the usual air and water-cooled tech for now. However, they plan to test out their snazzy new water-saving system on new projects in Arizona and Wisconsin starting from 2026. By 2027, they expect new data centers to come online using this “zero-water evaporation” system.

So, the good news is Microsoft’s eco-friendly thinking seems to be paying off! A recent report showed a pretty impressive increase in their AI-powered Azure business earnings. So it looks like Microsoft will be splashing out big bucks on their AI in the future! Now that’s what I call making a splash! (Apologies, I couldn’t resist throwing in one last water pun!).