“Water reuse has never been more important,” said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin at the briefing, held April 15 in Washington, D.C.

According to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, large data centers can consume up to 5 million gallons a day, enough to meet the drinking water needs of 10,000 to 50,000 people. With the explosion of data centers, that number will only increase. 

Bruno Pigott, executive director of the WateReuse Association, told ENR that his organization was involved in helping shape the action plan. “One of the focuses of the water use Action Plan 2.0 is ensuring that a wide variety of actors are involved in efforts for water reuse and establishing commitments from each of them.” Those include not only drinking and wastewater utilities but also companies and organizations in the auto industry, tech firms, steel mills, and the food and beverage industry. 

In a statement, the EPA Deputy Administrator David Fotouhi said, “Thanks to collaborative partnerships across government and industry, we are developing innovative solutions and charting a course of transformational progress for American business, families, and communities.” 

One solution identified in the plan calls for developing a GIS-based mapping and information tool to advance planning for water reuse projects in the power sector and other end users. 

Pigott noted that having organizations commit to developing water reuse “is a way to ensure that we bring attention to those companies that do it… [and] as companies make those pledges, other companies will join in as well.”