Well, often more than they strictly need. Because many of them opt for lossy evaporative cooling, rather than closed-loop cooling, because it’s simpler, cheaper, and more effective … just at the slight cost of using up our limited fresh water reserves at an alarming rate.
and also: data centers do not consume “as much water as possible”, they consume exactly as much as they need
Well, often more than they strictly need. Because many of them opt for lossy evaporative cooling, rather than closed-loop cooling, because it’s simpler, cheaper, and more effective … just at the slight cost of using up our limited fresh water reserves at an alarming rate.