SHAH ALAM, Dec 4 — A new water efficiency standard for all data centres, including high-demand artificial intelligence (AI) facilities, has been enforced since September 1 this year to limit the use of clean water for cooling and safeguard national water resources.
Deputy Prime Minister cum Energy Transition and Water Transformation Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said the Federal government has introduced a dedicated Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) guideline that must be complied with by all operators.
Under the new rule, data centres must prioritise alternative water sources.
“Data centres must prioritise the use of alternative water sources such as rainwater, recycled water, or treated effluent for cooling purposes,” he said in a Parliamentary written reply yesterday.
Fadillah was responding to Pasir Puteh MP Datuk Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh’s query on the national standards for clean water usage in cooling data centres, which amounts to billions of litres annually.
He added that clean water is allowed only when alternatives are insufficient, and operators are required to report their annual water consumption.
The operators are also tasked with reporting their WUE performance and methods to reduce drinking water use to the relevant water supply operators.
Meanwhile, Fadillah said the Federal government has set a WUE cap of 2.2 cubic metres per megawatt-hour (MWh) for any data centres operating in the country.
Acknowledging the high water demand of AI data centres, he said the new cap will ensure potable water use is minimised as operators must implement long-term strategies to achieve lower WUE values, either through alternative water sources or more efficient cooling systems.
“With this approach, any large-scale use of drinking water by data centres can be controlled and balanced,” he said, noting that the move is crucial to ensure public water supply remains protected.
