How AI uses our drinking water (BBC)
This video explores how rapid AI growth is placing pressure on global water supplies through data centre cooling and indirect water use linked to energy and hardware manufacturing.
Preparation
- Test YouTube playback works on your classroom network before the session.
- Optional: have one image or article about data centres ready for extension.
Learning objectives
- Identify the direct and indirect ways AI technology consumes water resources (approx. 1:36-4:38).
- Explain liquid cooling in data centres and why it often requires high-quality water (approx. 2:34-3:16).
- Evaluate AI infrastructure environmental impact in the context of global water security and sustainability (approx. 3:30-5:07).
Instructions
-
Play from the start. Pause at approximately 0:40.
2 min
Video 0:00-0:40
Whole class
Ask before playing: What are some everyday examples of using an AI chatbot? -- activates prior knowledge.
- Play 2:01-3:16 (servers, why chips get hot, liquid cooling). Pause. 2 min Video 2:01-3:16
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Cold-call pairs: Why do data centre chips need cooling -- and what does that have to do with water?
3 min
Paired discussion
Target answer: chips generate heat, liquid cooling removes it using water, much of that water evaporates (up to 80%) and leaves the local water circuit.
- Play 3:43-4:38 (electricity, direct vs indirect water use). Pause. 2 min Video 3:43-4:38
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Pairs: Give one direct and one indirect way AI uses water. Share back.
3 min
Paired discussion
Direct = cooling water at the data centre. Indirect = power plants use water to generate electricity for AI.
- Play 4:39 to end (transparency, company actions, innovations). 1 min Video 4:39-end
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Plenary: Why is it hard to get clear data from tech companies on AI water use -- and what should they be required to measure and publish?
3 min
Whole class
Push toward accountability language: transparency, independent verification, reporting standards. This is genuinely unresolved policy territory.
Key definitions
- Data centre
- A large facility housing many servers. Keeping them cool requires enormous energy and often water-based liquid cooling.
- Liquid cooling
- A method of removing heat from servers using circulating water or coolant. Much of this water can evaporate and leave the local water supply.
- Direct water use
- Water consumed on-site at a data centre, primarily for server cooling.
- Indirect water use
- Water used upstream -- e.g. power stations need water to generate electricity for AI. Energy demand creates water stress before a drop touches a server.
- Water stress
- A condition where demand outstrips available supply in a region -- worsened when large facilities compete with communities for the same local sources.
Differentiation
Support
Common misconceptions to address:
- The cloud has no physical impact: the cloud runs on physical data centres using electricity and water.
- Only sending a prompt uses water: impacts occur across the whole lifecycle including manufacturing and power generation.
- Cooling water is recycled forever: a large share can evaporate depending on site design.
Provide a key vocab card and sentence stems: AI uses water because... / One risk to communities is...
Stretch
Compare two claims in the video (e.g. Sam Altman's 1/15th teaspoon figure vs the study data). What is uncertain? Write a one-paragraph critique of how we evaluate statistics from companies with a financial interest.
SEND
Key vocabulary card with simple definitions and images of a data centre. Option to respond with a labelled diagram (data centre to cooling to water source) instead of written paragraphs.
Extension activities
- Find one personal habit that reduces unnecessary AI use and write one question you would ask a tech company about how they measure and report their water use. Homework
- Research one data centre location where local communities have protested about water or energy use. What were their concerns and what changed? Next lesson
- Thames Water serves London and the Thames Valley -- the same region as some of Europe's densest data centre corridors (Slough, Reading, West London). Thames Water is already under severe financial and infrastructure stress. Should data centres in that region face stricter water-use limits? Find one argument for and one against. Next lesson
- Does knowing each AI interaction has a small water and energy cost change how you think about using AI? Write 3-5 sentences explaining whether it changes your behaviour -- and why or why not. (Hint: think about who is really responsible -- the user or the company building the system?) Independent