Data centres in Johor explore alternative water sources

JOHOR BARU: Several data centres in Johor are exploring the use of alternative water sources – including waste water – in a bid to reduce reliance on treated water supply, says state exco member Lee Ting Han.
The Johor investment, trade, consumer affairs and human resources committee chairman said a data centre is already in the process of using such an alternative, with the help of Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) and Johor Special Water (JSW), a state-owned entity.
'Two other data centres are currently exploring the use of alternative water from IWK's sewage treatment plants and direct river intake as part of efforts to reduce reliance on potable water.
'We expect more to follow suit, as two other centres have expressed interest in it,' he said.
'We think they (data centres) would likely want to transition with or without incentives because switching to alternative water sources is good for their Environmental Sustainability and Governance profile,' he added.
The state government previously gave assurances that steps have been taken to ensure domestic water users do not face interruptions, amid huge consumption by data centres.
In April, Asia Pacific and Japan hyperscale data centre specialist AirTrunk announced a partnership with JSW to jointly develop a recycled water supply scheme for its Johor campuses.
State housing and local government committee chairman Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor said all new data centre applications must be vetted by the Johor Data Centre Development Coordination Committee (JPPDNJ).
Johor recorded RM164.45bil in investments from 42 data centre projects as of the end of last year, which also generated 6,145 job opportunities for locals.
Of the 42, 13 data centres have started operating, 15 are under construction, while the remaining 14 have been vetted and approved by JPPDNJ, he said.
'The applications must comply with benchmarks set for power usage effectiveness (PUE) and water usage effectiveness (WUE),' he said.
In Johor, the allowed PUE is 1.4 and WUE is 1.8, based on best practices in countries such as Singapore.
Mohd Jafni said that the Bridge Data Centre, located within the Johor Baru City Council's area, is in the process of using 20 million litres of alternative water per day, with the help of IWK and JSW.

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