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Experts Dismiss Email-Deletion Advice in Drought Guide as Negligible

Deleting thousands of emails saves mere millilitres of water a day compared to the hundreds of litres lost through household leaks

An artistic 3D render of the inside of a data centre, with many network cables criss-crossing the server racks. The entire image is bathed in blue light.
Your photos sit in buzzing server halls that need cooling. In a drought, even the cloud’s hidden water use is in focus.
AI data centres often use liquid cooling technology (pictorial representation of a data centre)
Data experts are mindful that deleting emails is not as effective as shorter showers

Overview

  • On August 13 the Environment Agency advised deleting old emails and pictures to reduce data-centre cooling water as part of seven household conservation measures.
  • Government figures estimate that deleting 1,000 emails with attachments cuts only about 0.2 litres of water per day.
  • A veteran data-centre analyst calculated that removing five gigabytes of data consumes just 79 millilitres of cooling water, far less than a one-second shower reduction.
  • Academics note many UK emails are stored abroad, meaning deleting them domestically may shift water demand rather than reduce it.
  • Regulators and ministers are pressing water companies to cut leaks faster and advance a £104 billion programme of reservoirs, desalination and recycling to shore up future supplies.