Eris Belil: "It is very difficult to analyze the environmental impact because the industry does not provide open data"

The manufacturing and use of technological devices have an environmental impact that is often unknown to the public, especially regarding water consumption. Producing a single mobile phone can require tens of thousands of liters of water, and data centers also consume enormous amounts for cooling and maintenance.

Despite the difficulties in obtaining precise data, studies indicate that the technology industry is one of the largest consumers of this resource. Given this scenario, both companies and consumers play a key role in minimizing its impact.

To learn more about this reality, we at Xarxanet spoke with Eris Belil, a biotechnologist and community facilitator at the technological cooperative Colectic.

How much water is needed to manufacture technological devices such as mobile phones or computers?

Although sources vary significantly, and finding first-hand information is practically impossible, the most recent environmental analysis estimate the water cost to be between 12,760 and 50,000 liters per mobile phone.

The reason for the variability in results is the use of different databases, sources, and methodologies. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to accurately analyze the environmental impact because the technology industry does not provide open data. What is certain is that the cost is high.

What impact does the data center industry have on global water consumption?

Data centers consume water primarily in two ways. There is direct consumption, attributable to the use of water as a coolant—since constant computing requires constant cooling, and simply circulating air is not viable in such an environment—and indirect or secondary consumption, attributable to the proportional water consumption of the energy sources used to power the data center itself and the periodic cleaning of cooling systems.

Estimates made by some U.S. organizations suggest a consumption of 7,100 liters of water per megawatt-hour of electricity used. However, since cooling costs vary significantly with the location and traffic of the data center, this figure can fluctuate considerably.

Which phases of a technological device’s life cycle consume the most water?

For mobile phones, by far, the extraction of resources and production are the phases that consume the most water.

There is no reason to believe that other electronic devices have a significant variation from these numbers, as the required resources and manufacturing procedures are incredibly similar.

Are there significant differences in water consumption depending on the type of technology or manufacturer?

It is difficult to measure the impact because the data is not public, and any external analysis of an industrial process must make considerable estimates, meaning the results may differ significantly from reality. A model is only as good as the data it is based on, and that data is not easily accessible.

That said, since most of the water cost comes from resource extraction and product manufacturing, and as we mentioned, the processes are quite similar regardless of the technological product, there is no reason to believe that the difference in consumption between manufacturers is significant.

What measures can technology companies take to reduce water consumption in their processes?

Reducing consumption is difficult. What does not reduce consumption but does reduce waste is the implementation of recycling and reuse systems for consumed water, something that large companies are already implementing throughout their production chain, although losses are inevitable.

How can consumers help minimize the environmental impact related to water use in technology?

Although most water consumption comes from resource extraction and processing rather than production—where the final consumer has little impact—the processing and recycling of electronic waste is also a significant problem, and here consumers can make a difference.

The simplest way is to reduce the amount of waste, either by using repairable technology or by using devices until they can no longer be repaired. In this field, companies like FairPhone (for mobile phones) or FrameWork (for laptops) offer options that, although they initially have a higher economic cost for the consumer, are modular, making repairs easier and reducing waste significantly. This higher cost is also largely due to the ethical sourcing of manufacturing materials and processes, in addition to economies of scale.