Facebook Announces Plan to Recover More Water Than It Consumes; Benefit 2 projects in Utah County | News, sports, jobs

Renderings of the new Facebook data center in Eagle Mountain. According to a press release, the center is to be expanded by 900,000 square meters with two new buildings. (Courtesy of Facebook)

Facebook announced on Thursday that it has set an ambitious goal of being water positive by 2030. That means Facebook would restore more water than it uses globally, including here in Utah County.

“The climate crisis demands urgent action from all of us. At Facebook, we have invested in renewable energies and committed ourselves to achieving net zero emissions across our entire value chain by 2030. “ said Facebook representative Melanie Roe. “We are also working on connecting people with relevant climate information.”

Facebook has become a major business partner in the Utah County community. The groundbreaking ceremony took place in 2018 in its 970,000 square meter data center in Eagle Mountain.

In February, Facebook announced that it would add another 900,000 square feet to its data center. “Keep construction crews busy for years” said the announcement.

Back then, some residents expressed concern about the amount of water the huge data center would use, especially in severe drought situations like now.

When announcing the water rejuvenation plans, Facebook said it has also taken on two special on-site water rejuvenation projects. The two water restoration projects replenish 451.8 million gallons annually, according to the company.

The two Facebook projects include:

Provo River Olmstead Power Plant: Facebook restores an estimated 415.8 million gallons per year in the Provo River. The Provo River’s Olmstead Empire is chronically drained during the dry summer months. Facebook has partnered with the Central Utah Water Conservancy District to ensure that 528.3 million gallons of water will remain in the river during the summer months. This will improve the habitat for endangered species and provide recreational fishing, hiking, and kayaking for the community.

This project started in summer 2020.

Eagle Mountain water reuse: Facebook restores an estimated 36 million gallons per year in the Cedar Valley Watershed. Facebook has partnered with Eagle Mountain to improve the water resistance of municipal water supplies.

“We have built a system that will enable the City of Eagle Mountain to reuse our treated operational process wastewater to irrigate landscaping in city parks.” said Roe. “Reusing water will help reduce pumping from local ground and surface water sources and improve long-term water sustainability in the community.”

“Over the past decade we’ve invested in new ways to make our data centers more water and energy efficient, with a focus on sustainable solutions.” Roe added. “As of 2020, our entire global office and data center presence will be 100% renewable energy and we have achieved net zero emissions. We achieved this in large part by investing in the development of a new, clean form of energy generation where we use the most electricity. “

Additionally, Facebook’s focus on renewable energy has saved hundreds of billions of liters of water as wind and solar power use less water than fossil fuels, the company said.

“We have taken a similar approach with water, investing in water restoration projects that will replenish more than 850 million gallons of water a year.” said Roe. “In regions with high water stress, these projects have already restored approximately 595 million gallons of water by 2020. These water restoration projects offer significant benefits to both local communities and the surrounding ecosystems, especially in arid regions. “

These efforts range from conserving aquatic habitats by providing freshwater to river systems during the dry season and providing drinking water for families of the Navajo nation, to upgrading agricultural irrigation infrastructure to reduce the amount of water being drawn from endangered sources.

“For our current water restoration efforts in New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Utah, Oregon, and California, we partnered with trusted local environmental nonprofits and utility companies to identify projects that would have the greatest impact.” said Roe. “In the coming years we plan to expand this work internationally, including in Ireland, Singapore, India, Great Britain and Mexico.”

“Going water positive by 2030 is a long-term goal, but like our goal of bringing our entire value chain to net zero by 2030, we are confident that we can do this based on the tremendous progress that has been made over the past decade, reachable.” Roe added.

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