Apple Inc. (AAPL): Reno iCloud Facility is Locating Clean Water for Cooling

Published on April 2, 2013 at 12:00 pm by David Woodburn in News

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is investing about $1 billion of its own money in a new iCloud storage facility in Reno, Nev. The site is under construction now, and it has a pretty good location (which, of course, is the key to good real estate, they say). It is located as a part of a new site called the Reno Technology Park, which abuts a highway that runs along the Truckee River.

However, the new iCloud center needs very clean water in order to conduct proper cooling of the servers and preserve all of the sensitive data and technical components of the data center. While the Truckee River is nice, it is not known for running the virgin-pure water Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) needs for its servers, so the company had to figure something else out. And it’s had its Eureka! moment as it bean developing the site for construction. Part of Apple’s large investment in the center is going toward a water delivery system that would provide the right kind of water to the center through underground aquifers under the site. Apple Insider is providing some photos fo the site, describing the project that Apple is undertaking to deliver the water in a sustainable, low-energy way.

One of the benefits of the site for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is that it is at the base of a hill, which means it is possible for the company to direct some of the groundwater to the facility by gravity instead of needing to build extra pumping stations or water towers. To ensure a steady supply of water to the facility, Apple is investing in redundant, parallel piping with valves to reduce the risk of water supply interruptions. Each of the pipes will be insulated and will be fitted with sensors to monitor flow, particulate matter and temperature, among other information that is vital to the data center’s efficient operation.

In addition, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will likely install some programming with its water chiller facilities onsite to not only maintain a steady temperature of the water, but it likely will transfer some electricity use from peak, high-demand times to low-demand, off-peak times to save energy, and may use the open air on cooler Nevada desert nights to turn off the powwer to the chilling elements more often as another way to save nergy.