Facilities management teams may use Water Cooling as a method of lowering the temperatures of heat-producing computer processors, and sometimes other components such as graphics cards. As the name implies, this approach uses water rather than air as the cooling medium.

Processor speeds have increased dramatically in recent years — and unfortunately, so has the amount of heat they give off and the noise they produce as cooling fans kick in to keep them running at a safe temperature. Because water can conduct heat about 30 times faster than air can, a water cooling system allows the processor to run at higher speeds while drastically reducing system noise. In fact, some IT experts predict that water cooling systems will become the industry standard for personal computers in the near future.

Water cooling is especially useful in dealing with the special requirements of the corporate data center. Since data centers within company headquarters are often assigned the most convenient available space, rather than a space that is specially designed for this purpose, servers may be contained in an area that is too small or improperly ventilated. Unfortunately, water cooling often requires considerable plumbing adaptations, which can make water cooling a prohibitive option for existing facilities. In these cases, companies may consider a build-to-suit data center or other leasing arrangement from a trusted partner.