The rapid expansion of data centers, semiconductor manufacturing, and other high-tech industries is reshaping water and wastewater planning across the U.S. These facilities bring economic opportunity, but they also introduce water demands and wastewater characteristics at a scale and complexity many utilities have never encountered before. Successfully navigating this new landscape requires earlier collaboration, new delivery models, and a more integrated view of water as a strategic resource.
In a recent interview with Water Online, Dave Sobeck, executive vice president at Carollo Engineers, shared how utilities and industrial users can work together to address these challenges and build more sustainable, reliable water solutions.
Industrial Growth is Redefining Water and Wastewater Demands
According to Dave, one of the biggest shifts utilities are facing is the sheer scale of water use associated with modern data centers and semiconductor facilities. Unlike traditional industrial users, these facilities often require very high volumes of water delivered at specific qualities, alongside wastewater streams that can be difficult to manage within conventional municipal treatment systems.
“What you see with semiconductor and data centers, the scale is just continuing to grow,” Dave explained. “The demands, whether it’s water demand or the wastewater being generated, are at a scale that many utilities haven’t dealt with before.”
For small and mid-sized utilities in particular, these demands can overwhelm existing infrastructure, especially when combined with the rapid pace at which high-tech facilities are developed. Municipal systems that are designed around gradual growth can struggle to keep up when large industrial projects move from concept to construction in a matter of months.
Unique Water Quality and Wastewater Challenges from Industrial Water
Beyond volume alone, the quality of water required and the wastewater returned sets high-tech industries apart. Semiconductor facilities often need ultra-pure water for manufacturing processes, while data centers rely on high-quality water to support efficient cooling. On the wastewater side, higher cycles of concentration and specialized process constituents can introduce brines, inhibitory compounds, or nutrient imbalances that challenge traditional treatment systems.
“The wastewater side becomes a very difficult problem for a lot of the utilities,” Dave said. “They can be inhibitory to a normal wastewater treatment process, they can add brine that makes effluent use more challenging, or they can simply overwhelm the system from a volume standpoint.”
These conditions require utilities and industrial users to think differently about treatment, reuse, and system integration from the very beginning of project planning.
Water as a Strategic and Sustainable Resource
Despite these challenges, Dave emphasized that water can be part of a more sustainable, long-term solution for high-tech industries. By designing systems that maximize cooling efficiency, capture and recycle wastewater, and recover water for reuse, industrial users can reduce overall demand while improving reliability.
“Water can be an incredibly sustainable solution,” Dave noted. “If you cycle up in your cooling systems, capture that wastewater, and recycle and recover it, you further reduce demands and make water a much more controllable and reliable resource.”
This approach reframes water from a constraint into a strategic asset, one that can support growth while aligning with sustainability goals for both utilities and industrial clients.
Rethinking Utility and Industry Collaboration
One of Dave’s strongest messages centered on the need for earlier and more transparent engagement between utilities, industrial users, and economic development leaders. Too often, major industrial projects are announced before water and wastewater implications are fully understood.
“That upfront collaboration and communication is critically important,” Dave said. “Once you understand the boundary conditions, schedules, water demands, wastewater characteristics, and funding responsibilities, you can set up a delivery method that actually works.”
Clear communication early in the process helps avoid last-minute infrastructure gaps and creates space for more innovative, scalable solutions.
Planning for the Future of Industrial Water Infrastructure
As data centers and semiconductor manufacturing continue to expand, utilities and industrial users will need new frameworks for collaboration, delivery, and long-term planning. Dave’s insights underscore the importance of early engagement, flexible delivery models, and viewing water as a renewable, strategic resource rather than a limiting factor.
Learn more about how utilities and high-tech industries can work together to address water and wastewater challenges by watching the full Water Online interview:
