Ecolab, CoolIT & the Future of Data Centre Water Management

As the world marks World Water Day, attention turns once again to the resources that power our digital world.

Nowhere is that more evident than in the sprawling footprint of global data centres – the supercomputing engines that store our emails, stream our videos and, increasingly, drive AI. 

Yet these same data centres consume vast amounts of electricity and often rely on water-intensive cooling systems to prevent overheating.

There is, however, hope – as companies like CoolIT Systems develop advanced liquid cooling for next-gen AI data centers.

Ecolab’s announcement that it will acquire CoolIT Systems highlights how digital infrastructure can evolve sustainably. The US$4.75bn agreement, expected to close later this year, promises to merge CoolIT’s advanced liquid-cooling technologies with Ecolab’s century-long expertise in water management — a strategic alignment that could redefine sustainable data operations worldwide.

“AI is transforming the demands on data centers, and liquid cooling is one of the critical technologies that makes advanced computing possible,” said Christophe Beck, Ecolab Chairman and CEO.

“By bringing together CoolIT’s engineered cooling technologies with Ecolab’s expertise in water, chemistry and digital service, we can provide our customers a complete cooling solution that improves performance and reliability while reducing water and energy use.

“This acquisition expands our role in serving the AI ecosystem—semiconductor fabs that manufacture chips, power plants that fuel the chips, and data centers that utilise the chips—and positions Ecolab as the partner that the world’s largest technology companies rely on to grow responsibly and sustainably.”

Cooling for the AI era

With AI workloads expanding exponentially, traditional air-cooling methods for data centres are reaching their limits. 

NVIDIA’s GPUs and other high-density chips generate unprecedented levels of heat, making effective thermal management not just a performance issue but an environmental one. CoolIT Systems, a market leader in liquid cooling, offers an advanced solution that replaces or complements air-cooling systems with targeted, high-efficiency liquid loops.

By applying heat more precisely at the chip level, direct liquid cooling (DLC) reduces both water and power use per unit of compute. 

This technology allows hyperscale operators – the likes of Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud – to boost performance while cutting waste. When applied at scale, such innovations have the potential to lower the overall resource intensity of the entire digital economy.

The CoolIT advantage

Founded more than 25 years ago, Canada-based CoolIT Systems has become synonymous with high-performance liquid cooling. Its products – including coolant distribution units (CDUs), cold plates and rack manifolds – are now integral to the world’s largest data centres. 

From its global operations in Canada, China and Vietnam to its Liquid Lab R&D hubs in Calgary and Taipei, CoolIT provides engineered solutions built around efficiency and scalability.

CoolIT’s collaborations with major semiconductor makers such as Nvidia and AMD highlight its role at the intersection of hardware innovation and environmental performance. The company’s modular cooling solutions enable data centres to handle ever-denser compute loads while significantly reducing energy and water waste — key considerations in sustainability reporting and corporate net-zero pathways.

Ecolab’s next chapter in stewardship

Ecolab’s acquisition of CoolIT fits seamlessly into its wider mission to protect “what’s vital” — people, planet and performance. 

Known globally for its water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions, Ecolab works with more than 1,000 data centres already, helping them optimise water and energy efficiency through chemistry, automation and digital insight.

This deal doubles Ecolab’s opportunity in the fast-growing global high-tech cooling sector, expanding its addressable market from US$5bn to US$10bn and accelerating global water-related sales growth by an estimated 2%. 

Beyond numbers, however, it symbolises Ecolab’s commitment to helping industries transition toward smarter, resource-aware operations.

As part of its 2030 Impact Goals, Ecolab aims to help customers conserve enough water annually to support the equivalent drinking needs of one billion people. Pairing that ambition with a scalable, high-performance liquid cooling platform could make Ecolab a cornerstone of sustainable digital infrastructure – balancing the world’s growing appetite for data with an equally urgent need to preserve its most precious resource.