The owner’s situation
A funded North Texas campus has a preferred cooling design but no complete water solution. A provider has discussed supply, while treatment, peak demand, drought conditions and wastewater responsibilities remain open. The sponsor is being asked to commit to a layout that may depend on infrastructure outside its control. The assignment is to develop and deliver a supportable water-and-cooling pathway for the first phase.
What is happening
TRWD’s July 27, 2026 FAQ says data center requests need justified volumes and conservation information for evaluation. It also distinguishes raw-water supply from treatment and local development approvals. A discussion with one provider does not settle the whole campus water pathway.
Our view
Water is a campus-design decision before it is a negotiation. Asking a provider to reserve capacity while cooling assumptions remain unsettled makes the project harder to evaluate. The answer is not automatically “use less water” or “drill a well.” It is a system the operator can run and the providers can support.
What we need to establish
We would start with the operator’s environmental operating envelope and the designer’s water balance, not a single annual consumption estimate. The design team should identify average and peak make-up, seasonal demand, commissioning fill, water-quality requirements, treatment losses and discharge characteristics. Fire protection and domestic service need their own design checks. We would then compare those requirements with the actual provider boundary, service conditions and proposed connection points.
The options we would test
What owners should do
Our proposed execution sequence for this assignment:
Build one demand case
Convene the operator, cooling designer and civil team to resolve inconsistent assumptions. Give each provider a justified demand profile and distinguish opening-phase needs from future reservations. Keep the calculation traceable when the IT or cooling design changes.
Resolve the complete service chain
Identify who supplies raw or treated water, who treats it where needed, who owns storage and pumps, and who accepts wastewater. Examine reclaimed-water or other alternatives only after the specialists establish availability, rights, quality and treatment requirements. A well is an option to investigate, not an assumed exemption from supply or permitting constraints.
Develop the selected route
Coordinate the necessary studies, easements, agreements and design packages. Establish ownership, funding and operation of off-site improvements. Bring storage, connection works and temporary commissioning needs into the programme. Align public commitments with the selected, budgeted design.
Build and prove the system
Follow the appointed contractors through construction, inspections and commissioning. Require the testing specified by the designers and providers. Confirm the operator has the operating procedures, maintenance obligations and approved response to supply restrictions before the phase is accepted.
How we protect the decision
The owner needs a side-by-side decision on capital cost, ongoing energy and water cost, delivery timing and operational limitations. Lower water use is not a complete recommendation if it creates an unacceptable electrical or heat-rejection requirement. We would require operator sign-off on the selected basis and a change-control check whenever cooling density, phase size or the supply arrangement changes.
What completion looks like
An accepted water solution means more than an agreement to discuss supply. For readiness, require the agreed service pathway, assigned infrastructure scope and necessary permissions for the contracted stage. For delivery, require completed connections and the specified performance and quality evidence, including the wastewater interface. Acceptance is against the project brief, not a generic claim of water independence.
What we would track
- Provider-confirmed service conditions compared with phase demand.
- Unassigned supply, treatment, storage and discharge responsibilities.
- Cooling-design changes affecting electrical demand or the layout.
- Completed infrastructure and test records required for phase acceptance.
A water agreement matters. A complete water solution gets the campus closer to operation.