UK government advises deleting emails to save water

Technical realities of data centres and email deletion

• Multiple commenters argue that keeping old emails/photos on storage barely contributes to heat or water use compared to CPUs/GPUs and active workloads, especially AI.
• Spinning disks and data-centre SSDs do consume power at idle, but this doesn’t depend meaningfully on whether the blocks are “empty” or contain cat photos.
• Several point out that deletion is often more resource-intensive than leaving data alone (index rebuilds, replication, backup/key cleanup, etc.), so mass user deletion drives extra compute and IO.
• One ex–large-provider engineer notes that email deletion pipelines are expensive batch processes and that large bulk actions are intentionally throttled to avoid impacting others.

Water use and cooling in data centres

• Some say data-centre water consumption is overstated and often limited to hot summer periods or specific low-PUE facilities using evaporative cooling. Others remain suspicious of high “water for DCs” statistics.
• Distinction is made between closed-loop chilled-water systems (minimal net water use) and evaporative cooling towers that consume water.
• A few suggest saltwater or desalinated water, but replies highlight corrosion, high energy cost, waste brine, and location constraints.

Household measures vs systemic issues

• Commenters broadly see “delete emails” as negligible, lumping it with “plastic straws”–style symbolic advice.
• Of the official tips, fixing leaking toilets is seen as the only one with major potential impact; shorter showers, turning off taps, and rain barrels are viewed as marginal or context-dependent.
• Several note that domestic use is a small share of total water, versus agriculture/industry, and that pricing and metering (especially for heavy users, golf courses, etc.) would be more effective.

UK water infrastructure and governance

• Many blame long-term underinvestment, leak-prone aging pipes, and privatized water companies prioritizing payouts over infrastructure.
• Lack of new reservoirs since the early 1990s and delayed future projects are repeatedly cited; some argue reuse schemes help but can’t fully substitute storage.
• Climate change is mentioned as increasing rainfall variability, making storage more important.

Policy incoherence and political criticism

• Commenters mock the government for simultaneously courting AI/data-centre investment and telling citizens to delete emails to save water.
• The advice is widely framed as a deflection from fixing leaks, funding infrastructure, or reforming water-company regulation.