ThirstyFLOPS: Water Footprint Modeling and Analysis Toward Sustainable HPC Systems

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Main Authors: Jiang, Yankai, Kanakagiri, Raghavendra, Roy, Rohan Basu, Tiwari, Devesh
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Jiang, Yankai
Kanakagiri, Raghavendra
Roy, Rohan Basu
Tiwari, Devesh
author_facet Jiang, Yankai
Kanakagiri, Raghavendra
Roy, Rohan Basu
Tiwari, Devesh
contents High-performance computing (HPC) systems are becoming increasingly water-intensive due to their reliance on water-based cooling and the energy used in power generation. However, the water footprint of HPC remains relatively underexplored-especially in contrast to the growing focus on carbon emissions. In this paper, we present ThirstyFLOPS - a comprehensive water footprint analysis framework for HPC systems. Our approach incorporates region-specific metrics, including Water Usage Effectiveness, Power Usage Effectiveness, and Energy Water Factor, to quantify water consumption using real-world data. Using four representative HPC systems - Marconi, Fugaku, Polaris, and Frontier - as examples, we provide implications for HPC system planning and management. We explore the impact of regional water scarcity and nuclear-based energy strategies on HPC sustainability. Our findings aim to advance the development of water-aware, environmentally responsible computing infrastructures.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_00471
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle ThirstyFLOPS: Water Footprint Modeling and Analysis Toward Sustainable HPC Systems
Jiang, Yankai
Kanakagiri, Raghavendra
Roy, Rohan Basu
Tiwari, Devesh
Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing
High-performance computing (HPC) systems are becoming increasingly water-intensive due to their reliance on water-based cooling and the energy used in power generation. However, the water footprint of HPC remains relatively underexplored-especially in contrast to the growing focus on carbon emissions. In this paper, we present ThirstyFLOPS - a comprehensive water footprint analysis framework for HPC systems. Our approach incorporates region-specific metrics, including Water Usage Effectiveness, Power Usage Effectiveness, and Energy Water Factor, to quantify water consumption using real-world data. Using four representative HPC systems - Marconi, Fugaku, Polaris, and Frontier - as examples, we provide implications for HPC system planning and management. We explore the impact of regional water scarcity and nuclear-based energy strategies on HPC sustainability. Our findings aim to advance the development of water-aware, environmentally responsible computing infrastructures.
title ThirstyFLOPS: Water Footprint Modeling and Analysis Toward Sustainable HPC Systems
topic Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.00471