Virginia Tech Researchers Use AI to Gauge Manufacturing Water Needs - GovTech
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In a recent news release from the university, Feras Batarseh, associate professor of engineering and lead researcher on the project, said municipal water systems in dry places like Arizona, California and Texas could be stretched thin by new demands from semiconductor manufacturing, impacting farmers and communities who rely on the same basins.
“You have state water, you have basins, and then you have economic regions and the geographic scope of federal jurisdiction, all of which impact each other,” he said in a public statement.
The news release said the model can isolate which areas across the U.S. face the highest water risk and show how changes, like new manufacturing facilities or improved efficiency in agricultural irrigation practices, might impact the regional water supply. For example, the model can show how a new fabrication plant in Arizona might impact capacity for irrigation in nearby states.
New semiconductor manufacturing (SCM) facilities and data centers can require millions of gallons of water to maintain — according to the university's research, farmers would need to irrigate more than 200 acres of farmland to have the same impact on regional water supply as one SCM facility.
Conversely, the agriculture industry is the country’s biggest water user, accounting for 70 percent of freshwater withdrawals, according to UNESCO. The researchers’ AI model can identify cause-and-effect relationships between SCM expansion, farming needs and water availability, according to the news release.
“If smart irrigation techniques are applied and you optimize by 10 or 20 percent, then that gives room for other industries like semiconductor manufacturing,” Batarseh said.
The news release said researchers intend the model to support decision-makers at the state and national level, whether that be state water managers or federal regulators of the SCM industry.
“The goal is not choosing between farms and fabrication plants but finding smarter ways to support both,” Batarseh said.