As the UK seeks to accelerate data centre development, the industry is having to confront negative public perception and lessening support for new projects.

Despite such pushback, some within the data centre industry view these facilities as essential critical infrastructure like roads, power stations and water treatment plants. For Adam Eaton, CEO of VIRTUS Data Centres, addressing these opinions is vitally important to improve education of the industry.

“Public debate around data centre development is often shaped more by assumption than evidence,” he said.

He shared some of the biggest myths surrounding data centres and what companies like VIRTUS Data Centres are doing to combat them.

Myth 1: Data centres drain local water supplies

Water consumption is frequently listed as one of the top concerns about data centre development. The general belief is still that all data centres guzzle water in the areas they operate to feed AI systems.

However, Eaton suggested that the industry has made significant strides in reducing water dependency.

“Over half of UK data centres now use waterless or highly efficient cooling methods, deploying air cooling, hybrid systems and advanced heat exchange technologies that have dramatically reduced consumption compared with older facility designs,” he added. “Where water-based cooling is still used, it is typically in configurations that recirculate rather than consume.”

In VIRTUS Data Centres’ case, its data centres that were built in the last decade used closed-loop cooling systems that require minimal top-ups. The VIRTUS LONDON8 facility in West London has 18MW of IT load and, in 2025, was topped up with 527 litres.

“This may sound like a lot, but according to Water UK, the average household of four in the UK uses approximately 200,000 litres of water per year,” Eaton explained. “LONDON8, or any of VIRTUS’ other closed-loop facilities, uses less water for cooling than the dishwasher.”

He made the case that responsible operators consider local water availability into site selection and cooling system design. Questions about water stress in specific locations deserve honest answers, but he also added that more modern facilities represent less of a threat to water supplies.

“The technology has moved on considerably, and the public conversation needs to catch up,” Eaton noted. “According to WRC, the data centre sector accounts for just 0.25 of England’s non-household water use.”

Myth 2: Data centres burden the grid and rely on high-carbon energy

The relationship between data centres and the electricity system is more nuanced than the burden narrative suggests, Eaton explained. For one thing, data centres draw from high-voltage supplies that are mostly separate from residential and light commercial distribution networks.

“The load they place on the system is real and significant, and it is also highly predictable, which makes it easier to plan for than the variable demand that residential and commercial users generate,” Eaton added.

When it comes to carbon, he made the case for leading operators having moved more decisively towards renewable energy procurement through long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) with wind and solar generators. For instance, VIRTUS Data Centres operates on 100% renewable energy and sources roughly 17% of its power from offshore wind.

“[VIRTUS] was the first UK operator to achieve full renewable sourcing,” Eaton said. “Rather than burdening the clean energy transition, data centres are actively enabling it by providing the stable, long-term demand that new renewable projects need to secure financing.”

He added: “The framing of data centres as high-carbon infrastructure reflects the reality of a previous era. The investment in renewable procurement, on-site efficiency and sustainable design that is now standard across the industry tells a different story, and it is the one that should be informing the debate.”

Myth 3: We must choose between building data centres and building homes

Perhaps a more politically charged perception, but there are plenty of debates ongoing about data centres being built over homes. In places like the UK, for example, there are concerns that data centres gaining priority access over housing developments, with the Home Builders Federation (HBF) saying failing to prioritise connections for housing developments could be a “moratorium” on new homes.

Eaton argued the case for this being a misconception and that data centre and residential developments are not competing for the same land.

“The industry has adopted brownfield and former industrial sites as its preferred development model, transforming derelict factories, redundant power stations and disused quarries into high-value digital infrastructure on land that has no realistic prospect of residential use,” he suggested.

He cited VIRTUS Data Centres’ Saunderton Campus in Buckinghamshire as an example, as it sits on a former tobacco machinery factory that was derelict for 15 years.

“It’s being transformed into a 78MW AI-ready development with environment-blending living roofs that integrate the facility into its surroundings,” he explained. “No homes were displaced and no greenfield land was consumed – a brownfield liability became a national asset.”

With the UK government forming AI Growth Zones to promote data centre development, Eaton’s point is that they are critical national infrastructure and “should be treated as essential rather than optional” for economic development.

Myth 4: Data centres can only be built in London

London is the largest data centre market in Europe and offers significant advantages in fibre connectivity and customer concentration. However, Eaton argued that other locations throughout the UK can offer advantages for the industry.

Indeed, new clusters are emerging at speed, including in Greater Manchester, South Wales, the North East and Lincolnshire. They are attracting investment driven by power availability, cooler climates for efficiency, brownfield land at a lower cost and support from regional governments looking to boost their economies.

“Although London remains a crucial location, these are not markets tolerating overspill. They are genuinely competitive locations for new development,” Eaton explained. “The geographic diversification of UK data centre investment is one of the more positive structural shifts in the market. It distributes economic benefits, including construction employment, operational roles and supply chain spend, to regions that have seen decades of deindustrialisation.”

In sought-after locations like Slough, declining manufacturing jobs have been replaced with thousands of jobs across direct, indirect and induced employment. This is now playing out in other areas across the country, where data centres are becoming what Eaton refers to as “anchors” for broader digital economy development.

“The case for data centre development outside London is strong and getting stronger,” he added. “The constraint is not geography. It is the pace at which grid connections, planning approvals, and supporting infrastructure can be delivered to match the appetite for investment that clearly exists.”

The conversation the UK needs to have

Negative data centre perceptions persist because the industry doesn’t do a good job at announcing itself, keeping a low-profile. This, according to Eaton, must change.

“The evidence on water efficiency, renewable energy, land use and geographic spread shows an industry that has addressed legitimate concerns through sustained investment and innovation,” he said.

“The national conversation about data centre development should be based on that evidence, and on the scale of economic opportunity that getting this right represents for every region of the UK.”

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