The sun is out, and the water is scarce. The Environment Agency is warning of droughts with the National Drought Group saying the current water shortfall situation in England is now defined as a “nationally significant incident.”

Along with a list of actions people can take to reduce water use, and most of these are the obvious measures of not watering the garden or taking shorter showers, is the action of deleting unwanted emails.

Given the immense energy used by data centres, and the water needed to cool them, the advice is a of product our times.

The Environment Agency’s director of water and NDG chair, Helen Wakeham said: “We are grateful to the public for following the restrictions, where in place, to conserve water in these dry conditions. Simple, everyday choices, such as turning off a tap or deleting old emails, also really helps the collective effort to reduce demand and help preserve the health of our rivers and wildlife.”

---