DataCenterKnowledge reports on Google's use of Sea Water in its Hamina, Finland data center.

Google Using Sea Water to Cool Finland Project
September 15th, 2010 : Rich Miller
Google will use cool sea water in the cooling system for its new data center in Hamina, Finland, which is under construction and scheduled to go live early next year. The initiative continues Google’s focus on data center efficiency and sustainability. Using cool water allows Google to operate without energy-hungry chillers, and also limits the facility’s impact on local water utilities.

Where there is money savings there is typically less waste. So, will this allow Google to go below 1.10 PUE?

Here are Google's latest numbers for Q1 2010.

Q2 2010 Performance

Quarterly energy-weighted average PUE:
1.17

Trailing twelve-month energy-weighted avg. PUE:
1.18

Individual facility minimum quarterly PUE:
1.13, Data Center J

Individual facility minimum TTM PUE*:
1.13, Data Center B

Individual facility maximum quarterly PUE:
1.22, Data Center A

Individual facility maximum TTM PUE*:
1.23, Data Center H

* Only facilities with at least twelve months of operation are eligible for Individual Facility TTM PUE reporting

For more details on Google's latest data center construction.

The company’s plans were discussed in an article in Computer Sweden (translation inEnglish), which got a tour of the construction site in Hamina. There are no servers in sight yet, but the story reports that Google has refurbished the water pumps used at the former newsprint plant, and will use large pipes to draw cool water from the nearby Baltic Sea.

Google has a great goal for reducing its water consumption.

Google hopes to eventually use recycled water for up to 80 percent of the company’s total data center water consumption. “The idea behind this is simple: instead of wasting clean, potable water, use a dirty source of water and clean it just enough so it can be used for cooling,” Google says on its water management web page. “Cooling water still needs to be processed, but it’s much easier to treat it enough for data center use compared to cleaning it for drinking use.”