Here’s the truth about today’s data-center boom: the bottleneck isn’t just megawatts anymore—it’s megagallons and the infrastructure to move, meter, cleanse and account for them. Over the past 12 months, the policy environment has tightened, liquid cooling has gone mainstream and reclaimed water is shifting from “nice green story” to hard requirement. For anyone in Waterworks, PVF or Irrigation, that adds up to one thing: opportunity for those who can deliver water-forward designs, materials and documentation at the speed of AI buildouts.

Regulators are writing water into the blueprints. Lawmakers now require that local comprehensive plans incorporate methods to minimize water usage for data centers. That nudges counties to prefer non-evaporative and reclaimed strategies in siting, zoning and plan review, which in turn reshapes submittals and procurement lists for owners and GCs. Out west, Phoenix updated its zoning code to put data centers under a special-permit lens that explicitly weighs health and safety impacts—power, noise, emergency access—bringing cooling water and stormwater implications into earlier conversation with planners. And in Tucson, Arizona, an ordinance forcing large water users to disclose projected consumption, conservation tech and reclaimed options, with penalties for overruns and public review of big applications.

Purple pipe for reclaimed networks are no longer pilot projects—they’re production utilities. One such water district in Virginia delivered 736 million gallons of reclaimed water in 2024 to cool data centers via roughly 20 miles of distribution main, preserving potable supply and lowering nutrient loads to the Potomac. If you sell ductile iron/ HDPE, appurtenances, meter vaults and backflow assemblies, your “reclaimed-ready” stack just moved from optional to essential.

Cooling plants are changing under your feet. Side-stream filtration skids, fine strainers, chemical dosing points and test ports are moving from “recommended” to “required” on submittals. Warmer water also changes valve trims, elastomers, expansion tank sizing and HX selections across the PVF package.

Policy isn’t stopping at cooling loops; it’s seeping into stormwater and materials.

Don’t sleep on Irrigation. In heat-stressed metropolitan areas, corporations are rewriting campus standards around WaterSense-labeled controllers, soil-moisture sensors and xeric plant palettes. While marketing claims vary, the federal and academic signal is consistent: smart controls reduce demand—whether that’s 15% in broad residential studies or far higher in well-designed, sensor-based commercial systems.

So, what should Waterworks, PVF and Irrigation players do now?

Lead with a water-minimization package. Focus on supplying template submittals that align with local language and zoning. When you show authorities you understand their mandates, approvals move faster.

Stock and label for reuse. Purple-marked pipe, custody mag meters, dual-meter vaults and the backflow assemblies to match are growing rapidly. Get with your local representation to ensure your associates are being trained.

Sell the water-quality program, not just the metal. Look into filtration and chemical treatment equipment and monitoring kits for closed loops. This is where PVF distributors can differentiate—and where most project risks actually live.

Bundle stormwater as a service. Package devices with sealed calculations and O&M support. If your submittal package reduces reviewer back-and-forth, you’ve just created real project value.

Make Irrigation “smart by default.” Propose WaterSense controllers that meet corporate biodiversity goals while cutting peak demand. Tie the irrigation design into the reclaimed network where feasible and coordinate vaults early.

The AI era is rewriting the pecking order at the jobsite. Water now dictates the headlines—and often the permits. The winners in this cycle won’t simply sell more pipe and valves; they’ll sell confidence: confidence that a campus can win public support, pass plan review, commission cleanly and operate with fewer gallons per teraflop. If you can bring that to the trailer—complete with purple-pipe readiness, PVF cleanliness, stormwater compliance and smart irrigation—there’s a seat at every hyperscale table with your name on it.