Data Center World 2026
Written by Brett Zeller
Facing AI Growth, Water Quality & Operational Challenges
As Data Center World 2026 approaches, data center leaders are preparing to discuss AI-driven growth, resilience, infrastructure demands, and regulatory change. Those topics also make this a timely moment to revisit an issue that directly supports uptime: water quality management. Garratt-Callahan’s data center water treatment services help facilities protect cooling systems, improve efficiency, and reduce risk in demanding environments.
Why This Year’s Agenda Matters
This year’s agenda highlights pressures many operators are already facing. Sessions such as Capital on Tap: Will Investment Keep Pace with AI Scaling?, Risk and Resilience: Overcoming Operational and Technology Challenges, and Navigating a Shifting National Regulatory Landscape point to a broader reality: as data centers expand, infrastructure decisions must support reliability, performance, and long-term operational stability.
Cooling systems are part of that conversation. As heat loads increase and facilities evolve, water treatment is not simply a maintenance task. It plays a direct role in protecting equipment, preserving heat transfer efficiency, and helping operators avoid preventable disruptions.
Cooling Strategy and Water Quality Go Together
Cooling strategy and water quality should be considered together. Whether a facility uses chilled water systems, closed loops, or newer cooling approaches, poor water quality can contribute to scale, corrosion, fouling, and microbiological growth that reduce performance and increase risk. For additional context, refer to this data center cooling options and water quality management article which examines how water quality can affect efficiency and reliability over time.
That process begins at startup. Proper cleaning and passivation help prepare new or modified systems for long-term operation by removing debris, limiting early corrosion, and supporting more stable water quality from the beginning. In data centers, where uptime and asset protection are closely tied to cooling performance, startup decisions can have long-term consequences that are costly to correct later. For reference, use this data center fact sheet. It highlights related priorities, such as water-use efficiency, remote monitoring, reduced downtime, and improved cooling system performance.
A Real Example of What Is at Stake
The importance of water quality becomes even clearer in Garratt-Callahan’s data center case study. In that project, a data center needed closed-loop water quality restored to meet strict manufacturer specifications tied to equipment warranty requirements. Garratt-Callahan helped reduce iron residuals from about 0.82 ppm to 0.15 ppm and maintained compliance for more than 10 months. The result was restored confidence in system performance and better protection for critical infrastructure.
For facilities thinking about resilience, that kind of outcome is highly relevant. Reliability does not depend only on major capital investments. It also depends on how well supporting systems are monitored, maintained, and managed over time.
Connect with Us Before & During Data Center World 2026
Garratt-Callahan will be attending Data Center World 2026. We welcome the opportunity to connect with data center operators, engineers, and facilities leaders before the conference at our booth (#1245). If your team is evaluating cooling water quality, system reliability, or long-term performance, this is an excellent time to start the conversation.
Connect with the Garratt-Callahan team on LinkedIn:
For data centers under pressure to scale reliably, water quality management is not a side issue. It is all part of protecting performance and reducing operational risk.
