US data centers consume approximately 17 to 19 billion gallons of water annually to cool high-performance chips, a figure projected to triple within the next five years, according to the Water Foundation.
This creates a costly and complex challenge for investors funding massive AI scaling efforts. To reduce water usage, companies must improve monitoring of cooling fluids, a task currently reliant on slow, multi-day laboratory testing.
Omen AI, founded in 2024, addresses this issue by developing real-time sensors that detect valve failures or bacterial threats to water flow. Following a $31 million Series A funding round in June, Omen has acquired Aquatic Labs for a $16 million cash-and-stock transaction.
The acquisition was facilitated by an investor in the filtration sector who introduced Omen founder Zach Laberge to Aquatic Labs CEO Allan Adams. The two startups complement each other: Omen’s sensors analyze water elements, while Aquatic Labs tests alkalinity, creating a combined solution for a "much richer picture of the water and the fluid."
Adams, who has joined Omen as Chief Science Officer, notes that this merger unites two distinct founder backgrounds: Laberge, who dropped out of college to build fluid analysis tools for construction machinery, and Adams, a former MIT professor and physicist specializing in ocean sensing.
The combined teams are working to integrate both technologies into a single sensor expected to hit the market by early next year. Omen plans to deploy initial sensors at data centers handling 250 to 300 megawatts of power by the end of the year, with a goal of covering 1 gigawatt by 2027.
By monitoring fluid systems, data center operators can extend the lifespan of cooling fluids and minimize the expensive downtime associated with dumping water and shutting down operations.
Adams emphasizes the broader environmental impact, stating that the technologies aim to ensure the water used in data centers is managed as safely and responsibly as possible.
Despite recent market volatility and investor skepticism regarding AI infrastructure spending, Omen remains unaffected as it serves customers already committed to their projects. Laberge maintains that even if funding tightens, the market remains the "biggest market in human history."
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