Computer heat keeps swimming pool afloat

A PUBLIC swimming pool in Devon is being heated by the warmth generated by a computer data centre.

The computers at the Exmouth Leisure Centre are surrounded by oil, which captures heat produced by the machines, and can raise the temperature in the pool to about 30C (86F) for 60 per cent of the time.

The hot oil is pumped into a heat exchanger in order to warm the water in the pool.

The data centre’s energy is being given to the councilrun pool free of charge. Deep Green, a start-up which runs the data centre, was founded by Mark Bjornsgaard, and uses the computers to power artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Mr Bjornsgaard said that the company would also refund the leisure centre’s electricity costs for running the “digital boiler”.

Sean Day, who runs the leisure centre, said he had been expecting its energy bills to rise by £100,000 this year.

“The partnership has really helped us reduce the costs of what has been astronomical over the last 12 months – our energy prices and gas prices have gone through the roof,” he added.