For AI infrastructure

Prove the water number. Keep the permit.

Operators claim. Communities ask who checked. Guardian answers, continuously, in a form both sides can verify.

What is happening

Mississauga (29 July 2026) and Oakville (11 August 2026) paused data-center approvals with interim control bylaws. Ontario published a data-center playbook on 13 August. Alberta’s southern basins are closed to new allocations; transfers only. Virginia and Utah begin mandatory water reporting in 2027. Sources in the claims register.

Why self-reporting fails

Only 47% of operators measured their water use in 2025. Reported figures use different bases (withdrawal versus consumption, potable versus total) and are not comparable. Indirect water from electricity is usually three quarters of the real footprint and is rarely shown.

What Guardian changes

The number is measured on the lines, not estimated from invoices. Every reading carries a trust score. Every window is signed and chained. Indirect water is shown separately. The monthly Water Statement is written for the council, not for the annual report.

Two ways in

Whether the facility exists yet or not.

The problem arrives at a different moment depending on where you are. So does the product.

The facility is operating

Data centre operations · facilities · engineering

InstallClamp-on ultrasonic sensors mount on the outside of the pipe. No cut, no drain, no shutdown, and no interruption to the cooling loop.

90 daysA water balance by source and by line, a trust score on every sensor, and a monthly Water Statement.

SuccessDefined before we start. The Statement is accepted by the named external party, or the pilot did not succeed.

Request a water assessment

The facility is in permitting or construction

Development · project delivery · external affairs

BeforeA Water Security Plan for the campus: potable and reclaimed requirement, expected consumption, watershed stress impact, cooling architecture options, the community protection threshold, drought response and reserves.

FixedFixed scope, generated from the Twin rather than written by hand. Status: designed.

AfterAt commissioning, Guardian verifies the facility against the plan it was approved on.

Request a water assessment

Where it starts

A water assessment, before anything is installed.

Thirty minutes on a call. We ask ten questions about how the facility uses and measures water, and we tell you where the visibility gaps are. No cost, no instrumentation, no obligation. If there is nothing worth measuring, we will say so.

01What cooling architecture does the facility use?

02How much water does it consume, and on what basis is that figure calculated?

03Which meters exist today, and what do they actually meter?

04How often is water data collected, and by whom?

05Do you calculate WUE, and against which denominator?

06Could you detect abnormal consumption this week?

07How is water allocated across tenants or halls?

08How is water performance reported, and to whom?

09What happens when consumption deviates from expectation?

10Is an expansion or a permit renewal due in the next 24 months?

You get a one-page summary of the gaps and a straight answer on whether a Guardian pilot is worth doing at this site. If you want the background first, WUE and why published figures are not comparable is the place to start.

Request a water assessment See a Water Statement

For councils, regulators and First Nations

Your own read-only view of the record.

The Community Water Firewall is co-designed, not delivered. You see the same ledger the operator sees, against an envelope you helped set, with the method published and open for review. If a proponent-paid verifier is not acceptable, the jurisdiction can be the customer instead.

Talk to us about an envelope

What we will not do

Four commitments.

OneWe do not sell water savings we have not measured.

TwoWe do not hide indirect water inside a total.

ThreeWe do not verify a claim for a party that will not let the other side see the ledger.

FourWe do not use the phrase “water positive” without the accounting method attached.