A new high efficiency cooling unit installed on the roof of Sandia National Laboratories’ supercomputer center saved 554,000 gallons of water during its first six months of operation last year, says David J. Martinez, engineering project lead for Sandia’s Infrastructure Computing Services. “The dramatic decrease in water use, important for a water-starved state, could be the model for cities and other large users employing a significant amount of water to cool thirsty supercomputer clusters springing up like mushrooms around the country, says Martinez.