RIO RANCHO, N.M. (AP) — Computer chip maker Intel plans to pay one of New Mexico’s largest water utilities $32 million to build a pipeline to supply its factory with the much needed resource.
Computer chip maker to pay $32M for water pipeline | Technology
Millions of gallons are needed at the plant in Rio Rancho each day to produce tiny semiconductors, and demands will likely increase as part of a $3.5 billion retrofit that will boost production capacity of Intel’s chip-packaging technology, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
The 6-mile (9.6-kilometer) pipeline will connect two wells on the northwest edge of Albuquerque to the plant. The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority says construction is expected to begin in April.
Linda Qian, spokeswoman for Intel New Mexico, said the company plans to filter non-potable groundwater onsite into “ultrapure water.”
“We use that ultrapure water to clean the surface of the silicon wafer,” Qian said. “If you think of the chip process as building layers on top of a wafer, in between each of those layers, you rinse with ultrapure water.”
When the 200-acre site opened, Qian said, manufacturing demanded about 2 gallons (7.6 liters) of fresh water to produce 1 gallons (3.8 liters) of ultrapure water. Now, the ratio is about 1 to 1.
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