Making chips requires lots of water and, gulp, Taiwan has a drought SECTIONS Last Updated: Feb 26, 2021, 10:24 AM IST Share Synopsis Data from TSMC indicates that shipments of wafers — a metric used to measure volume of output — climbed 23% last year. iStock Chipmakers use the world’s most ubiquitous liquid to clean wafers throughout the production process, as well as keep factories and the air inside them clean. Turns out, semiconductor manufacturing doesn’t just require multi-billion dollar factories and a lot of smarts, it also takes water. Gallons and gallons of it for every single chip. Better hope there’s no drought.