Data Centers and Water Consumption

Large data centers consume up to 5 million gallons of water per day — equivalent to a town of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Northern Virginia's 300-plus facilities used nearly 2 billion gallons in 2023, a 63 percent increase from 2019. Covers on-site cooling, power plant water use, chip manufacturing demand and emerging technologies like immersion cooling that cut consumption.