Data centre water consumption | npj Clean Water

Data centres consume vast amounts of water — 1.7 billion litres per day in the USA alone — both directly for cooling (up to 57% from potable sources) and indirectly through electricity generation, yet less than a third of operators even measure their water use. This peer-reviewed analysis examines how major cloud providers like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon manage and obscure their water consumption, highlighting Google's controversial water withdrawal tactics in South Carolina and Amazon's near-total lack of transparency. The paper argues that the industry needs standardized water metrics like WUE alongside existing energy metrics, and that operators should shift to non-potable water sources and renewable energy to reduce their water footprint. Communities and advocates can use this research to challenge data center water claims and demand greater transparency from operators competing for local water resources.