How much water do data centers use every day?

Data centre water vs. energy, today

Water and electricity are the twin costs of running the internet. Both are under pressure as AI workloads surge.

What this means for you

Sending 100 emails consumes approximately 50 grams of water in data centre cooling. Streaming an hour of HD video uses around 100ml. A single ChatGPT conversation of 20-50 messages can consume the equivalent of a 500ml bottle of water, according to a 2023 UC Riverside study.

As AI workloads scale, the water intensity of computation is increasing sharply. Microsoft's 2023 sustainability report disclosed that its global water consumption increased 34% year-over-year, driven primarily by AI infrastructure.

Data centres typically draw water from local aquifers or municipal supplies, meaning they directly compete with agriculture and drinking water in drought-stressed regions. Several US states and EU regulators are now requiring data centre operators to disclose water usage and obtain permits, creating new infrastructure constraints for AI expansion.

Water consumption: the key figures

Data centers vs. water: the hidden cooling crisis of the AI age

Data centre water consumption trends: 2020-2026

Data centres rely on evaporative cooling towers that consume 1-5 litres of water per kWh of IT load. Global data centre water consumption reached an estimated 1 trillion litres in 2022, with AI inference queries adding a further estimated 500 ml per 20-50 requests, comparable to a bottle of water for a few minutes of chatbot use.

When data centre water use became a public issue

1. 2012Large hyperscale data centers begin using evaporative cooling at massive scale; water consumption becomes a known issue
2. 2020Global data center water consumption estimated at ~250B liters/year; major operators set water efficiency targets
3. 2022Microsoft water use +34% in one year; Google: 20B liters; AI workloads begin water demand step-change
4. 2023UC Riverside study: ChatGPT uses ~500ml water per conversation; Google: 29B liters; US: 64B liters direct cooling
5. 2024Microsoft launches zero-water cooling datacenter design; global estimate reaches ~660B liters/year
6. 2026UNU-INWEH study finds the electricity powering global data centers carried a water footprint of ~4.5 trillion liters in 2025, about 6.8 times the earlier IEA-based estimate, mostly due to a broader accounting method
7. 2030Microsoft commitment: water positive by 2030; projected doubling of data center water demand without efficiency innovation

Industry and academic research on data centre water

12.3 billion litres per day in perspective

How the number is calculated

A June 2026 UNU-INWEH report puts the water footprint of data centres' 2025 electricity use at approximately 4.5 trillion litres ÷ 31,536,000 seconds = approximately 142,700 litres/second, using country-level water-intensity factors (litres per kWh) applied to the 448 TWh data centres consumed that year. This is a broader, footprint-based methodology than the earlier ~660 billion litre estimate (IEA), which explains most of the roughly 6.8-times jump: it counts water embedded in generating the electricity itself, not just what evaporates from cooling towers on-site. Google's disclosed 29 billion litres in 2023 and Microsoft's 6.4 billion litres remain useful as on-site withdrawal cross-checks, though they are not directly comparable to this footprint figure. AI-specific water use: each ChatGPT session (20-50 queries) ≈ 500 ml, per University of California Riverside research.

Sources: see below. Full methodology: methodology page.

Frequently asked questions

How much water do data centers use globally per year?

A June 2026 UN University (UNU-INWEH) study puts the water footprint of global data center electricity use at approximately 4.5 trillion liters for 2025, using country-level water-intensity factors for power generation. That number is far higher than earlier on-site consumption estimates because it counts water embedded in generating the electricity itself, not just what data centers withdraw directly for cooling: US data centers alone consumed ~64 billion liters in 2023 for direct cooling, Google disclosed 29 billion liters withdrawn in 2023, and Microsoft reported 6.4 billion liters in 2022 (a 34% year-on-year increase).

Why do data centers need so much water?

Most large data centers use evaporative cooling systems (cooling towers), where water absorbs heat from the building and then evaporates, carrying the heat away. This is highly efficient but consumptive: the water evaporates and is permanently lost. Additionally, thermoelectric power plants that generate electricity for data centers also require cooling water.

Is AI making the water problem worse?

Yes. AI workloads require high-density GPU clusters that generate significantly more heat per rack than traditional servers, requiring more aggressive cooling. Researchers at UC Riverside estimated that training GPT-3 consumed 700,000 liters of freshwater. Each ChatGPT conversation is estimated to require cooling water equivalent to a 500ml bottle.