How Much Water Do Data Centers Use?
Key takeaways
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimated that U.S. data centers consumed about 66 billion liters of water on site in 2023, up from 21.2 billion liters in 2014.
- The same report estimated nearly 800 billion liters of additional water consumed indirectly in 2023 through the electricity that powered those facilities.
- On-site use depends on the cooling system: evaporative cooling consumes more local water; air-cooled and closed-loop designs typically use less water and more electricity.
- There is no separate official U.S. Geological Survey category that isolates data-center water withdrawals, so local figures often have to come from utility records or permit files.
- A national total does not tell you what a proposed building next door will withdraw. Ask for withdrawal, consumption, source, and drought rules.
Last reviewed: November 9, 2026. Liter figures below come from the 2024 Berkeley Lab report. Approximate gallon conversions are provided for U.S. readers.
How much water do data centers use?
U.S. data centers consumed about 66 billion liters of water directly on site in 2023—roughly 17 billion gallons—according to the 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
That is a national estimate of water consumed at the facilities themselves, mainly for cooling, not a measurement of every local utility account. In 2014, the same report estimated 21.2 billion liters (about 5.6 billion gallons). By 2023, hyperscale and colocation sites accounted for 84% of the 66-billion-liter total, while internal corporate data centers had fallen to 12%. The report expects that shift to continue: internal sites fall to about 2% of the total by 2028, and hyperscale sites alone are projected to consume 60 to 124 billion liters in 2028 (about 16 to 33 billion gallons).
| Water metric in the 2024 LBNL report | Amount | Rough U.S. gallon equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Direct (on-site) consumption, 2014 | 21.2 billion liters | About 5.6 billion gallons |
| Direct (on-site) consumption, 2023 | 66 billion liters | About 17 billion gallons |
| Share of 2023 direct use at hyperscale and colocation sites | 84% | — |
| Projected hyperscale direct use, 2028 | 60–124 billion liters | About 16–33 billion gallons |
| Indirect consumption via electricity generation, 2023 | Nearly 800 billion liters | About 211 billion gallons |
| National average indirect water intensity, 2023 | 4.52 liters per kilowatt-hour used at data centers | — |
Indirect water is not piped into the data hall. It is water consumed at power plants that generate the electricity, especially thermoelectric plants that evaporate cooling water. Using the report’s 176 terawatt-hour electricity estimate for 2023, LBNL put that indirect footprint at nearly 800 billion liters. The laboratory noted that the calculation uses each region’s grid mix and does not reflect special power-purchase contracts or on-site generation, which could raise or lower the true figure for a single campus.
Why do data centers use water?
Data centers use water mainly to remove heat from servers, either by evaporating water in cooling towers or by circulating water inside closed loops that are then chilled.
Servers convert most of the electricity they draw into heat. Operators can reject that heat with outdoor air, with mechanical chillers, with evaporative (wet) cooling, or with liquid cooling at the rack or chip. Evaporative systems are often energy-efficient in dry climates because evaporating water carries heat away, but the evaporated water is consumed: it does not return to the local pipe or aquifer. Closed-loop and air-cooled systems typically consume much less water on site and more electricity at the chiller. The LBNL report discusses that tradeoff directly: a low site water-use figure is not automatically “better” if it is achieved by raising electricity demand, which then consumes water at power plants.
The industry reports this with Water Usage Effectiveness, or WUE—the volume of water consumed per unit of IT electricity. Site WUE covers water at the facility. Source WUE adds water used to generate the facility’s electricity. Those metrics help compare designs; they are not a substitute for asking how many gallons a specific project expects to withdraw on a hot day.
What is the difference between on-site water and water used to make electricity?
On-site water is withdrawn at or for the building, usually from a city system, a district, or a well; electricity-related water is consumed somewhere else, at the power plants serving that grid.
For neighbors, on-site water is the figure that collides with drinking-water plants, drought restrictions, and river or groundwater rights. Indirect water still matters for regional rivers and cooling reservoirs, but a resident at a public hearing usually needs the local number first: peak-day withdrawal, annual consumption, whether any water is returned as wastewater, and which supplier has agreed to serve the load.
Most U.S. data centers are served by public water systems rather than by their own river intakes, though large campuses sometimes seek their own supplies or recycled water. The details belong in the utility will-serve letter or water-supply assessment, not in a national average.
Do all data centers use the same amount of water?
No. Two buildings with a similar floor area can have very different water use if one evaporates water for cooling and the other uses air-cooled chillers or a closed loop.
Climate matters as well. A wet cooling tower in a hot, dry summer will evaporate more water than the same design in a mild coastal climate. Operators may also switch modes seasonally, using extra water only on the hottest days. Because those choices are often undecided when a project is first announced, early filings can say “to be determined.” ERCOT’s November 5, 2026 preliminary summary of its Data Center State and Community Impact questionnaire found that cooling was the category developers were least able to answer, especially for later energization dates.
Company sustainability reports, where they exist, are voluntary and hard to compare. Some firms publish campus-level water use; others publish only a global total or none at all. That uneven disclosure is why a local records request or permit file is more useful than a marketing brochure.
How can residents find local water figures?
Residents can find local water figures by reading the planning application, asking the municipal utility or water district, and checking state water-right or well records when a project is not on city water.
Useful documents include:
- A water-supply assessment, will-serve letter, or utility capacity study attached to a rezoning or site plan.
- Peak-day and annual withdrawal estimates, stated separately from consumption (evaporation).
- The source: municipal treated water, reclaimed or recycled water, groundwater, or surface-water rights.
- Whether the utility can serve the load without delaying other customers or expanding a treatment plant.
- Drought or curtailment rules that would apply to a large commercial account.
In Texas, water information is scattered across utilities, groundwater conservation districts, river authorities, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality; the Texas Tribune’s August 11, 2026 guide explains where to look and notes that the Texas Water Development Board surveys monthly use at data centers that use at least 10 million gallons a year. See also data centers in Texas and the questions residents can ask.
There is still no dedicated national USGS data-center water series that would let you look up every county the same way. Treat any figure without a method and a date as incomplete.
What are the most common questions about data center water usage?
Is the 66-billion-liter figure the same as water withdrawn from every town?
No. It is a modeled national estimate of water consumed at U.S. data centers in 2023. A single campus can be a large share of a small utility’s demand even when it is a small share of the national total.
Does “consumed” mean the same thing as “withdrawn”?
No. Withdrawal is water taken from a source. Consumption is the portion that is not returned, often because it evaporated. Ask for both numbers.
If a company says a site is air-cooled, is water use zero?
Not necessarily. Air-cooled halls can still use some water for humidification, domestic plumbing, landscaping, or occasional adiabatic assist. They also use electricity, which has its own water footprint at power plants.
Can I compare two companies’ sustainability reports and get a ranking?
Usually not on equal terms. Reports differ in scope (global versus U.S., all operations versus data centers, withdrawal versus consumption) and are not a substitute for the local utility file.
Is this page telling me a project should be approved or denied?
No. It explains how researchers measure data-center water use so that residents can ask for sourced local numbers. It is not engineering or legal advice.
Sources
- Shehabi, A., et al., 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, December 19, 2024, including the direct- and indirect-water discussion in the published PDF (about 66 billion liters on site and nearly 800 billion liters via electricity in 2023).
- ERCOT, “Data Center State and Community Impact RFI: Preliminary Summary,” presentation to the Public Utility Commission of Texas, November 5, 2026 (preliminary; cooling questions had a high rate of “not determined” answers).
- María Méndez, Taylor Goldenstein, Emily Foxhall, Alejandra Martinez and Chris Essig, “Here’s how to find information about data centers in Texas,” The Texas Tribune, August 11, 2026.
This page may be incomplete. Water use is highly local and is not disclosed the same way in every jurisdiction. The page is not affiliated with operators or water utilities and is not legal advice. Related reading: electricity bills and the U.S. map.