Google consumed 10.9 billion gallons of water in 2025, up 34% in a single year and more than double its 2021 level, based on its 2026 Environmental Report. Amazon published its first absolute water figure in June 2026, and Microsoft declared itself water positive five years early. This page collects the verified AI data center water usage statistics from that disclosure cycle and states the scope behind every number.
AI Data Center Water Usage Statistics
How Much Water Do AI Data Centers Use Globally?
The IEA estimates global data centers consumed about 560 billion liters of water in 2023 and projects roughly 1,200 billion liters by 2030.
Two-thirds of that 2023 total, 373 billion liters, was indirect water consumed at power plants generating electricity for the facilities. Only 140 billion liters was direct on-site cooling, with another 47 billion liters in hardware manufacturing.
A UN University (UNU-INWEH) report published in June 2026 put 2025 data center water consumption at the equivalent of 1.8 million Olympic-sized pools, and its high-AI scenario reaches 9.3 trillion liters of AI-related water consumption by 2030.
| Metric | Figure | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Global data center water consumption (IEA) | ~560 billion liters | 2023 |
| Global data center water consumption, IEA projection | ~1,200 billion liters | 2030 |
| Share of data center water consumed indirectly at power plants (IEA) | 60% | 2023 estimate |
| Average 100 MW US data center, daily water use (IEA) | ~2 million liters | April 2025 report |
| AI-related water consumption, UNU-INWEH high-AI scenario | 9.3 trillion liters | 2030 |
Source: IEA Energy and AI report, April 2025; UNU-INWEH, June 2026
A separate 2025 peer-reviewed estimate by researcher Alex de Vries-Gao puts AI systems’ water footprint alone at 312 to 765 billion liters for 2025. That range covers AI specifically, while the IEA and UN figures cover all data centers.
AI Data Center Water Usage By Company: Google, Microsoft, Amazon
Read the metric before comparing companies. Withdrawal counts all water taken in, while consumption counts only water not returned, mostly lost to evaporation. Shaolei Ren of UC Riverside told Bloomberg in 2025 that data centers typically evaporate about 80% of the water they draw.
| Company | Water withdrawn | Scope | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon (AWS) | 2.5 billion gallons | Global data centers | 2025 |
| Microsoft | ~2.7 billion gallons | Company operations | 2024 |
| 9.9 billion gallons | Data centers and other operations | 2024 | |
| Equinix | 1.4 billion gallons | 268 data centers | 2024 |
Source: Amazon sustainability disclosure, June 2026; Trellis, June 2026; MOST Policy Initiative, April 2026
On consumption, Google reported 10.9 billion gallons company-wide for 2025, with data centers accounting for most of the year’s increase, per Axios coverage of the 2026 Environmental Report. Google’s data centers alone consumed 6.1 billion gallons in 2024, up from 4.3 billion in 2021, based on figures compiled by the MOST Policy Initiative.
Meta reported its data centers consumed 776 million gallons globally in 2023, which was 95% of the company’s total. Equinix consumed 1.2 billion of the 1.4 billion gallons it withdrew in 2024, an 85% ratio.
AI Data Center Water Efficiency: WUE Compared
AWS reported a water usage effectiveness of 0.12 L/kWh for 2025, down from 0.15 in 2024, and claims this beats an industry average of 0.84 L/kWh by seven times. Microsoft cut its fleet average to 0.27 L/kWh in 2025, from 2.3 L/kWh in the early 2000s.
AWS also reported a 2% drop in withdrawals at owned-and-operated sites from 2024 to 2025, though the figure excludes leased capacity. Google has not published a company WUE, and Meta has not published one either.
Replenishment And Water Positive Claims
Google’s stewardship projects replenished about 7.7 billion gallons in 2025, roughly 78% of its freshwater consumption, across 165 projects in 97 watersheds. Microsoft said in June 2026 it replenished more than it withdrew globally in fiscal 2025. Amazon said it returned about two-thirds of its 2025 withdrawals and sits at 75% of its water positive goal.
How Much Water Does One AI Prompt Use?
Published per-prompt figures span three orders of magnitude because they count different things. Google’s number stops at its own infrastructure; lifecycle estimates add water evaporated at power plants.
| Model and measurement | Water per prompt | Scope counted | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini Apps median text prompt (Google) | 0.26 mL | Serving infrastructure and on-site cooling | May 2025 data |
| ChatGPT average query (Sam Altman) | 0.000085 gallons (~0.3 mL) | Method undisclosed | June 2025 |
| Mistral Le Chat, ~400-token response | 45 mL | Full lifecycle, audited with ADEME and Carbone 4 | July 2025 |
| GPT-4, 100-word email (UC Riverside) | ~519 mL | Cooling plus electricity generation | 2024 |
Source: Google technical paper, August 2025; OpenAI blog, June 2025; Mistral AI, July 2025; UC Riverside via The Washington Post, 2024
Ren, a co-author of the UC Riverside research, has criticized Google’s comparison as mixing on-site figures against lifecycle ones, telling The Verge in August 2025 that the framing hides indirect water use. UC Riverside’s own on-site-only average for US data centers was 2.2 mL per prompt, first published in 2023.
AI Data Center Water Usage In The US
Berkeley Lab found US data centers directly consumed 17.4 billion gallons in 2023, with roughly 211 billion gallons consumed indirectly through electricity generation. The lab projects direct consumption of 38 to 73 billion gallons annually by 2028.
The 12x gap between direct and indirect use explains why air cooling is not an automatic fix. Dry cooling cuts on-site water to near zero but raises electricity draw, shifting consumption upstream to power plants.
Site-level numbers vary widely. Google’s water use in The Dalles, Oregon reached about 550 million gallons in 2025, nearly 40% of the city’s total water consumption, based on records reported by Latitude Media in June 2026.
About two-thirds of new US data centers built or in development since 2022 sit in areas with high water stress, according to Bloomberg’s May 2025 analysis.
Texas AI Data Center Water Usage Statistics
HARC’s January 2026 white paper estimates Texas data centers consumed about 25 billion gallons in 2025, counting both direct cooling and indirect power-plant use. That equals roughly 0.4% of statewide water use across 464 existing facilities, with about 70 more in development.
By 2030, HARC’s range runs from 29 billion to 161 billion gallons a year, up to 2.7% of Texas water use.
Two sets of Texas numbers circulate. The larger 49 billion and 399 billion gallon figures still quoted in some coverage came from an unpublished HARC draft obtained by the San Antonio Express-News in mid-2025. They do not match the final paper.
| Metric | Figure | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Texas data center water consumption, direct plus indirect | ~25 billion gallons | 2025 |
| Share of total Texas water use | 0.4% | 2025 |
| Projected annual consumption range | 29–161 billion gallons | 2030 |
| Projected share of state water use, upper bound | 2.7% | 2030 |
Source: HARC, Thirsty Data and the Lone Star State, January 2026
Why AI Data Center Water Usage Figures Disagree
Four things vary between any two published numbers: withdrawal versus consumption, on-site versus lifecycle, company-wide versus data-center-only, and calendar year versus fiscal year.
Microsoft reports July to June while Google and Amazon report calendar years, so a 2025 Microsoft figure and a 2025 Google figure cover different twelve-month windows. Amazon’s WUE excludes leased sites. Until those definitions converge, cross-company comparison is an estimate dressed as a measurement.
FAQs
How much water do AI data centers use globally?
The IEA estimates global data centers consumed about 560 billion liters in 2023 and projects roughly 1,200 billion liters by 2030. About 60% of that is indirect use at power plants, not on-site cooling.
Which company’s data centers use the most water?
Google reported the largest disclosed figure: 10.9 billion gallons consumed company-wide in 2025. AWS withdrew 2.5 billion gallons and Microsoft withdrew about 2.7 billion in 2024, but the metrics and scopes differ.
Is the Reddit claim that one AI prompt uses a bottle of water true?
Partly. The ~519 mL figure shared on Reddit comes from a 2024 UC Riverside estimate for a 100-word GPT-4 email including power-plant water. Google’s on-site figure for a median Gemini prompt is 0.26 mL.
Why do Reddit threads cite 49 billion gallons for Texas data centers?
That figure came from an unpublished HARC draft leaked in mid-2025. HARC’s final January 2026 paper puts 2025 Texas data center water consumption at about 25 billion gallons, with a 2030 range of 29–161 billion.
Are any tech companies actually water positive?
Microsoft says it replenished more water than it withdrew globally in fiscal 2025, five years ahead of its 2030 goal. Google replenished 78% of its 2025 consumption, and Amazon reports being 75% of the way to its goal.
Sources
https://blog.google/company-news/outreach-and-initiatives/sustainability/2026-environmental-report/
https://mostpolicyinitiative.org/science-note/data-center-water-use/
