Data centers’ hidden water footprint is linked to the grid

Data centers get attention for the water used to cool servers on-site, but a bigger piece of their water footprint is hidden in the power plants that supply their electricity. Nuclear and coal plants use large amounts of water for cooling, while gas plants use less and wind and solar use almost none. A new analysis by the sustainable investment group Ceres estimates that data centers in seven states — Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia — used about 3.4 trillion gallons of freshwater in 2024 through their electricity use, roughly 12 times what Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Washington, D.C. use combined. That figure could reach 4 to 8 trillion gallons by 2030. About two-thirds of the power plants studied sit in areas already facing water stress, including Arizona, which is in a long-term drought, and Illinois, which relies on nuclear plants in water-stressed parts of the Mississippi-Missouri river basin.

Only Meta reports this indirect water use publicly, and its number was more than 20 times higher than the water used directly at its data centers in 2024. Amazon, Google, and Microsoft don't disclose comparable figures, though Amazon says it tracks the data. All four companies have pledged to become "water positive," replenishing more water than they consume, and point out that agriculture and lawn watering use far more water nationally.

For homeowners, this doesn't affect your utility bill or rebates directly, but it's a reminder that growing data center electricity demand can strain water supplies in the same regions many people live in, especially in already drought-prone states.