Amazon Web Services (AWS) said its efforts to reduce water consumption at data centers have made its operations seven times more water-efficient than the industry average, as the company works toward its goal of becoming water positive by 2030.
The cloud computing giant announced that it is now approximately 75% of the way toward achieving its water-positive target, under which it aims to return more water to local communities than it withdraws for data center operations. The update comes as growing adoption of artificial intelligence drives rapid expansion of data center infrastructure worldwide and intensifies scrutiny over the sector’s water and energy consumption.
According to AWS, its global data center operations consumed 0.12 liters of water per kilowatt-hour (L/kWh) in 2025, compared with an industry average of 0.84 L/kWh. The company said the figure covers both Amazon-owned and leased facilities worldwide and has been independently verified by external auditors.
“As we’ve been engaging with our local communities, they’ve been very pleasantly surprised about how little water we are using,” said Kerry Person, Vice President of Data Center Operations at AWS. “We’re starting to share more and more of this information publicly to really just educate folks.”
AWS disclosed that its data centers consumed approximately 2.5 billion gallons of water globally in 2025. Through various replenishment initiatives, the company said it currently returns three gallons of water for every four gallons used.
Cooling Strategies Reduce Water Consumption
Data centers require significant cooling infrastructure to maintain safe operating temperatures for servers and networking equipment. AWS said it relies primarily on free-air cooling, using fans to circulate outside air through facilities around 90% of the time.
The company switches to evaporative cooling systems only when external temperatures exceed roughly 85 degrees Fahrenheit. AWS also said it has increased the operating temperature thresholds of its equipment after conducting research into hardware performance under warmer conditions, helping reduce cooling-related water demand.
Industry operators typically balance water and electricity usage through different cooling technologies. While air conditioning systems generally consume more electricity and less water, evaporative cooling methods require more water but can reduce energy consumption.
Growing Scrutiny of Data Center Water Use
The announcement comes amid increasing public attention on the environmental footprint of data centers, particularly in regions facing water scarcity.
According to Bloomberg, nearly two-thirds of US data centers built or under development during the past three years are located in water-stressed regions. Concerns over resource consumption have intensified as AI workloads drive unprecedented growth in data center construction.
Earlier this week, the Seattle City Council unanimously approved a one-year emergency moratorium on new large-scale data center developments within city limits.
Simon Hans Edasi, a Seattle-area data scientist and geospatial researcher who studies data center infrastructure, has expressed concerns about the industry's expansion into drier regions of eastern Washington State, including Amazon’s planned $4.8 billion campus in Burbank near the Columbia River.
Water Replenishment Efforts
AWS said its water stewardship strategy focuses on three priorities: minimizing water withdrawals, increasing the use of recycled water, and supporting replenishment projects in local communities.
The company increasingly sources reclaimed water from treatment facilities rather than relying on potable water supplies where possible. It also invests in projects aimed at restoring water resources in areas where it operates.
“For any of those water-stressed basins where we’re operating, we’re making sure that in each of those we’re also putting more back,” said Will Hewes, AWS Water Stewardship Lead.
Replenishment projects vary by location and may include supplying treated wastewater for agricultural irrigation, improving water efficiency in public buildings, and repairing leaks in municipal infrastructure.
AWS also noted that the global data center industry accounts for approximately 0.5% of total industrial water use worldwide, a figure the company said is often overlooked in public discussions about data center sustainability.
Industry-Wide Focus on Water Efficiency
Technology companies are increasingly prioritizing water conservation as data center demand rises.
Earlier this year, Microsoft announced plans to improve water efficiency by 40% by 2030 and committed to replenishing more water than it consumes in every district where it operates. The company has also expanded the use of closed-loop cooling systems that continuously recycle water used for cooling AI and cloud computing infrastructure.
As hyperscale cloud providers continue investing billions of dollars in new AI and data center capacity, water management is expected to remain a key focus area alongside renewable energy procurement and carbon reduction initiatives.
Source: DataMagz
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