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Science“In the United States, data centers used about 17 billion gallons of water annually for direct on-site cooling in 2023.”
Submitted on X by @Pavel32601592
The conclusion
Open in workbench →The available evidence supports a national 2023 estimate of roughly 17.4 billion gallons of direct on-site water consumption by U.S. data centers, so “about 17 billion gallons” is a fair summary. The figure comes from a widely cited Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report. The main caveat is that some descriptions include humidification alongside cooling.
Caveats
- The 17 billion figure is an estimate from modeling, not a directly measured count of every U.S. data center.
- Some source descriptions define the total as water for cooling and humidification, so “cooling” alone is a slight simplification.
- The figure refers to direct on-site water consumption, not total water withdrawals or indirect water used to generate electricity.
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Sources
Sources used in the analysis
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report estimated that U.S. data centers directly consumed about 17.4 billion gallons of water in 2023 for cooling, while indirect water use from electricity generation was far larger.
Data centers in the U.S. directly consumed 17.4 billion gallons of water in 2023, equivalent to roughly 160,000 American households. Annual direct consumption is projected to increase to between 38 and 73 billion gallons by 2028.
A 2024 report from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimated that in 2023, U.S. data centers consumed 17 billion gallons of water directly through cooling, and an additional 211 billion gallons indirectly through the electricity that powers them.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report estimated US data centers directly consumed about 17.4 billion gallons of water in 2023 — a small fraction of total US water withdrawals, but concentrated in specific regions and facilities.
Research conducted by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimates that U.S. data centers directly consumed approximately 21.2 billion liters of water in 2014 and 66 billion liters in 2023. The majority of data centers today use potable sources for onsite cooling, primarily from municipal utilities.
In 2023, data centers used slightly more than 17 billion gallons of water for cooling.
In 2023, U.S. data centers directly consumed 17.4 billion gallons of water, a figure projected to rise to between 38 and 73 billion gallons by 2028, according to the EPA.
Berkeley Lab estimated direct water consumption for data centers to be 66 billion liters nationally in 2023. That is equal to about 17.4 billion gallons of water used directly on-site for cooling and humidification in U.S. data centers.
A 2024 report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimated that in 2023, U.S. data centers consumed 17 billion gallons of water, and projects that by 2028, those figures could double — or even quadruple. The same report estimated that in 2023, U.S. data centers consumed an additional 211 billion gallons of water indirectly through the electricity that powers them.
It is estimated that U.S. data centers directly consumed 21.2 billion liters of water in 2014 and 66 billion liters in 2023. In the U.S., data centers have an indirect water footprint of about 800 billion liters.
Equinix said it withdrew 5,970 megaliters of water in 2023 and consumed about 60% of the water withdrawn at its data centers, mainly via evaporative cooling. This is company-specific evidence that on-site cooling can account for a large share of data-center water use.
A report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory projected that in 2023, data centers in the United States used approximately 17 billion gallons (around 64 billion liters) of water directly for cooling. This figure is anticipated to double or even quadruple by 2028.
Data center water usage in the United States reached about 66 billion liters (roughly 17 billion gallons) of direct cooling water in 2023, according to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report. At a national scale, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimated US data centers used about 66 billion liters of direct cooling water in 2023, plus nearly 800 billion liters indirectly through the electricity they consumed.
U.S. data centers directly consumed about 17.4 billion gallons of water for cooling in 2023 — and roughly 228 billion gallons once you add the water used to generate the electricity that powers them (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory). Direct (on-site cooling): the water evaporated in cooling towers and used for humidification. U.S. data centers consumed 17.4 billion gallons this way in 2023, and it’s projected to reach 38–73 billion gallons by 2028 (MOST Policy Initiative).
US data centers directly consumed about 66 billion liters (roughly 17 billion gallons) of water in 2023, with hyperscale and colocation facilities accounting for 84% of the total, according to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report.
US data centers directly consumed about 66 billion liters (17.4 billion gallons) of cooling water in 2023, according to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's 2024 report to Congress, and current projections put direct consumption at 38 to 73 billion gallons by 2028, with hyperscale facilities expected to account for roughly half of it.
Large data centers can consume up to 5 million gallons of water daily, primarily for cooling. The article also states that the increase in data centers across the nation is projected to require as much as 73 billion gallons of water annually by 2028, up from about 17 billion gallons in 2023.
One report estimated that U.S. data centers consume 449 million gallons of water per day and 163.7 billion gallons annually (as of 2021). A medium-sized data center can consume up to roughly 110 million gallons of water per year for cooling purposes, equivalent to the annual water usage of approximately 1,000 households.
U.S. data centers used 17 billion gallons directly in 2023 — and 12x more through electricity generation. Direct water is used right on-site for cooling — this is what most companies report. Government & Academic Sources: [1] U.S. Data Center Energy Usage Report (2024), Shehabi et al., Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). Primary source for 2023 direct water use (17 billion gal) and 2028 projections.
U.S. data centers directly consumed about 66 billion liters of water — roughly 17 billion gallons — in 2023, according to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report, and LBNL projects hyperscale facilities alone will consume 16 to 33 billion gallons per year by 2028. The same LBNL report puts direct water consumption by U.S. data centers at 66 billion liters (about 17 billion gallons) in 2023, up from 21.2 billion liters in 2014 — a tripling in nine years.
Data centers use water, but at national scale the direct footprint is small and controllable. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimates U.S. data centers directly used about 17.5 billion gallons of water in 2023. U.S. data center water use at roughly 0.015% of total U.S. daily withdrawals on a nationwide basis.
Unlike many other industries, data centers do not use water as a raw material; they use it for cooling. Most data centers’ cooling water comes from potable municipal water or groundwater, and a vast majority of large-scale water-based systems use open-loop evaporative cooling, meaning they consume and evaporate water.
Indirect water use is the bigger problem. Lawrence Berkeley Lab estimated that in 2023, US data centres consumed 211 billion gallons of water indirectly through the electricity powering them, compared to 17 billion gallons used directly for cooling. On-site cooling water is the figure most commonly reported for water drawn to cool server rooms via evaporative towers. Approximately 80% of this water evaporates and is not recoverable.
17 billion gallons, that's just the portion that was directly cooled. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has provided a set of estimates. In 2023, the water consumption for direct cooling of U.S. data centers was approximately 17 billion gallons, or about 64 billion liters. This only accounts for direct cooling. Data center operations rely on electricity, and the power generation process itself consumes a significant amount of water.
It is estimated that U.S. data centers directly consumed 21.2 billion liters of water in 2014 and 66 billion liters in 2023. Large hyperscale centers generally consume one to five million gallons per day. For context, five million gallons per day is equivalent to the water use of a town of 10,000 to 50,000 residents.
Data centers powering artificial intelligence systems consumed approximately 17 billion gallons of water in 2023, with projections showing water usage will surge to 68 billion gallons by 2028—a staggering 300% increase in just five years. Annual water consumption (2023): 17 billion gallons across all AI data centers.
Our analysis indicates that, if the 2024 water use intensity persists, U.S. data centers could collectively require 697–1,451 million gallons per day of new water capacity through 2030.
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Debate
Two AI advocates debated this claim using the research gathered.
Argument for
Source 1 (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) directly estimates that U.S. data centers directly consumed about 17.4 billion gallons of water in 2023 for cooling, a figure corroborated verbatim by Source 2, Source 4, Source 7, Source 8, Source 14, Source 16, and Source 20. Multiple additional independent sources including Source 3, Source 6, Source 9, Source 12, Source 13, Source 15, Source 17, Source 19, Source 21, Source 23, Source 24, and Source 26 round this to about 17 billion gallons, establishing the claim as fact through consistent authoritative consensus.
The Proponent's “independent consensus” is largely circular: most cited outlets simply restate Berkeley Lab's modeled estimate (Source 1, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) rather than provide separate measurement, so repetition across Source 2 (MOST Policy Initiative), Source 4 (Data Center List), and Source 8 (Circle of Blue) does not convert an estimate into a verified national total. The Proponent also elides key definitional instability flagged in the brief—cooling vs. cooling-plus-humidification and consumption vs. withdrawals—which even prominent coverage emphasizes as a reason the headline numbers are routinely misconstrued (Source 6, The Atlantic; Source 9, Finance & Commerce; Source 8, Circle of Blue).
Argument against
The motion's “about 17 billion gallons” figure is not a stable, directly measured national total but a rounded, model-based estimate that varies across retellings (e.g., 17.4 in Berkeley Lab's estimate vs. 17.5 elsewhere), so asserting a precise “about 17” as a factual annual amount is misleading (Source 1, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Source 21, Ocolo). Moreover, even prominent coverage warns that “nobody is getting the data-center water question right,” underscoring major transparency and definitional problems (cooling vs. humidification, consumption vs. withdrawals) that prevent treating “17 billion gallons for direct on-site cooling in 2023” as a reliable statement of fact (Source 6, The Atlantic; Source 9, Finance & Commerce).
The Opponent's dismissal of the 17-billion-gallon figure as unstable rounding ignores the direct 17.4-billion-gallon estimate in Source 1 (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) and its verbatim corroboration by Sources 2, 4, 7, 8, 14, 16, and 20. The Opponent further relies on Source 6's (The Atlantic) commentary about definitional issues while disregarding that the same source and Sources 3, 9, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 24, and 26 all affirm the rounded national total for direct on-site cooling.
Panel Review
3 specialized AI experts evaluated the evidence and arguments.
Reviewer 1 — The Logic Examiner
The logical chain runs directly from Source 1 (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's modeled 17.4-billion-gallon estimate for direct on-site cooling) to the claim's explicit qualifier “about 17 billion,” which is the rounding adopted verbatim by Sources 3, 6, 9, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 24, and 26; this constitutes direct rather than indirect support. The opponent's objections about modeling uncertainty and definitional scope do not break the inference because the claim already incorporates the qualifier “about” and limits itself to direct on-site cooling.
Reviewer 2 — The Source Auditor
The claim is strongly supported by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Source 1), which estimated direct water consumption for U.S. data centers in 2023 at 17.4 billion gallons (equivalent to 66 billion liters, as corroborated by Source 8 and Source 20). This authoritative, peer-reviewed model is widely cited and accepted across academic, government, and industry publications as the definitive baseline for 2023 direct cooling water usage.
Reviewer 3 — The Precision Analyst
The claim states U.S. data centers used 'about 17 billion gallons of water annually for direct on-site cooling in 2023.' The primary source (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Source 1) estimates 17.4 billion gallons, which rounds to 'about 17 billion gallons' — a reasonable approximation. This figure is corroborated by over a dozen independent sources (Sources 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26), all citing the same LBNL 2024 report. Source 5 (Tulane/ELI) gives 66 billion liters for 2023, which converts to approximately 17.4 billion gallons, consistent with the claim. The claim's qualifier 'about' appropriately hedges the rounded figure. The opponent's objections about model-based estimation and definitional ambiguity (cooling vs. humidification, consumption vs. withdrawals) are noted, but Source 8 explicitly states the 17.4 billion gallon figure covers 'cooling and humidification,' and the claim's wording 'direct on-site cooling' is broadly consistent with how the LBNL figure is described across sources. The claim is well-supported at its stated strength, with 'about 17 billion gallons' being an accurate rounding of the 17.4 billion gallon LBNL estimate.