Conversations around sustainability in digital infrastructure often focus on energy, but water is emerging as an equally pressing challenge. From semiconductor production to data centre cooling, the industry’s reliance on water is staggering—and with climate pressures intensifying, this issue can no longer remain in the background.
Rising Pressures on Resources
Global resource strain is becoming more visible. For instance, tensions in the US-China trade relationship have already pushed up the price of gallium, a material critical to semiconductor manufacturing. At the same time, debates over deep-sea mining highlight the lengths to which industries are willing to go to secure raw materials for technology and batteries. These developments underscore just how fragile the resource supply chain has become.
Layer artificial intelligence into the equation, and the conversation deepens. AI systems require immense amounts of power, and with that comes water use—sometimes in surprising ways. Researchers have estimated that a large language model query can indirectly consume half a litre of water when accounting for cooling requirements. As these tools proliferate across devices, the strain on both electricity and water grids will grow significantly.
Understanding Water Stress
The challenge is made more urgent by global water scarcity. According to the World Resources Institute, a quarter of the world’s population already lives under severe year-round water stress. By mid-century, that number could climb by another billion people, particularly if climate targets are missed.
For data centres, the scale of consumption is striking. A 1MW enterprise facility can use about 25 million litres of water annually—roughly ten Olympic-sized swimming pools. Hyperscale operations like those run by major cloud providers consume hundreds of millions of litres. And this doesn’t even account for the water footprint of electricity generation or the supply chain that feeds into the industry.
The Water-Energy Connection
The most widely used metric for tracking water efficiency in this space is Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE), which compares site water consumption to IT energy use. Yet this measure oversimplifies the picture. Energy generation itself carries a water cost that varies dramatically by source. Fossil fuel and hydroelectric plants consume significantly more water than wind or solar. That means where a data centre gets its electricity can be just as important as how it cools its servers.
Regional differences are stark: one megawatt-hour of electricity requires about 1.3 cubic meters of water in the Netherlands, 2.0 in Germany, and over 4.0 in France. For facilities located in already stressed regions, these variations can have serious implications for long-term sustainability.
Beyond the Facility: Supply Chain Water Footprint
Water demand does not stop at operations. Manufacturing the chips, boards, and cables that fill a data hall is an extraordinarily water-intensive process. A single semiconductor can require tens of litres of water to produce, while an entire circuit board can use several thousand. The copper mining and refining necessary for cabling also carries a heavy water burden, adding yet another layer to the sector’s footprint.
What Can Be Done?
Operators have made progress in managing water use inside their facilities. Hybrid cooling systems, seawater-based cooling, and efficient chillers are reducing consumption and improving WUE scores. Yet tackling the bigger picture requires going further. Factoring in the water cost of electricity sourcing, extending the lifecycle of IT hardware, and participating in circular economy practices all help reduce hidden water demand.
Some hyperscale operators are also experimenting with water-positive initiatives, such as restoring local water supplies or using waste heat for community projects. In colder regions, excess heat from data halls can warm public buildings or swimming pools. In hotter climates, it can power desalination plants, effectively turning one problem into part of the solution.
Looking Ahead
The conversation about sustainable data centres must evolve beyond energy alone. Water scarcity is a global crisis, and the digital sector’s role in it is substantial. The first step is accurate measurement—understanding the full water footprint of operations and supply chains alike. From there, the industry can design smarter, more resilient systems that balance digital growth with environmental responsibility.