‘Water-Eating Hippo’ AI Data Center... Concerns Over Water Supply Sourcing in Water-Scarce Areas

World's Largest Data Center Hub Virginia
Data Center's Water Usage Surges 64% in 4 Years
Concerns Over Water Sourcing from Scarce Regions

Water consumption at data centers, which form the foundation of the artificial intelligence (AI) technology war among major U.S. big tech companies, is rapidly increasing. Concerns are growing as some of this water is sourced from drought-prone, water-scarce regions. Big tech companies have announced water-saving plans, including the use of recycled water.

According to major foreign media on the 18th (local time), the water consumption of dozens of data centers located in the data center corridor of Virginia, USA, surged about 64% from 1.13 billion gallons in 2019 to 1.85 billion gallons last year. Virginia is the world's largest data center hub, with about 70% of global internet traffic passing through it. Big tech companies such as Amazon, Microsoft (MS), Meta Platforms, and Google early on established data centers here.

Prince William County Service Authority, a utility provider in Virginia, reported that the total water consumption of 35 data centers operating in the county this year accounted for about 6% of the authority’s maximum daily demand. The number of data centers has increased by 59% since 2019.

According to Digital Infrastructure, data centers in the U.S. consumed more than 75 billion gallons of water last year. Foreign media reported that this amount is equivalent to the volume consumed by London, the capital of the UK, over four months. This is why Bank of America (BoA) estimates data centers as the 10th largest water consumer in the U.S.

The problem is that water use in data centers is expected to continue increasing steadily due to the AI technology war. Data centers use a massive amount of water to cool hardware. A significant portion of this water evaporates, making recycling difficult.

Environmentalists are concerned that the water sourced for data centers comes from water-scarce regions. MS stated that 42% of the water it consumed last year came from water-scarce areas, while Google reported this proportion as 15%.

Notably, Virginia has suffered from drought or maintained dry conditions in recent years. Julie Bolhaus, Land Use Director of the Piemonte Environmental Committee, pointed out, “Explosive growth of data centers is expected in the coming years,” adding, “This raises questions about the sustainability of (water use).”

In response, big tech emphasized their efforts to save water through the use of recycled water and other measures. Amazon stated in a comment, “By 2030, our data center operations will be ‘water positive,’” and “We will return more water to local communities than the company directly uses in operations.” MS announced, “Starting in August, newly built data centers in Virginia will use zero-water cooling technology.”