Amazon has revealed for the first time how much water its data centers consume. The company reported that its global data center operations used 2.5 billion gallons of water in 2025. This disclosure comes just after Seattle passed a one-year moratorium on new data center construction, a move that some of Amazon's own employees had advocated for.
The water consumption figure amounts to a rate of 0.12 liters per kilowatt-hour of electricity. Amazon says this represents a 2% drop from its 2024 total, even as the company expanded its data center footprint. The announcement adds to ongoing debates about the environmental impact of AI data centers, with water and energy use becoming focal points of new construction discussions.
Efficiency claims and comparisons with rivals
Amazon asserts that it is using water more efficiently than several of its Big Tech competitors. The company included a graphic in its report that compares its water usage per kilowatt-hour with data from Microsoft, Google, and Meta over recent years. According to Amazon's analysis, those companies each consumed more water per kilowatt-hour than Amazon did.
However, the comparison may not be entirely apples to apples. The data cited for Google appears to be limited to its Gemini AI data centers, while Amazon's figures cover all of its operations. Additionally, Amazon's reported water use does not account for indirect water consumption at power plants that supply electricity to its data centers, nor does it include water used in the construction of new data centers.
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Cooling methods and heat tolerance
Amazon described its approach to cooling, stating that about 90% of the time its data centers rely on air cooling. The company uses evaporative water cooling only during the hottest hours of the hottest days. Amazon also said it has raised the temperature tolerance of its servers, reducing the need for cooling overall.
The company claims its data centers are seven times more water-efficient than the industry average. That figure is based on an adjusted metric from a peer-reviewed research paper published last year.
Context and background
The report marks a significant step for Amazon, which had not previously disclosed its data center water usage. The timing is notable given the recent moratorium in Seattle, a city where Amazon is headquartered. The moratorium reflects growing concerns about the resource demands of large-scale data centers, particularly those supporting AI workloads. Amazon's disclosure may help inform future policy discussions as cities and states grapple with the environmental trade-offs of expanding digital infrastructure.
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