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https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-data-centers-water-use-901e2902
AI Data Centers Use Far More Water Than Most Tech Giants Report
Water used at power plants that supply their electricity can be many times as great as the water used in the data centers themselves
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July 3, 2026 5:30 am ET
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Microsoft MSFT1.62%increase; up pointing triangle, Google and Amazon AMZN0.40%increase; up pointing triangle are among the tech companies spending an estimated $1 trillion on AI infrastructure this year and last. In some regions, they are using far more water than they report, depending on how data centers are powered. And their water consumption is projected to grow rapidly in coming years.
These companies produce annual sustainability reports that include water use at their data centers. But among this group of titans, only Meta META-4.90%decrease; down pointing triangle tallies water used at the power stations that feed them electricity, in addition to the water used on-site.
No law obligates these companies to report the full scope of their water use, both direct and indirect. In the U.S., indirect water consumption for data centers has historically been about 12 times as great as the amount they directly consume, according to a 2024 analysis by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Experts who are calculating the water demands of the biggest infrastructure buildout in U.S. history say this could lead to regional fights over who gets an increasingly scarce resource.
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This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.
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