Amazon reveals exactly how much water its data centers used last year and claims its 2.5 billion gallons puts it below the industry average

Date:
Fri, 12 Jun 2026 13:05:00 +0000

Description:
Amazon says it used far less water than Google at its data centers as it
turns to air cooling and recycled water consumption.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Amazon says its data centers used 0.12L/kWh in 2025 Google used 1.15L/kWh Air-based cooling is used 90%
of the time, keeping water only for when it's really needed The company has also raised the safe operating temperatures for equipment, reducing cooling needs Amazon has revealed exactly how much its global data center operations used in 2025, and at 2.5bn gallons (the equivalent of 9.5bn litres), it is less than we might have expected.

Even though 2025 was a big year for data center expansion, Amazon says water use at facilities it directly owned fell 2% year-over-year, noting an impressive Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) of 0.12L/kWh seven times better than the 0.84L/kWh industry average and a 52% self-improvement since 2021. While closed-loop cooling likely drove some of this improvement, Amazon says its data centers now use outside air cooling around 90% of the time. Latest Videos From Watch full video here: Amazon says data center water usage is actually decreasing With air-based cooling doing the heavy lifting, Amazon said that evaporative cooling systems, which are considered water-intensive, are only used during the hottest weather conditions.

To offset some of the cooling requirements, the company also managed to increase the temperatures at which servers can safely operate, reducing the actual cooling needs in the first place. You may like Amazon, Microsoft, Google and more pressed on data center water and power use Saltwater cooling system could turn data centers into clean water producers Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella looks to allay fears over data center energy and water use

Comparing itself to key hyperscaler rivals in 2024, Amazon emerged as a clear leader, consuming 0.15L/kWh. Meta came in second place at 0.19L/kWh, with Microsoft consuming twice as much (0.3L/kWh). Google fell short, at
1.15L/kWh.

Where water is required, Amazon says it's committed to expanding recycled water cooling to more than 120 US locations by the end of the decade, up from 24 sites currently. 2030 is also Amazon's target for becoming water positive a goal it says it's 75% of the way there. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Contact me
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However, while the figures paint a remarkable picture of leadership, Amazon's data excludes partner locations as well as construction and manufacturing-related consumption.

"As demand for cloud computing continues to grow, so does our commitment to doing more with lessand to leave communities better than we found them," the company said in its blog post. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as
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