Amazon reports its data centres use seven times less water than industry average

Amazon announced that its global data‑centre operations consumed about 0.12 litres of water per kilowatt‑hour in 2025, more than seven times lower than the industry average of 0.84 L/kWh. The company said total water use totaled roughly 25 billion gallons (95 billion litres) in 2025, a 2 % decline from the previous year despite expanding capacity.

Around 90 % of Amazon’s cooling relies on free‑air systems, with water‑based evaporative cooling employed only when ambient temperatures exceed about 85 °F (29.4 °C). This approach, combined with higher operating temperature thresholds for servers, has reduced water consumption while maintaining reliability. Amazon highlighted its broader sustainability goal of becoming water‑positive by 2030, noting it is about 75 % of the way toward that target.

The disclosure follows a one‑year moratorium on new data‑centre construction in Seattle and comes amid growing scrutiny of artificial‑intelligence infrastructure’s environmental footprint. Amazon compared its water‑intensity metrics favorably against peers such as Microsoft, Google and Meta, asserting a seven‑fold efficiency advantage.