Ireland data centres consume nearly 1 bn litres of water annually with no usage limits

An investigation by The Journal Investigates found that Irish data centres used almost one billion litres of water in the past year, totaling about 1.7 billion litres over two years. The volume is equivalent to filling 400 Olympic‑size swimming pools or the annual water consumption of roughly 20,500 people – about the population of Sligo town. Most of the usage can be traced to just two large data‑centre campuses, and only the biggest facilities are required to report figures to the Environmental Protection Agency, meaning the true consumption is likely higher.

Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan criticised the disparity, saying, “The sheer volume of water being used by data centres is staggering… while households face hosepipe bans and fines.” She highlighted that the EU Energy Efficiency Directive obliges the Irish government to publish data‑centre water use, yet the information is not collected, leaving the sector unregulated despite its impact on the national water supply and grid.

The report also noted that other sectors, particularly the pharmaceutical industry, consume even larger amounts of water, underscoring the opaque nature of data‑centre environmental reporting.