Amazon’s data centers used 2.5 billion gallons of water last year

Amazon disclosed that its global data centers used 2.5 billion gallons of water in 2025, reportedly its first such disclosure. The company says water use fell 2% from 2024 despite expansion, reaching 0.12 liters per kilowatt-hour of electricity.

The disclosure reflects growing pressure on cloud providers to quantify the environmental costs of AI and data center growth. As cities weigh moratoriums and permitting limits, water efficiency is becoming a competitive and regulatory issue alongside energy use.

Just after Seattle enacted a one-year data center moratorium that some of Amazon's own employees pushed for, Amazon shared how much water its data centers use, reportedly for the first time. With concerns about water consumption and energy use a focus of new AI data center construction debates, Amazon says its global data center operations consumed 2.5 billion gallons of water in 2025 at a rate of 0.12 liters per kilowatt-hour of electricity, dropping by two percent from its 2024 total even as it expanded operations. Amazon also claims it's using water more efficiently than some Big Tech rivals - this graphic in Amazon's report points to M … Read the full story at The Verge.