In the United States, data centers used about 17 billion gallons of water annually for direct on-site cooling in 2023.
NOT BSTOTAL BS
NOT BS — Verdict: True
Verified by Lenz ·
The Short Version
The available evidence supports a national 2023 estimate of roughly 17.4 billion gallons of direct on-site water consumption by U.S. data centers, so “about 17 billion gallons” is a fair summary. The figure comes from a widely cited Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report. The main caveat is that some descriptions include humidification alongside cooling.
Caveats
The 17 billion figure is an estimate from modeling, not a directly measured count of every U.S. data center.
Some source descriptions define the total as water for cooling and humidification, so “cooling” alone is a slight simplification.
The figure refers to direct on-site water consumption, not total water withdrawals or indirect water used to generate electricity.