Amazon announced that its global data center operations achieved a water usage rate of 0.12 liters per kilowatt-hour in 2025, which the company said is more than seven times more efficient than the industry average of 0.84 liters per kilowatt-hour. The company added that its data center water efficiency has improved by 52% since 2021 through investments in cooling technologies and operational innovations.
According to Amazon, about 90% of the time, its data centers rely on free air cooling, which uses outside air to regulate temperatures without consuming water. Water-based evaporative cooling is used only during the hottest periods of the year, allowing the company to reduce electricity consumption compared with conventional chiller systems.
Amazon noted that chillers generally require 25% to 35% more electricity. The company believes that using limited amounts of water during peak heat periods reduces overall environmental impact and helps avoid additional strain on power grids during periods of high energy demand.
The company has also increased the temperature thresholds under which its data centers operate, enabling servers to withstand hotter conditions and reducing the number of hours that require water-based cooling. Amazon said years of testing and analysis showed that higher operating temperatures did not increase equipment failure rates.
These efforts have produced meaningful reductions in water usage. In Northern Virginia, Amazon’s largest region by IT load, the company said water consumption fell by 42% year over year despite continued growth in computing demand. In some cases, engineers reduced water usage by approximately 50% at facilities operating at higher temperatures.
Amazon said it withdrew approximately 2.5 billion gallons of water across its global data center footprint in 2025 and reduced total water withdrawals by 2% at sites it owns and operates directly compared with 2024, even as the number of buildings expanded.
The company reiterated its goal of becoming water positive by 2030, meaning it intends to replenish more water than it consumes. Amazon said it is currently about 75% of the way toward that objective. In 2025, the company returned three gallons of water for every four gallons used and has announced more than 50 water projects that are expected to replenish more than 5.8 billion gallons annually when fully implemented.
Among those projects are aquifer storage initiatives in Oregon, watershed restoration efforts in Mexico, and agricultural water conservation programs in Spain. Amazon said the combined projects are expected to provide enough water annually to fill approximately 8,800 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
The company is also expanding its use of reclaimed water sourced from wastewater treatment plants rather than drinking water supplies. Amazon currently operates 26 facilities that rely entirely on reclaimed water and has contracts in place for an additional 130 facilities worldwide. The company said it has helped establish reclaimed water programs in locations including Mississippi, Hong Kong, and Indonesia.
Amazon noted that data centers account for less than 0.5% of global industrial water use and said its operations represent only a fraction of that total. The company emphasized that its focus is on improving water stewardship while continuing to support growing demand for cloud computing services.
KEY QUOTES:
“Data centers enable everything from video calls to virtual medical visits and education to online banking. To deliver that computing reliably, we need to maintain optimal temperatures. My team focuses on thermal management, taking the heat generated as a byproduct of computing operations and removing it as effectively and as efficiently as possible.”
“This is how we innovate at Amazon. We set an ambitious target that benefits our customers, iterate relentlessly, and validate with data, in this case, proving we could cut water use in half without any impact on performance.”
Joern Tinnemeyer, Data Center Engineering Leader, Amazon
“It’s like sweating. The evaporative process pulls the heat off of your body so you don’t overheat.”
“Our engineers looked at two identical data centers on the same campus and were able to use about 50% less water in one of them that was running with higher temperatures.”
Beau Schilz, Water Specialist, Amazon
“We’re not just using reclaimed water. We’re helping communities develop these programs from the ground up.”
Usman Khan, Water Specialist, Amazon
“We’re particularly focused on areas where there’s water scarcity. Amazon wants to partner with communities to ensure our water stewardship creates local benefits that they want to see.”
Beau Schilz, Water Specialist, Amazon
