A summary by Knowable Magazine puts the figures into perspective: the cooling remains marginal on a national scale, but the trajectory and local effects pose a real problem.
Resumed on 16 September 2026 by Stacker, a synthesis by Knowledgeable Magazine addresses a question that has become flammable: how much water do data centres actually consume? In 2023, their cooling mobilized 66 billion litres in the United States, or less than 1% of the country's water consumption. By 2030, projections range from 731 to 1,125 billion litres per year — the equivalent of drinking water distributed in New York in one year.
The effect is mainly local. In Texas, data centres now account for less than 1% of government consumption, but could reach 3% to 9% by 2040. The estimates per query have moved a lot: the figure of 500 millilitres per generated email, advanced in 2024, is now exceeded; Google estimated in 2025 at five drops of water the median request addressed to Gemini.
The experts interviewed were rather optimistic about the technique. "Data centres are becoming much more efficient in their use of water," says Vaibhav Bahadur, engineer at Texas University in Austin. Fengqi You, a specialist in energy systems in Cornell, even believes that in the long term we could achieve on-site cooling with zero water balance. The levers identified: implant the sites in well-watered areas, switch to solar and wind, generalize liquid cooling and enhance fatal heat.
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