# Data-center water: what to demand, what not to invent

Checked 2026-11-05. Live: https://datacenterskilledtrades.com/briefs/water/

The only national water figures we can verify are modeled: ~66 billion liters direct on-site consumption (2023) and ~800 billion liters indirect via power generation (LBNL 2024). No federal per-campus number exists; site 'gallons per day' claims need the site's own dated filing or are unknown.

Why it matters: if a data center is proposed near you, ask for that site's own water filing. National estimates cannot tell you what one campus will use, and we do not invent campus gallons or job counts.

## Audiences
- Contractors: no water numbers in bids outside the owner's basis of design (/guides/liquid-cooling/, /roles/).
- Hiring ops: water loops / towers are trade scope (/facility-systems/#liquid-cooling).
- Local gov / HOAs: demand dated, sourced, consumed-vs-withdrawn, avg-vs-peak, cooling design.

## Demand in proposals
- A named, dated source for every water number (utility will-serve letter, permit application, or engineer’s basis of design), not a press release.
- Consumptive vs withdrawn, stated separately.
- Average day and peak day, and which one the headline number is.
- Cooling design: evaporative cooling towers, air-cooled or water-cooled chillers, adiabatic assist, closed-loop direct-to-chip liquid cooling, and what rejects the heat.
- Once-through vs recirculating, cycles of concentration, and where blowdown/discharge goes.
- Water source: potable, reclaimed/non-potable, or groundwater, and drought-curtailment or tiered-use plans.
- Build-out phase the number covers (phase 1 vs full campus).

## Don't pad into bids
- National LBNL totals presented as your project’s demand.
- Viral “X gallons per day” figures, or another campus’s numbers.
- “Liquid cooling = zero water” claims; heat rejection still sets site water.
- Any gallons not in the owner’s basis of design or a utility filing. If it isn’t sourced, write “per owner’s engineering basis” and leave the number out.

## Figures
- U.S. data-center direct (on-site) water consumption, 2023: 66 billion liters (2023 (report Dec 2024)). Hyperscale + colocation = 84% of the total; internal (enterprise) data centers 12%. Source: LBNL 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report (Shehabi et al., Dec 2024, LBNL-2001637), §5, p. 55 https://eta-publications.lbl.gov/sites/default/files/2024-12/lbnl-2024-united-states-data-center-energy-usage-report_1.pdf (retrieved 2026-11-05)
- U.S. data-center direct water consumption, 2014: 21.2 billion liters (2014). 64% in internal data centers that year. Source: LBNL 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report (Shehabi et al., Dec 2024, LBNL-2001637), p. 55 https://eta-publications.lbl.gov/sites/default/files/2024-12/lbnl-2024-united-states-data-center-energy-usage-report_1.pdf (retrieved 2026-11-05)
- Projected hyperscale direct water consumption, 2028: 60–124 billion liters (2028 (projection)). Scenario range: a projection, not a measurement. Source: LBNL 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report (Shehabi et al., Dec 2024, LBNL-2001637), pp. 55–56 https://eta-publications.lbl.gov/sites/default/files/2024-12/lbnl-2024-united-states-data-center-energy-usage-report_1.pdf (retrieved 2026-11-05)
- Average site WUE, all U.S. data centers: just over 0.36 L/kWh through 2023; 0.45–0.48 L/kWh after 2023 (2014–2028 (modeled)). Liters of on-site water consumed per kWh of IT electricity. Source: LBNL 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report (Shehabi et al., Dec 2024, LBNL-2001637), p. 48 https://eta-publications.lbl.gov/sites/default/files/2024-12/lbnl-2024-united-states-data-center-energy-usage-report_1.pdf (retrieved 2026-11-05)
- U.S. data-center indirect water footprint (via electricity generation), 2023: nearly 800 billion liters (2023). National average 4.52 L/kWh for data-center electricity vs 4.35 L/kWh U.S. overall. Source: LBNL 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report (Shehabi et al., Dec 2024, LBNL-2001637), p. 57 https://eta-publications.lbl.gov/sites/default/files/2024-12/lbnl-2024-united-states-data-center-energy-usage-report_1.pdf (retrieved 2026-11-05)
- Total U.S. water withdrawals, all uses (context only): about 322 billion gallons per day (2015 (USGS Circular 1441, published 2018)). Freshwater 281 Bgal/d (87%); withdrawals, not consumption. Source: USGS Circular 1441, Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2015 (Dieter et al.) https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/cir1441 (retrieved 2026-11-05)

## FAQ

**How much water do U.S. data centers use?**
On LBNL’s national model (2024 report, Shehabi et al.): about 66 billion liters of direct, on-site water consumption in 2023, up from 21.2 billion liters in 2014. Indirect water consumed at power plants to make their electricity was nearly 800 billion liters in 2023. Those are national modeled estimates of consumption, not a figure for any single campus.

**Is the viral ‘X gallons per day’ number for a data center true?**
Maybe, for one site, if it comes from a dated utility, permit, or operator filing. Many viral figures are site-specific, design-maximum, or unsourced. DataCenterSkilledTrades does not invent campus gallons. Ask for the source document, its year, whether it is consumption or withdrawal, peak or average, and which cooling design it assumes.

**What should local governments and HOAs demand in a proposal?**
A dated water-use figure tied to a named source (utility will-serve letter, permit application, or engineering basis of design); consumptive vs withdrawn split; average and peak-day demand; cooling design (evaporative towers, air-cooled chillers, adiabatic, closed-loop liquid cooling); water source (potable, reclaimed, groundwater); discharge/blowdown handling; and drought-curtailment plans. If a proposal cannot answer, the number is unknown, so say so.

**Does liquid cooling mean zero water?**
No. Direct-to-chip liquid cooling moves heat with a closed coolant loop, but that heat still has to be rejected by dry coolers, chillers, or evaporative towers. Site water depends on the heat-rejection side. LBNL’s model shows average site WUE rising after 2023 partly from liquid-cooled systems. Ask what rejects the heat.

**What is the difference between withdrawn and consumed water?**
Withdrawn water is taken from a source; some returns (e.g., discharged). Consumed water is permanently removed from the immediate water cycle, mostly by evaporation (LBNL’s definition). A once-through system can withdraw a lot but consume little; an evaporative tower consumes much of what it uses. Never compare a withdrawal number to a consumption number.

**What should contractors not pad into bids?**
Do not quote national LBNL totals, viral per-day gallons, or another campus’s figures as your project’s water use. Water numbers in a bid or community presentation should come from the owner’s engineering basis of design or utility filings. Contractors can speak to scope: pipefitters on CDU and facility water loops, HVAC/R on chillers and towers, not invent demand.

**Is the USGS 322 billion gallons per day figure about data centers?**
No. USGS Circular 1441 estimates about 322 billion gallons per day of total U.S. water withdrawals in 2015 across all uses. It is context for scale and for the withdrawal-vs-consumption distinction only.

Who's building (dated context): /#whos-building, /facility-systems/#whos-building

Related: /briefs/jobs-vs-power/, /briefs/grid-load/, /briefs/local-gov-questions/, /facility-systems/#liquid-cooling, /guides/liquid-cooling/, /roles/