Just as Seattle was taking a breather from hosting Amazon data centers, the tech giant shared its water usage report for 2025. According to the data, Amazon’s global operations used an impressive (or is it?) 2.5 billion gallons of water, equating to just 0.12 litres per kilowatt-hour.
Amazon boasts that its data centers are seven times more efficient than industry standards and uses less water in air cooling compared to evaporative methods on the hottest days. However, critics point out that this figure doesn’t include indirect water usage from power plants powering these centres or any construction activities related to new data center expansions.
Notably, Amazon’s efficiency claim is relative to its peers like Microsoft, Google and Meta, who are reported to use more water per kilowatt-hour. However, the comparison is a bit apples-to-oranges since it focuses on specific AI projects for certain companies.
The move towards greener tech practices is under scrutiny given recent debates about energy consumption in data centers. While Amazon claims progress, questions remain about whether these advancements outweigh the environmental impact of their operations.
