Amazon is expanding the number of locations that will use treated wastewater for data center cooling from 20 to 120.

The company this week announced it will expand its use of water recycling to more than 120 locations in states and counties where the cloud giant has data center operations by 2030.

“By scaling our use of recycled water—water that has been previously used and treated—we expect to preserve over 530 million gallons of drinking-water supply in our communities throughout the US each year,” the company said.

Though data centers typically reuse water by recirculating the same water through their cooling systems multiple times, it is often drawn from potable (drinkable) sources. As the water can collect bacteria and limescale, it is treated with chemicals, leaving it unsuitable for people to drink once it leaves the facility. Exactly how much drinkable water the data center industry uses is unclear, but estimated to be in the billions of gallons annually.

Today, Amazon uses recycled water instead of potable or drinkable water across 20 locations; 16 in Virginia and four in Santa Clara in California, and said it is now expanding those efforts to more places in Virginia, as well as in Georgia and Mississippi.

Amazon’s active data center footprint today totals more than 100 facilities worldwide, with dozens more in development. The company operates more than 37 cloud regions and 117 availability zones worldwide, with at least four more regions and a dozen availability zones in development.

“We are deeply committed to being good members of our communities, and doubling down on preserving freshwater resources is one of the ways we can demonstrate that,” said Kevin Miller, vice president of global data centers for AWS. “By significantly expanding our recycled-water infrastructure, we’re aiming to advance technological innovation while still prioritizing environmental stewardship.”

In 2020, Amazon said it had become the first data center operator approved to use reclaimed water with direct evaporative cooling technology in a project with Loudoun Water.

The reclaimed wastewater (i.e, sewage) used by Amazon undergoes a three-step treatment process that removes 99 percent of impurities. After the recycled water runs through the cooling system, it returns to the wastewater facility for another round of treatment so it can be used again.

In evaporative systems, hot air is pulled from outside and pushed through water-soaked cooling pads; water evaporates and cools the temperature of the air sent to the server rooms. The company says evaporative cooling systems can use up to 85 percent less water than traditional cooling. AWS also uses free-cooling in some locations, such as Ireland and Sweden, which rely on cold outside air and use little or no water.

AWS has committed to becoming water positive – i.e. returning more water to communities than it uses in direct operations – by 2030. The company reached 53 percent of the way toward meeting this goal in 2024 – up from 41 percent in 2023.

“AWS’ new initiative will support communities by easing pressure on local water systems while meeting the needs of the rapidly growing AI economy," said Howard Carter, president of Water Environment Federation (WEF). "As part of our strategy to advance the circular water economy, the Water Environment Federation encourages public-private collaboration to drive innovative water solutions. AWS’s commitment to recycled water exemplifies how the private sector can work with communities to build a more resilient water future.”

Amazon says its facilities operate with an average of 0.15 liters of water per kilowatt-hour of water use effectiveness globally for AWS data centers

Google said 22 percent of Google's total data center water withdrawal (excluding seawater) was reclaimed wastewater and other non-potable water in 2023, and roughly one-third of the company's data center campuses used air cooling or non-potable water sources. The search giant has said its data centers use an average of 450,000 gallons of water per day, and has pledged to replenish 20 percent more water than it uses by 2030.

Microsoft has also promised to replenish more water than it uses by 2030. According to its 2022 sustainability report, the company is using reclaimed water at its data centers in San Jose, California; Quincy, Washington; Texas; and Singapore.

Meta has also said it would be water-positive by 2030.

Apple has previously used reclaimed water for its data center in Oregon. The company aims to replenish 100 percent of the fresh water used in corporate operations in high-stress locations by 2030, and has said it is using "a plant-based treatment method" to process cooling water in data centers with fewer chemicals.