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AI THIRST

How thirsty is AI?

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Estimated water consumed by data centers since 2024

Estimated gallons consumed

Gallons

Calibrating

Today

—

est. gal

This hour

—

est. gal

This minute

—

est. gal

Per second

—

est. gal

A live estimate from published data — not a physical meter on every data center.

Put that into perspective

What does that even look like?

Most of us don’t think in hundreds of billions of gallons. These are approximate translations of the live water counter — they rise with it.

That amount of water could fill approximately

—

Olympic swimming pools

One Olympic pool holds about 660,430 gallons (50 × 25 × 2 m). Approximate.

Equivalent to approximately

—

U.S. household water-use days

EPA typical household use of 300 gallons per day. Approximate.

Enough water to fill

—

bathtubs

A typical filled bathtub holds about 40 gallons. Approximate.

Or about

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tanker-truck loads

A typical tanker payload of 11,000 gallons. Approximate.

Equivalent to approximately — Olympic swimming pools filled since January 1, 2024.

Today

—

Since local midnight

This month

—

Since the 1st

This year

—

Since January 1

Per day

—

Current-year rate

Per hour

—

Current-year rate

Per minute

—

Current-year rate

Per second

—

Current-year rate

AI’s growing thirst

Year by year

Estimated annual totals from the growth model. Water is the default. Years after the current one are projected — not measured.

Live year

Annual gal

207.84 billion

Average / day

569.42 million

Average / hour

23.73 million

Average / second

6.59 thousand

Growth vs prior year

+12.0%

Data center water by company

What operators disclose

These are on-site figures from environmental reports. They do not include water used to generate electricity, and they do not sum to the global clock.

Google

Reported

10.9 billion

consumed · 2025

Company-wide; data centers drove most of the increase

Up 34% year over year. 2024 data-center consumption was 7.79 billion gallons (Google 2025 Environmental Report).

Google 2026 Environmental Report

Microsoft

Reported

2.7 billion

withdrawn · 2024

Company operations (not data-center-only)

Fleet WUE reported at 0.27 L/kWh in FY2025. Microsoft stated it reached a water-positive position in FY2025.

Microsoft environmental disclosures, FY2024

Amazon AWS

Reported

2.5 billion

withdrawn · 2025

AWS data centers, global

First absolute disclosure. Global WUE reported at 0.12 L/kWh.

AWS water disclosure, June 2026

Meta

Reported

1.49 billion

used · 2024

Owned sites (leased and construction water reported separately)

5,637 megaliters in 2024, up from 3,726 megaliters in 2020. Construction withdrawals are excluded from this figure.

Meta 2025 Environmental Data Index

Other data centers

Estimated

34.37 billion

used · 2026

Enterprise, colocation, China, and remaining hyperscale — on-site water only, estimated

Most of the world’s data-center water is not in the four U.S. hyperscalers’ reports. This card is an order-of-magnitude residual, not a measurement.

Residual of IEA-derived global direct water minus disclosed hyperscale on-site totals

The thirst expands

Water first. More to come.

Today the story is water. The same model can carry energy, carbon, and capacity without a redesign — quiet estimates, not competing clocks.

Hero clock

AI water

—

gal since 2024

—

Estimated

AI energy

—

kWh since 2024

—

Estimated

AI carbon

—

metric tons since 2024

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Estimated load

Data center growth

—

MW operating load

How do we know?

A model, not a meter

AI THIRST does not directly measure every data center in real time. The live counter is an estimate derived from published research, company disclosures, government information and industry data. Published consumption estimates are converted into an estimated consumption rate to power the live counter.

View our sources

Actual reported data

  • IEA water, 2023. 560 billion liters of data-center water worldwide — 140 billion direct, 373 billion from electricity generation, 47 billion embodied in hardware.
  • IEA electricity. About 415 TWh in 2024 and 485 TWh in 2025; outlook near 950 TWh in 2030. About 182 million tonnes of CO₂ from that electricity in 2024.
  • LBNL / DOE, 2023 (U.S.). 17.4 billion gallons on-site, about 211 billion gallons at power plants.
  • Operator reports. Google, Microsoft, AWS, and Meta on-site figures appear on the company cards, labeled Reported.

Estimated / projected data

  • Water 2024. 165.69 billion gallons — IEA 2023 grown +12.0% with electricity demand.
  • Water 2025 / 2026. Compounded at +12.0% then +12.0% → 185.57 billion and 207.84 billion gallons.
  • Electricity & load. Follow the IEA TWh path. Operating load is TWh ÷ hours in the year, interpolated — not nameplate capacity.
  • CO₂. 182 million tonnes in 2024, grown slower than electricity (+8.0% a year from 2027) as grids slowly decarbonize. Approximate.

Counter math

Each calendar year is converted to a per-second rate using the actual length of that year, including leap days in 2024 and 2028:

annual total ÷ days in year ÷ 24 ÷ 60 ÷ 60 = units per second

The display is the integral of those rates from 1 January 2024, 00:00 UTC to now. Reloading the page does not reset it. 2026 water currently runs at about 6,591 gallons per second. Electricity 2026 is about 558 TWh for the full year.

View our sources

Sources & methodology

Every citation below is a real publication. Where a global total has not been measured, this site says so and uses an estimate.

  1. Energy and AI

    Reported

    International Energy Agency · 2025

    Headline global figure: 560 billion liters of data-center water in 2023 (140 direct, 373 indirect, 47 embodied). Outlook of roughly 1,200 billion liters by 2030 is cited in contemporaneous IEA-based reporting.

    Original figure
    560 billion liters in 2023 (all scopes). ~182 million tonnes CO₂ from data-center electricity in 2024.
    Our calculation
    Water: converted to US gallons, then grown 12% per year from 2024. CO₂: 182 million tonnes in 2024, grown slower than electricity. Historical estimate through the current year; 2027+ is projected.

  2. Key Questions on Energy and AI

    Reported

    International Energy Agency · 2026

    Electricity consumption from data centres grew ~17% in 2025 to about 485 TWh (from ~415 TWh in 2024). Updated outlook: roughly 950 TWh in 2030. AI THIRST’s electricity and operating-load estimates are built from these figures.

    Original figure
    ~415 TWh (2024), ~485 TWh (2025), outlook ~950 TWh (2030)
    Our calculation
    415 TWh converted to kWh and accumulated from 1 Jan 2024. Operating load = annual TWh ÷ hours in the year.

  3. United States Data Center Energy Usage Report (LBNL-2001637)

    Reported

    Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory / U.S. Department of Energy · 2024

    U.S. data centers consumed 17.4 billion gallons of water on-site in 2023, plus about 211 billion gallons indirectly through electricity generation. 2028 on-site range: 38–73 billion gallons.

    Original figure
    17.4 billion gallons on-site (U.S., 2023)
    Our calculation
    Cited for U.S. context. Not added on top of the IEA global clock (that would double-count).

  4. Environmental Report

    Reported

    Google · 2025–2026

    2024 data-center water: 9.87 billion gallons withdrawn, 7.79 billion gallons consumed. 2025 company-wide consumption: 10.9 billion gallons (+34%).

    Original figure
    2024 data-center: 9.87B gal withdrawn, 7.79B gal consumed. 2025 company-wide: 10.9B gal consumed.
    Our calculation
    Shown as reported on the company card. Not added into the global clock (that would double-count).

  5. Environmental / sustainability disclosures

    Reported

    Microsoft · 2024–2025

    Approximately 2.7 billion gallons withdrawn in 2024 (company operations). Fleet WUE 0.27 L/kWh in FY2025.

    Original figure
    ~2.7 billion gallons withdrawn in 2024 (company operations).
    Our calculation
    Shown as reported on the company card. Company-wide, not data-center-only.

  6. AWS water disclosure

    Reported

    Amazon Web Services · 2026

    First absolute figure: 2.5 billion gallons withdrawn by AWS data centers in 2025. Global WUE 0.12 L/kWh.

    Original figure
    2.5 billion gallons withdrawn (AWS data centers, 2025).
    Our calculation
    Shown as reported on the company card. Withdrawal, not consumption.

  7. 2025 Environmental Data Index

    Reported

    Meta · 2025

    Water use rose from 3,726 megaliters in 2020 to 5,637 megaliters in 2024. Meta also discloses water embedded in purchased electricity, which is several times on-site use.

    Original figure
    5,637 megaliters in 2024 (≈ 1.49 billion gallons).
    Our calculation
    Converted megaliters → US gallons for the company card. Owned sites only.