How Amazon is Cutting Water Use in its Global Data Centres

Amazon is improving water efficiency across its global data centre estate, with its latest sustainability report showing facilities are now seven times more water-efficient than the industry average.

In 2025, the company used 0.12 litres of water per kWh, representing a 20% improvement compared with 2024.

Last year, 48% of Amazon's water use took place in areas with low water stress, while 22% was in areas with high or very high water stress, which helped shape where water conservation efforts have the greatest impact.

Engineering changes inside facilities also contributed to lower consumption. Installing in-row heat exchangers reduced water requirements in cooling systems by 9%.

Smart meters now monitor water use in real time across every site, helping Amazon save 938 million litres of water during 2025.

Additionally, water treatment systems are now running at 31% of the company's data centres, allowing facilities to manage water resources more efficiently.

Alexis Bateman, Head of Sustainability at Amazon Web Services (AWS), says: “I've spent my career studying how complex systems can become more sustainable - first in academia, now in practice at AWS.

“What I find most energising about this work is that it's never ‘done’. It's iterative, it's humbling and it requires honesty about where we are alongside pride in how far we've come.”

Cooling systems reduce reliance on drinking water

Alongside lowering overall consumption, Amazon is changing the way its data centres source water for cooling.

When water is required, Amazon uses non-drinkable sources including treated municipal wastewater, which is recycled wastewater processed for industrial use rather than drinking. Using these supplies helps reduce pressure on local drinking water resources while supporting data centre cooling requirements.

The approach also supports Amazon's target of becoming water positive by 2030: returning more water to communities and the environment than the company consumes through its operations.

By the end of 2025, Amazon reached 75% of that target.

Utility partnerships expand recycled water use

Expanding the use of recycled water requires collaboration with local water providers while developing long-term infrastructure.

Amazon has agreements with 13 utilities to provide treated wastewater to 130 data centres across nine regions, creating a larger supply network for industrial water reuse.

During 2025, 26 of those facilities used 849 million litres of recycled water for cooling, making Amazon a leading user of treated wastewater among cloud providers.

Several regional projects demonstrate how those partnerships support local data centre operations.

In Singapore, every Amazon data centre uses the country's reclaimed water system, NEWater. The national programme supplies highly treated reclaimed water, allowing facilities to avoid using drinking water for cooling.

In Australia, Amazon is working with Greater Western Water to deliver advanced treated water to a data centre in Melbourne.

The project is the first of its kind in the state of Victoria and expands the use of alternative water supplies for digital infrastructure.

In Hong Kong, Amazon worked with the Water Supplies Department to establish a system that treats water within the data centre itself.

The project changes previous requirements that only allow freshwater to be used for cooling, opening the way for treated water to support facility operations instead.

Amazon's latest figures show how facility design and partnerships with utilities combine to improve water efficiency while reducing reliance on potable water supplies.

The company's progress also highlights how water management is now an integral part of data centre design.