Data Center Water Usage: How Hyperscalers Are Cutting Cooling Water Costs

Why Data Centers Are High-Priority for Water Efficiency

Data centers use water primarily for cooling — evaporative cooling towers, chilled water systems, and increasingly direct liquid cooling for high-density AI compute. A hyperscale facility can use 1–5 million gallons per day. As AI workloads drive compute density higher, cooling water demand is growing faster than the facilities themselves. At the same time, regulatory pressure, ESG reporting requirements, and water scarcity concerns are making water usage a board-level issue for major operators.

The Amazon YYZ3 and YYZ4 Results

Two Amazon fulfillment centres in Brampton, Ontario achieved independently verified savings using Smart Valve™ at scale. YYZ3 averaged 43.98% water savings across Q3/Q4 2024, with a peak quarter of 58.69% in Q3 2024. YYZ4 averaged 14.6% over the same period. Both results were measured using IPMVP Option B methodology with full quarterly M&V reporting.

For the full verified data with five charts, visit the Amazon YYZ3 & YYZ4 case study.

WUE and Regulatory Pressure

Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) is an emerging metric for data center sustainability reporting, calculated as annual site water usage divided by annual IT equipment energy usage. Several U.S. states — including California, Colorado, and Virginia — are implementing or actively considering regulations that require data centers to report and reduce water consumption.

Smart Valve™ reduces metered water consumption directly, which improves WUE scores and supports regulatory compliance with no infrastructure changes. For more on WUE regulation and the data center water landscape, see the WUE Regulatory Risk page and the Data Centers industry overview.