Inaugural Flagship Report - State of European Data Centres 2025 Click here to download
Seeing Through the Mist: Data Centres and Water Usage
This EUDCA Technical Committee paper cuts through confusion about data centre water use, explaining how much water facilities typically need, how data centre water use compares with other high water demand sectors and why local impact can differ from global totals. It clarifies the crucial gap between water usage (withdrawn) and water consumption (lost, mainly via evaporation), and shows how cooling choices, closed-loop “dry” systems vs evaporative “wet” systems, drive that difference.
The paper notes data centres are a small share of European water abstraction today, but an emerging sector that must scale responsibly as AI boosts cooling demand. It highlights strong progress via Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE), growing use of non-potable, recycled, or seawater sources, and regulation/voluntary pacts pushing operators toward lower consumption and near-zero potable water use.
