Amazon says its data centers use only 0.075% of US lawn irrigation water

Amazon's data centers consume just 0.075% of the water Americans use for lawn irrigation, the company claims. That figure puts the cloud provider's water footprint into perspective against a common household activity.

AWS facilities use air and evaporative cooling

The company operates a global network of AWS data centers. It uses air cooling and direct evaporative cooling to keep servers running efficiently while minimizing water consumption.

Amazon says it is on track to be water positive by 2030. Its total global data center water consumption currently stands at 2.5 billion gallons annually. By raising temperature thresholds in its facilities, Amazon cut water use by 50%, according to water specialist Beau Schilz.

Direct evaporative cooling also reduces power draw by 20% to 25% during peak heat hours. The combination of higher temperature setpoints and efficient cooling methods helps Amazon balance performance with sustainability goals.