Google pledges to replenish more water than its data centers consume by 2030

Google has announced five commitments around water use at its data centers, including a pledge to replenish more water than it consumes by 2030. Lauren Feiner reports for The Verge that the company published the commitments in a blog post and is framing them as a model other data center operators could follow.

Concern about water use by AI data centers has grown steadily. Some of that concern is valid. Much of it, however, has been shown to be exaggerated. A recent study found that reporting on the issue has frequently overstated the actual impact. Still, public opposition is real. A Gallup poll found that more than 70 percent of Americans oppose having a data center built in their area, with half citing environmental resources as a reason.

What Google is promising

• Replenish more water than it uses at data centers by 2030
• Invest $17 million in water stewardship projects across seven US states
• Invest in local water infrastructure
• Identify alternative water sources such as reclaimed wastewater
• Report annual water use transparently

Google’s vice president of global infrastructure Bikash Koley notes that water cooling can actually reduce data center energy use by around 10 percent compared to air cooling. He also points out that US data centers use less than one percent of the water Americans use on their lawns each year.

Ben Townsend, Google’s global head of infrastructure and sustainability, said the commitments are meant to give communities a reference point when evaluating any company proposing to build a data center nearby. “A community can say, ‘well, here are five different things that really put the community and the watershed first. Are you doing these?'” Townsend told The Verge.

Townsend acknowledged that some concerns about data center water use are legitimate but argued the sector uses less water than many people assume. The goal, he said, is to invest now so that water use never becomes a serious problem.