About 5,000 U.S. data centers consume nearly 500 million gallons of water each day. The article says demand will rise as facilities expand to serve AI, adding pressure on shared water supplies.
A 36,554-square-foot Equinix facility in Irving, Texas, uses roughly 110 million gallons a year for cooling—about the annual water use of 1,000 households. The larger xAI site near Memphis can use up to 5 million gallons daily, comparable to a town of 10,000 people.
In January, the UN said the world had entered “global water bankruptcy,” citing a report by UN researchers. It said Indigenous Peoples, low-income urban residents and smallholder farmers bear the brunt of water overuse. The article also says xAI’s Memphis plant emitted 1,000–2,000 tons of nitrogen oxides a year, more than any other source in Memphis; the American Lung Association gave Shelby County an F for ozone pollution in 2025.
