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Water use at dozens of facilities in Virginia’s “data center alley” has increased by nearly two-thirds since 2019, while environmentalists warn that demand for computing infrastructure will “explode” due to artificial intelligence.

The US state of Virginia is home to the world’s largest concentration of data centers, including facilities used by big tech companies Amazon, Google and Microsoft.

The massive warehouses filled with computers and networking equipment consumed at least 1.85 billion US gallons (7 billion liters) of water in 2023, according to records obtained by the Financial Times through a Freedom of Information Act request.

By comparison, 1.13 billion gallons were used in 2019, according to data from six agencies in Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William and Fauquier counties in and around the area of ​​northern Virginia known as Data Center Alley. There are other water utilities in the region that are not included in the data.

The trend in Virginia “raises questions about sustainability” given the “explosive growth (in data centers) that we expect in the next few years,” says Julie Bolthouse, director of land use at the Piedmont Environmental Council, a nonprofit based in the state.

In the race to develop artificial intelligence, major technology companies around the world are investing tens of billions of dollars in data centers. This technology requires enormous amounts of energy and computing power, but companies like Google and Microsoft hope it will become a lucrative source of revenue in the next computing age.

In total, US data centers consumed more than 75 billion gallons of water in 2023. That’s roughly the amount the British capital London uses in four months, estimates the research group Dgtl Infra.

Water is used in data centers to cool computer equipment and also for most forms of fuel and power generation. Some of these massive computing facilities are located in water-scarce regions or areas, including parts of Virginia that suffer from drought.

Loudoun officials said the area in the county dedicated to data centers has more than doubled since 2019, and significant additional space is under construction.

Bank of America estimated in November that data centers are the 10th-largest water consumer in the U.S. Large individual facilities can use millions of gallons a month, but technology companies are trying to reduce the intensity of their consumption, including by using reclaimed and recycled water.

Google’s water consumption increased by 14 percent in 2023, primarily due to “the water cooling needs of our data centers,” according to the company’s latest environmental report.

In its disclosure to the FT, the Prince William County Service Authority, a local utility, said the combined water use of the county’s 35 operating data centers would be about 6 percent of the authority’s maximum daily needs in 2024. The number of facilities has increased by 59 percent since 2019.

Fairfax Water has only released usage data for the two data centers that were among its 100 largest customers, meaning all 11 facilities in the county are not included in the data. The county has submitted 12 more applications for data centers.

This year, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality approved the transfer of a permit from an old power plant to Amazon, allowing the technology company to take up to 1.4 billion gallons of water annually from the Rappahannock River to cool a new data center campus on the old industrial site.

Authorities set daily, monthly and annual limits that permit holders can use without harming the water body from which the water is taken. Actual consumption is usually below these limits.

Environmental groups have pointed out that data centers can be located in water-stressed areas. Microsoft said 42 percent of the water it used globally in 2023 came from “water-stressed areas.” Google said 15 percent of its global freshwater withdrawals came from “high water-stressed” areas. Amazon has not reported a comparable figure.

Virginia has experienced several record-breaking droughts in recent years, and 2023 will see a “severe impact” drought, according to the U.S. National Integrated Drought Information System. Much of the state, including the northern part where the four counties are located, is currently in drought or experiencing unusually dry conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Amazon said it is “committed to being a responsible steward of water” and that its data center business will be “water positive” by 2030, meaning the company will return more water to communities than it uses in direct operations. Microsoft and Google have made similar commitments. Microsoft said it is working to reduce the amount of water used for cooling and starting in August, “new data centers we plan for Virginia will use water-free cooling technologies.” Google declined to comment.