Not as thirsty as we thought - average data center uses less water than a 'typical leisure center', study claims

• Data centers in England use far less water than many expected
• TechUK survey shows nearly two-thirds of facilities consume modest water amounts
• Closed-loop cooling systems reduce dependence on traditional water-intensive methods

The world's expanding network of data centers has often been linked with heavy environmental costs, especially when it comes to water.

These facilities form the base for cloud services, LLM training, and the many AI tools now embedded across industries.

However a new survey by techUK, conducted with the UK Environment Agency, has claimed data centers are “not intensive water users” as many people think.

Very few sites with industry-level water usage

The report found nearly two-thirds (64%) of commercial sites ...