Visualizing Water Consumption: US Data Centers

In 2023 alone, US data centers consumed an estimated 17 billion gallons of water. That's 52,171 acre-feet of water, enough to cover a 10.2-mile-wide circle in a foot of water! 

 

 Estimating the average cross-sectional area of a bayou channel at 2,400 square feet, the 17 billion gallons of water consumed by US data centers in 2023 could fill 179 miles of bayou channels , which is longer than the combined length of all of Houston's 5 major bayous (175 miles).