# I don't understand the relationship between data centers and water use **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 16, 2026, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-the-relationship-between-data-centers-and-water-use/1026737 "2026-01-16T05:30:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2026, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-the-relationship-between-data-centers-and-water-use/1026737/61 "2026-03-06T00:13:36Z")
1 MW = 2.4 MBTU/hr 2.4 MBTU/hr = 283 tons of cooling Using @jjakucyk’s 2 gallons/hr per ton of cooling gives 2_283_24 = 13,584 gallons per day per MW. So roughly 100 households per megawatt of data center power consumption. ---
**Author:** ![Ancient\_Nerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed655f/32.png) [@Ancient\_Nerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ancient_Nerd)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2026, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-the-relationship-between-data-centers-and-water-use/1026737/62 "2026-03-07T07:48:42Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > 138 gallons per household per day according to a 2016 study by the Water Research Foundation cited [in this Wikipedia article.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residential_water_use_in_the_U.S._and_Canada) So almost 11,000 households worth. > [What Is An Acre Foot? - North Marin Water District](https://nmwd.com/what-is-an-acre-foot/) > > ‘Acre foot’ is a term commonly used in water supply planning to describe water volume. An acre foot is approximately 326,000 gallons, which is enough water to cover an acre of land about 1-foot deep. As the diagram below shows, an acre foot of water is almost enough to flood a football field 1-foot deep. In North Marin Water District, an acre foot can typically meet the annual **indoor and outdoor** needs of **three** average households. My latest water bill says my household used about 300 gal/day. That is in line with what the link above says. We don’t have a lawn but, keeping one green through a hot dry summer would probably take more. So 1500 gal/day is a little high but, not impossible in parts of California. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2026, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-the-relationship-between-data-centers-and-water-use/1026737/63 "2026-03-07T13:37:54Z")
> [@Ancient\_Nerd](#): > > So 1500 gal/day is a little high but, not impossible in parts of California. Yet the average household use in CA is one tenth that. These are all known quantities. Speculation based on irrelevant anecdotes adds little. Are you questioning whether data centers use water for evaporative cooling or is that clear now? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2026, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-the-relationship-between-data-centers-and-water-use/1026737/64 "2026-03-07T13:40:42Z")
I may have started this when I questioned @Ancient_Nerd’s claim that 1500 gallons per day is about what a residential household uses. (“1.5 million gallons/day is about what 1000 residential households would use.”) In any case, that seems much more than most use, especially in a state like California with strict regulations on water usage. ---
**Author:** ![Ancient\_Nerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed655f/32.png) [@Ancient\_Nerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ancient_Nerd)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2026, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-the-relationship-between-data-centers-and-water-use/1026737/65 "2026-03-07T19:00:15Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > Are you questioning whether data centers use water for evaporative cooling or is that clear now? It’s making more sense. With really big chillers, there is a second loop. They reuse the water but a significant amount evaporates. In fact, evaporation helps to remove much of the heat. We could question why AI needs such massive amounts of computing power but, that would be a subject for a different thread. ---
**Author:** ![Ancient\_Nerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed655f/32.png) [@Ancient\_Nerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ancient_Nerd)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2026, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-the-relationship-between-data-centers-and-water-use/1026737/66 "2026-03-07T19:09:57Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > In any case, that seems much more than most use, especially in a state like California with strict regulations on water usage. Much of the accounting I see online adds up indoor use and comes up with a number like 150 gal/day. Outdoor use, on landscaping takes a lot of water. Adding that doubles it to 300 gal/day. In drought years, they put restrictions on it. After a few average to wet winters, we won’t be dealing with rationing this summer. Growing a lawn and keeping it green when there is no rain for eight months straight uses quite a bit of water. Things need to get really bad before they make people let the grass die. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2026, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-the-relationship-between-data-centers-and-water-use/1026737/67 "2026-03-08T01:51:37Z")
According to [this](https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/data-center-jobs-ohio) article by Futurism, these data centers create very few permanent jobs: > Fit Precast, an industrial concrete company, is dropping $102 million on a new facility in Gastonia, North Carolina, creating 125 new jobs for workers throughout the area. Pharmaceutical giant Becton Dickinson is putting $110 million into a manufacturing expansion in Columbus Ohio — 120 jobs. A new automotive venture in Orangeburg, South Carolina is investing $120 million into a new plant, bringing in nearly 400 jobs. > Now meet Ark Data Centers, an Iowa firm building a $136 million campus expansion in Northeastern Ohio. The project costs more than any of the above, yet its **final job count won’t be in the hundreds, or even the dozens: instead, it’s exactly ten**. It’s also getting a state tax exemption of $4.5 million. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-the-relationship-between-data-centers-and-water-use/1026737.md?page=3)