Google’s data centers use as much water as 41 golf courses. Here are the 10 thirstiest

Last year, Google (GOOGL) said it was no longer on track to meet its climate goals by the end of the decade. The company’s environmental report for 2024 showed its carbon emissions have risen by 48% since 2019 — mostly due to energy consumption by data centers and supply chain emissions.

Still, the tech giant plans to invest in building even more data centers to meet the demands for its artificial intelligence tools.

Data centers need water to maintain cooler temperatures since servers generate a lot of heat. Most of that water is circulated in a closed-loop system, meaning data centers don’t actually “consume” all the water — but some is still lost due to evaporation.

According to its environmental report, Google’s data centers around the world consumed a total of 6.1 billion gallons of potable water in 2023. Google calculated that its data centers used as much water as 40.7 golf courses — based on data from the average annual irrigation of golf courses in the southwestern U.S.

Here is where Google’s top 10 water consumers are located.