Technology infrastructure—data centers, semiconductor fabrication factories, EV battery plants—depends not just on power and connectivity, but on water. As these industries have grown, water has quietly become one of the most underappreciated gating factors in scale, reliability, cost, and risk. Reconceiving water strategy isn’t optional—it is critical to support the expansion of these industries. 

The Rising Tide: Electricity, Heat, and Water Demand

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) published a study in 2024 reporting that U.S. data center electricity demand climbed from 58 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2014 to 176 TWh in 2023. Projections suggest additional growth to between 325 and 580 TWh by 2028 (DOE, 2024; Shehabi et al., 2024). In 2023, data centers consumed roughly 4.4% of U.S. electricity production; by 2028, that share could rise to as much as 12% (Shehabi et al., 2024). 

This increase is significant for water consumption, because when more electrical power is consumed, for example by computing workloads in a data center, it results in higher heat production that must be cooled. Increasing demand for high-performance computing, cloud services, and AI workloads are driving higher power densities within data centers along with higher capacity sites. In many cases, this is forcing designs toward water-intensive means of heat rejection. 

Yet consuming water for cooling in data centers is hardly a new challenge. The U.S. Energy Information Administration has long discussed the tension between cooling systems and water supply, noting that data center water demands compete with other industrial and municipal needs (EIA, “Today in Energy”). This historical context underscores water's role as not only a future risk, but also an inherent constraint. 

Why Water Quality, Quantity, and Reliability Matter

Evaporative mechanical cooling systems, available in a wide range of configurations, offer superior thermal performance compared to air-only cooling. This enhanced efficiency—along with reductions in power consumption and operating costs—comes with trade-offs, including substantial and continuous water withdrawal, treatment, return, and management requirements. 

Water quality is a critical consideration in evaporative cooling systems. Elevated levels of total dissolved solids (TDS), ions, suspended particles, microbial load, and high conductivity can lead to mineral scaling, corrosion, reduced heat exchange efficiency, and shortened equipment lifespan.  

In semiconductor fabs and precision manufacturing, ultrapure water (UPW) is needed. Any deviation—trace ions, particulate contamination, etc.—can degrade yields. So, for chip fabs, water isn’t just for cooling, it is part of the process control environment. 

For battery/advanced manufacturing, consistent feed water quality is essential for chemical consistency, process reliability, and regulatory compliance. Fluctuations in water pressure or feed purity can cascade failures. 

Water Footprint: Direct + Indirect Consumption

LBNL also estimates that in 2023, U.S. data centers consumed about 17 billion gallons of water directly for cooling and around 211 billion gallons indirectly through power generation (CivilBeat, 2025; “Data Centers Consume Massive Amounts of Water”). These figures illustrate that risks associated with local and regional water availability translate directly to risks associated with power supply and the ability to remove heat from facility operations. Thus, managing water footprint means both optimizing internal water supply and understanding upstream water stresses tied to power generation. 

Water Cooling Has a Legacy; This is Not Just a Trend

Because water cooling is not novel, many of the technical, regulatory, and operational challenges are well documented: 

• Competing demands for freshwater (municipal, industrial, agricultural) have long constrained large thermal systems.
• Utilities historically have not sized systems expecting hyperscale data center water demands—so capacity, permitting, and capital infrastructure upgrades often lag. 
• Regulatory constraints: discharge permits, temperature limits, evaporation accounting, zero liquid discharge (ZLD) mandates, groundwater drawdown regulations, and “water rights” constraints are restrictive.
• Retrofitting or scaling water systems after site selection is costly, delayed, and risky.
• Climate variability, drought cycles, and regulatory tightening (especially in water-scarce regions) amplify uncertainty.

This legacy reality means that firms cannot treat water as a variable to be “solved later.” It must be integral from site selection through lifetime operations. 

Integrating Water Strategy across Hyperscale Life Cycles

An effective water strategy must be multi-phase, integrated, and adaptable. Here’s how Woolpert’s architecture, engineering, and geospatial (AEG) approach delivers: 

1. Site Selection and Early Concept Planning 

• Geospatial and hydraulic modeling. 
• Assessment of watershed behavior, recharge paths, and surface water access.
• Analysis of water rights mapping, aquifer stress, and long-term sustainability.
• Evaluation of local utility intake/distribution capacity, and review of future municipal plans evaluation.
• Climate resilience screening (drought risk, variability, etc.) and regulatory risk profiling.
• Evaluation and prioritization of sites with multi-benefit infrastructure. Such as existing co-located industrial or municipal reuse infrastructure, or those where water can be sourced from treated effluent or shared corridor pipeline.

2. Architectural and System Design 

• Early alignment of cooling system design alternatives (air, evaporative, direct liquid, hybrid) with water risk profile.
• Design of modular water systems (e.g., capacity for phase-wise expansion) to match growth demands and timing.
• Incorporate closed-loop recycling, condensate capture, blow-down recovery, heat reuse, and smart controls to minimize net withdrawal.
• For chip fabs and sensitive processes, embed advanced treatment (RO, deionization, polishing) and redundancy into water design scaffolding.
• Microclimate- and humidity-aware architectural detailing to enhance envelope performance. 
• Explore the viability of fallback cooling (e.g., partial air cooling) in water stressedwater-stressed regions. 

3. Construction, Integration, and Commissioning 

• Through cConstruction eEngineering and iInspection (CE&I), ensure water -infrastructure is properly installed, leak-tested, hydraulically balanced, and integrated with mechanical, electrical, and site systems. 
• Test under multiple load points, seasonal extremes, and degraded supply conditions to validate resilience. 

4. Operations and Performance Monitoring 

• Deploy instrumentation to monitor flows, pressures, conductivity, turbidity, differential pressure, temperature, and water chemistry in real time. 
• Use analytics to detect drift, leaks, inefficiency, scaling onset, or quality issues. 
• Model future drought or supply stress and test system operation under “stress mode.” 
• Engage with utilities to forecast shared demand, leverage demand response or expansion, and participate in shared infrastructure planning. 
• Plan incremental system upgrades tied to planned growth rather than overbuilding early. 

Water as Differentiator, Not as Constraint

Technology infrastructure developers who approach water as an afterthought will face implementation delays, premiums, regulatory and permit pushback, and performance risk. Those who embed water strategy early gain advantages in cost, speed, resilience, and stakeholder trust. 

Woolpert’s integrated AEG model reframes water as a core design and operational asset, not as a siloed plumbing afterthought. From watershed modeling to mission-critical mechanical systems to construction assurance, Woolpert empowers technology clients to transform hidden water risks into strategic advantages. 

References

CivilBeat. (2025, August 25). Data centers consume massive amounts of water (U.S. data center water consumption). CivilBeat. 
DOE. (2024, December 20). DOE Releases New Report Evaluating Increase in Electricity Demand from Data Centers. U.S. Department of Energy.
U.S. Energy Information Administration. (n.d.). Today in Energy: Why water cooling and data center loads compete with water supply.
U.S. Energy Information Administration. (n.d.). Today in Energy: Why water cooling and data center loads compete with water supply.