A new 2025 Ecolab study exposed how, as AI expands across the globe, less than half of consumers recognize its massive water consumption, questioning how AI water usage misunderstood and AI data centers can work sustainably without depleting earth’s most vital resource.
A global study by Ecolab, in partnership with Morning Consult, revealed a growing disconnect between public perception and reality on the sustainability of artificial intelligence and its cost.
While 55% of US consumers recognize AI’s immense power consumption, and less than half – just 46% – are aware of its vast water requirements to manufacture chips and data center water footprint.
The findings, spanning 15 countries across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America, highlight how AI’s expansion is straining one of the world’s most vital and finite resources.
“By 2050, the world will have nearly 30% more people and require 47% more energy. Water demand will continue to surge—yet by 2030, the world already faces a projected 56% water deficit,” warmed Ecolab’s CEO, Christophe Beck.
As AI cooling system water use facilities multiply globally, and Beck cautioned that while “we can create more of the energy these facilities need, we cannot create more of our most vital resource—water.”
AI and Traditional Computing Water Use Ecolab’s Watermark
The study found that only 20% of industrial corporate water stewardship is reused, with less than 10% recycled in the microelectronics sector a “missed opportunity as a driver for business growth,” according to Beck.
Data centers, rely on enormous amounts of water to regulate temperature up to 41 million gallons annually for an average sized US facility, according to early reports from the Water-AI Nexus Center of Excellence.
Ecolab’s report also exposed lack of trust in corporate AI companies water use. Fewer than half of consumers in major regions believe businesses are responsibly reusing or recycling water.
“We see wastewater as an engineering flaw and a missed opportunity,” Beck repeated.
Consumers, meanwhile, are demanding stronger environmental leadership, with 67% believing that both governments and corporations must prioritize efforts to mitigate climate impacts.
“Global consumers recognize smart water management is essential for a resilient future, and they expect businesses to lead with both transformative technologies and transparent action to make it a reality,” said Ecolab’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Emilio Tenuta.
Beyond public awareness, experts are emphasizing that AI water usage misunderstood the environmental crisis but also a technological blockage. Agriculture stays the top global water user, but the rise of AI water cooling and semiconductor manufacturing have both introduced a new layer of urgency.
The study positions AI and water scarcity truth as an emerging water consumer that could rival traditional industries if cooling and manufacturing practices remain inefficient.
Make AI More Water Efficient
To address these challenges, a new collaboration unveiled during Climate Week NYC the Water AI Nexus Center of Excellence, is bringing together the Water Center at Penn, Amazon, the Water Environment Federation (WEF), and the Leading Utilities of the World network.
Their mission ensures cloud computing water scarcity AI systems become not only smarter but also more water conscious.
“We need to adapt and build resilience in the face of climate change, and water has a big part to play,” said Howard Neukrug, executive director of The Water Center at Penn.
Neukrug, a former commissioner of Philadelphia Water, emphasized that “while water is a global issue, the solutions and problems both tend to be very local.”
The partnership is exploring how generative AI water footprint itself can help reduce water use through real time monitoring, data analytics, and temperature optimization potentially enabling data centers that use less water than a car wash, as Beck put it.
Ecolab and its partners argue that this dual approach using AI to manage water more efficiently while reengineering water positive data centers infrastructure to consume less could redefine sustainable technology.
“Businesses have an opportunity to harness the power of AI and deliver impact-driven water solutions that meet the needs of local communities, while also driving innovation and business growth,” said Tenuta.
As data centers expand and digital demand accelerates, the intersection of AI and water is emerging as one of the defining how AI water usage misunderstood environmental challenges of the century one that will test how innovation can sustain both progress and the planet.