Executive Summary

• TechUK published a report which concluded that 51% of surveyed data centres use zero-water cooling solutions, marking a shift in conscious water usage in the industry.
• Traditional evaporative cooling is being replaced by closed-loop systems, engineered fluids and hybrid solutions to reduce water consumption and increase efficiency.
• Data centre facility’s next steps are reporting accurate water usage effectiveness (WUE) and committing to measuring water use to be more conscious, before starting to reduce the need for water in their cooling systems.

In collaboration with the Environmental Agency, TechUK published a report in 2025 on data centre water usage that dispels many myths and media reports that data centres are incredibly water-intensive.

Whilst liquid cooling is the flashy system to use, with direct-to-chip, immersion and hybrid options available, more data centres are becoming conscious of their water usage and are turning to zero-water cooling solutions to stop using water amidst the water scarcity and efficiency projections.

A disconnect in information

The general public already has a negative consensus around hyperscalers and the use of potable water to run their facilities, and there’s a huge disconnect when it comes to information around the innovations the industry is creating to combat water efficiency issues and meet climate change pledges.

Over 51% of the 73 data centres surveyed across England are using zero-water cooling solutions, with 89% of surveyed facilities either measuring water use or deploying systems that don’t need water for cooling. These statistics paint a different story from the media reports you see and, in doing so, open conversations around transparency, regulatory changes and reporting water usage.

The shift to zero-water cooling

Evaporative cooling systems, specifically used by hyperscalers, consume up to 1.5 million litres of water each day, and more companies are jumping ship to zero-water cooling as a result of these staggering statistics. Companies such as Microsoft and Vertiv are paving the way, and soon, more will follow.

Traditional evaporative cooling is starting to be replaced by closed-loop systems, engineered fluids and hybrid solutions because this saves on water but still remains effective in cooling the facilities.

Microsoft, for example, reduced their annual water usage by more than 125 million litres by using a closed-loop, chip-level liquid cooling system – this system fully eradicates the use of evaporative water.

Next steps

The biggest bottlenecks for other facilities to follow suit will be investment, tech and infrastructure concerns. Different-sized data centres with varying workloads will have different cooling requirements, so using hybrid approaches where possible and measuring water use and reporting WUE are the industry’s next steps to improving water usage and staying on track to the pledges they’ve made for climate change.