Earth Day 2025: Big tech’s water consumption surges 60% since 2020

New analysis reveals a significant surge in water consumption by some of the world’s largest technology companies over the past five years.

According to data compiled by Surfshark, Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft collectively used 60% more water in 2023 than they did in 2020.

This dramatic increase highlights the often-overlooked environmental impact of the rapidly expanding digital world.

The study, released on Earth Day, indicates that these four tech giants consumed over 41 million cubic meters of water in 2023 alone. This is equivalent to filling 45 Olympic-sized swimming pools, or nearly three-quarters of an average NFL stadium, every single day. In contrast, their daily consumption in 2020 was equivalent to roughly 28 Olympic swimming pools.

Over the four-year period from 2020 to 2023, their total water usage reached a staggering 132 million cubic meters – enough to fill 53,000 Olympic swimming pools. Google emerged as the largest consumer, accounting for approximately 59% of the total yearly water volume among the group. Microsoft followed with 19%, while Apple and Meta accounted for 15% and 7% respectively.

Martynas Dainys, Senior VPN Service Manager at Surfshark, emphasized the hidden environmental cost of everyday online activities. “Most of us use Big Tech services every day without thinking about the hidden environmental cost,” he stated. “Every search, photo, or old post is stored on a server somewhere, and those servers require resources, like water, to stay cool. As AI and cloud computing continue to grow, so does the demand for energy. It’s a reminder that the digital world has a very real environmental footprint.”

The data, sourced from the companies’ publicly available environmental and sustainability reports published in 2024, defines water consumption as the amount of water withdrawn minus the water discharged back into the environment. This net consumption underscores the significant strain these tech giants are placing on water resources.

As the demand for data storage and processing power continues its upward trajectory, the issue of Big Tech’s water footprint is likely to become an increasingly critical environmental concern.

 More insights are available here: surfshark.com/research/chart/big-tech-water-usage