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Sustainability
Sustainability

Water stewardship

At Amazon, we know that water is a precious resource. We’re committed to doing our part to help solve this rapidly growing challenge in the communities where we operate, as investment in local water resources is known to improve health, empower women, enable access to education, increase family income, and improve overall quality of life.

Explore our spotlight on water
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Progress

24B+ liters of water expected to be returned each year to local communities through Amazon’s water replenishment efforts

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0.12 liters of water per kilowatt-hour water use effectiveness on average globally for AWS data centers, a 52% improvement since 2021

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75% toward AWS water positive by 2030 in 2025, up from 53% in 2024

Our approach

Amazon has public commitments to return more water to communities than we use in AWS direct operations globally by 2030, and in the direct operations of all Amazon facilities in India by 2027. To meet these commitments and support a more resilient and water-secure future, we are working to reduce our global water footprint and prioritizing action to address water scarcity, access, and quality in the most high-risk regions of our operations.

We drive progress through the following strategies:

  • Reduce: We're constantly working to reduce our water use. We increase our water use efficiency and reduce local withdrawals by installing water-conserving measures in buildings and use cloud-based Internet of Things (IoT) technology to analyze real-time water use and identify leaks. 
  • Reuse: We strive to source water from more sustainable sources, such as recycled and/or harvested rainwater, to minimize demands on public water supplies. 
  • Replenish: We invest in water replenishment projects that increase water access, availability, and quality by restoring watersheds and bringing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene services to water-stressed communities.

Amazon is water positive in India

We achieved our goal to return more water to communities in India than we use in our direct operations by 2027. In 2025, we returned 120% of the water we used.
We are continuing to improve water efficiency across Amazon facilities in India. We are using on-site sewage treatment plants at 27 logistics sites to recycle greywater for toilet flushing and irrigation, which is expected to save 298 million liters of water per year. Our water replenishment projects support communities and improve water availability and quality in water-stressed areas.
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AWS water positive by 2030

In 2022, we announced our commitment to being water positive by 2030. That means we'll return more water to communities and the environment than we use in our data center operations. In 2025, AWS was 75% of the way towards water positive, up from 53% in 2024. 

 

To do this, we’re increasing the use of more sustainable water sources, improving water use efficiency across our operations, reusing water as much as possible, and supporting water replenishment projects for communities and the environment around the world. 

We already use recycled water for cooling at 24 data centers around the world, and we will expand our use of water recycling to more than 120 locations in U.S. states and counties where we have data center operations by 2030. By scaling our use of recycled water—water that has been previously used and treated—we expect to preserve over 530 million gallons of drinking-water supply in our communities throughout the U.S. each year while building a more sustainable cloud for our customers.

Global infrastructure teams deploy cloud-based technology in AWS data centers to determine and track efforts to maintain or improve water use effectiveness. In 2025, AWS achieve a global data center WUE of 0.12 liters of water withdrawn per kilowatt-hour of IT Load (L/kWh) in 2024, 7 times better than the industry average.*

*Industry average Withdrawal WUE of 0.84 L/kWh is calculated based on Consumption WUE of 0.56 L/kWh (de Vries-Gao (2025)) and considering cycles of concentration of 3 (Department of Energy BMP #10).

How AWS will return more water than it uses by 2030

The Water-AI Nexus™ Center of Excellence

The Water-AI Nexus Center of Excellence is a first-of-its kind initiative that will develop sustainable water practices for AI infrastructure while also using AI to solve global water challenges. This knowledge hub at the confluence of water and AI brings together water utilities, technology companies, and researchers to address the complex relationship between digital infrastructure and water sustainability.
Amazon is proud to be a founding leader of this initiative alongside the Water Environment Federation, The Water Center at the University of Pennsylvania, and Leading Utilities of the World.
The Water AI Nexus logo.
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Tracking global water stewardship

We invest in water replenishment projects that increase water access, availability, and quality by restoring watersheds and bringing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene services to water-stressed communities.
We also have the most data center locations using reclaimed water according to Koomey Analytics. To do this, AWS works with local utilities and stakeholders to source reclaimed water through dedicated infrastructure, often called "purple pipe" systems, and use it to cool data centers instead of freshwater. Our interactive maps enables exploration of the different projects we’re working on around the world.
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