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. 

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Progress

7B+ liters of water expected to be returned each year to local communities through Amazon’s water replenishment efforts

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0.18 liters of water per kilowatt-hour water use effectiveness on average globally for AWS data centers

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1M+ people benefited from long-lasting, climate-resilient water and sanitation solutions since 2020

Amazon’s water commitment to India by 2027

In 2024, we announced a goal to return more water to communities in India than we use in our direct operations by 2027. We will continue to improve water efficiency across our operations in India, including at fulfillment centers, corporate offices, and data centers, and add to our existing water replenishment projects by supporting projects in our communities that improve water availability and quality in water-stressed areas.

Water replenishment projects will be concentrated in areas of highest water stress and their surrounding local communities. For example, our latest water projects in Yamare Lake near Bengaluru and Sai Reddy Lake near Hyderabad represent a crucial step towards mitigating local water challenges and supporting community resilience. 

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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. By the end of 2023, AWS was 41% of the way towards water positive. 

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.

Becoming water positive at AWS

There are four pillars of our water positive commitment: efficiency, sustainable sources, reuse in communities, and replenishment.

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  • We're constantly working to reduce our water use. We use cloud-based Internet of Things (IoT) technology to analyze real-time water use and identify leaks. 
  • We use more sustainable water sources, such as recycled water and harvested rainwater, wherever possible. We already use recycled water for cooling at 24 data centers around the world. Using recycled water for data center cooling preserves valuable drinking water for communities and the environment.
  • Discharged water from our data centers is safe for many other uses. Where feasible, AWS makes its spent cooling water from data centers available to farmers to use in the irrigation of crops, providing an additional water source and supporting the local economy.
  • AWS invests in water replenishment projects in the communities where we operate. These projects expand community water access, availability, and quality by restoring watersheds and bringing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene services to water-stressed communities.

Global water positive projects

At Amazon, we’re investing in global projects to reduce the water footprint of our facilities and expand water availability in the communities where we operate.

Explore recent global progress

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Spain

Amazon collaborated with Fido Tech, a cloud-based water leak detection company, to identify and reduce leakage in the water system in Spain’s Villanueva de Gallego community where AWS has data center operations. In total, 21 leaks or other types of water loss were identified and, after fixing a high-priority set of these losses, the project is reducing water loss.

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Spain

Amazon is collaborating with Mediodes to deliver runoff from farm fields near AWS’s Spain operations for irrigation of a downstream poplar grove, helping to reduce the amount of runoff contaminated with nutrients entering the Ebro. The project is expected to deliver 864 million liters of clean water each year to the community, contributing to both improved water quality and reductions in the amount of water withdrawn from the Ebro for irrigation.

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Chile

The Maipo Basin is the largest source of irrigation and potable water for the Metropolitan Santiago and Valparaiso regions of Chile. However, excessive use of the water in the river has contributed to extreme water scarcity. AWS is partnering with local farmers and climate-tech company Kilimo to reduce water use in the basin. About 67 hectares of agricultural land will be converted from flood to drip irrigation, resulting in an estimated 200 million liters of water savings each year. 

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Brazil

AWS is partnering with Kilimo in Brazil. The Teite River is one of the most historically significant and economically important rivers serving Brazil’s most populous city, São Paulo. However, water scarcity is impacting the lives and livelihoods of surrounding communities. Kilimo’s AI solution built on AWS will calculate water consumption, monitor soil quality, and provide irrigation recommendations through intelligent monitoring for participating farmers. Collectively, this will conserve an estimated 200 million liters of water each year.

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Brazil

Two data centers in Brazil have rainwater collection systems that supply a portion of the facilities’ cooling water needs, decreasing demands on community water systems. 

China

The Miyun Reservoir is the most crucial water source for Beijing, China. AWS is working with the Beijing LongTech Environmental Technology Co., Ltd, to reconstruct degraded portions of the riverbank and install wetlands and buffer zones to naturally treat polluted runoff from farms. The project was completed in 2024 and will return nearly 39 million liters of clean water each year for the community with potential for more as the project progresses.

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China

AWS is supporting a second project in China consisting of two constructed wetland efforts that will treat flows of untreated sewage flowing into neighboring rivers. The efforts will collectively return over 40 million liters of water to these rivers each year when completed in 2026.

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Ohio, U.S.

AWS is supporting the global non-profit The Nature Conservancy and others to restore 11 acres of wetlands. The project will slow down and filter water while providing wildlife habitat in Licking County just outside Columbus. This will reduce nutrient pollution in Buckeye Lake and improve streams draining into the lake. The project is expected to be completed in 2026 and filter 77 million gallons of water each year. The combined funding from multiple companies will serve as a new repeatable model of corporate funding for water improvement projects.

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California, U.S.

In partnership with River Partners, a California-based nonprofit, AWS is helping to repair native ecosystems in some of California’s most imperiled river corridors. The project will reconnect rivers to floodplains and side channels, retire agricultural irrigation to conserve water and replenish freshwater ecosystems, enhance wildlife habitat that supports threatened and endangered species, and improve flood management. Upon completion in 2027, these projects will generate more than 1.97 billion liters of volumetric benefits each year from the funding provided by Amazon. Amazon is also working with The Freshwater Trust to recharge groundwater and increase instream flows using water rights from a local irrigation district, increasing summer flows into the Sacramento River and Bay-Delta and improving wildlife habitats.

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Virginia, U.S.

Amazon is collaborating with Stroud Water Research Center to work with farmers to implement soil health practices on 2,300 acres, including the conversion of cropland to a no-till and cover crop management system. This aims to improve water quality in headwater streams and downstream communities.

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Virginia, U.S.

18 data centers in Virginia use recycled wastewater instead of drinking water, leaving higher quality water to serve community needs.

California, U.S.

Three California data centers use recycled wastewater instead of drinking water, making higher quality water available for the community.

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Australia

Amazon is working with Great Eastern Ranges to restore the health and functioning of fire-damaged parts of the major catchment serving Sydney, Australia. This project aims to enhance catchment health and water quality, to help benefit local communities and nature by reducing polluted stormwater runoff, increasing groundwater recharge, enhancing local biodiversity, and supporting wildlife.

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Singapore

Three data centers in Singapore use recycled wastewater instead of drinking water, leaving higher quality water to serve community needs.

Indonesia

Amazon collaborated with Habitat for Humanity’s Indonesian chapter to help deliver reliable and safe water supply to five villages surrounding AWS’s data centers in the Karawang District of West Java, west of Jakarta. These projects will install wells, water treatment systems, and water storage, providing nearly 6,000 people with new access to an estimated 200 million liters of clean and safe water each year.

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Indonesia

Amazon partnered with the nonprofit Water.org to bring clean water and sanitation to over 35,000 community members in Indonesia.

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India

Amazon is partnering with SayTrees, a local environmental organization, to undertake a comprehensive restoration of Yamare and Sai Reddy Lakes. The projects will involve desilting the lakes, restoring bund formations, and repairing inlet and outlet structures. These efforts are expected to increase the water volume capture potential of Yamare Lake and Sai Reddy Lake by more than 571 million liters combined.

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India

Amazon collaborated with local non-profit SEARCH to rehabilitate 10 existing water storage ponds and construct 100 new ponds across 12 villages, aiming to deliver 86 million liters of water back to the community each year.

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India

Amazon partnered with the nonprofits Water.org and WaterAid to bring clean water and sanitation to over 250,000 people surrounding our regions in India.

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South Africa

Amazon partnered with The Nature Conservancy to restore 300 hectares of land, clearing the parcels of invasive species and increasing water availability in the watershed serving Cape Town.

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United Kingdom

Amazon worked with The Rivers Trust and local member trust Action for the River Kennet to create two wetlands on the River Kennet, recharging groundwater and improving water quality in the Thames River basin.

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Sweden

Amazon is working with the Swedish municipality of Katrineholm and local water supply company Sörmland Vatten to create a new wetland just outside of Katrineholm in Stora Djulö. This aims to help reduce flooding, improve water quality and biodiversity, and provide citizens with a new recreational space for outdoor activities, such as hiking, biking, and birdwatching.

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The sun shines over a landscape of vast, green wetlands.

Water Positive Methodology

Learn more about how we calculate our progress toward our commitment to be water positive by 2030.
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How AWS will return more water than it uses by 2030

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Amazon employees making water stewardship possible

In addition to constant innovation and the capabilities unlocked by AWS tools and resources, being good water stewards also requires the hard work and commitment of many of our employees. From designing water-efficient cooling systems to installing water quality sensors, Amazon employees are building a better future for our company and our planet.
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