ChatGPT’s debut in November 2022 triggered a rapid push to build more powerful artificial intelligence models. The water needs of these systems, however, took time to surface. A study from the University of California in April 2023 estimated that training the model behind the first version of the chatbot required 185,000 gallons of water. Every conversation or email generated by the bot effectively poured a bottle of water down the drain.
How AI models consume water
The statistic gained attention as companies positioned chatbots as universal tools capable of replacing professionals across many fields. Google and OpenAI later released their own figures suggesting queries used only small amounts of water. Independent researchers criticized these estimates, arguing the companies focused on narrow metrics while ignoring the broader water intensity of data center operations.
Hyperscale facilities can draw between 1 and 5 million gallons daily, a volume comparable to the daily use of a city of 10,000 to 50,000 people. These centers often cluster together, creating concentrated demand in areas that may struggle to meet it. The heat generated by generative AI graphics processing units (GPUs) forces companies to cool systems more aggressively, driving up water consumption.
Tech companies frequently tap into municipal supplies rather than investing in filtration systems. This reliance on potable water puts data centers in direct competition with local communities for resources.
This dynamic has become especially visible in Chile, where mass protests in October 2019 centered on water rights. Google was seeking approval for a $200 million data center in Cerrillos, a district on the southwest side of Santiago. The company argued the project would create jobs and stimulate local investment.
Sebastián Lehuedé, a researcher at King’s College London who is from Chile, noted that technical reports often hide the reality for working-class communities.
According to internal projections, the proposed Cerrillos facility would consume 169 liters of water per second. The site was to draw from an underground aquifer, which had been under a restriction since 2005. Just weeks before approval, authorities upgraded the restriction to a complete prohibition on new extraction.
The water use projections alarmed residents. By 2021, more than half of Chile’s 19 million people lived in areas facing severe scarcity, forcing hundreds of rural communities to rely on water tankers. Activists in Cerrillos formed MOSACAT, a Community Socio-Environmental Movement for Water and Land, to analyze the project’s impact.
After months of meetings and advocacy, the group secured a referendum question for December 2019. The results were decisive: 49% of voters rejected the project, while 38% supported it. Following legal challenges from the municipality and residents, Google returned in February 2022 with a revised proposal to cool the facility using air conditioning instead of water.
Resistance in other regions
Similar situations occurred across Latin America. The following year, Uruguay faced its worst drought in 70 years. A state of emergency was declared in Montevideo. During this time, residents learned Google intended to build a data center in Canelones. This location lies about an hour north of the capital.
Pena went to court to obtain details about the planned water use from the Ministry of Environment. He found the company’s 72-acre site would consume 2 million gallons of water daily for cooling. Uruguayans had fought for fresh drinking water to be recognized as a basic right in the constitution two decades ago. They worried this right was slipping away as companies like Google entered the country.
Uruguayan activists suspected Google moved to their nation because of the opposition in Chile. Neighboring Brazil already hosts over 180 data centers. Many regions there face drought conditions regularly. On the outskirts of Fortaleza, Brazil’s fourth-largest city, four major data centers sought to establish operations in Caucaia. This area benefits from a local free-trade zone.
One facility was to cover an area the size of 12 football fields. The project would cost an estimated $10 billion. Although a local wind energy company technically owns the site, it is being developed to serve TikTok. This plan is in a region that experienced emergency drought conditions for 16 of the 21 years between 2003 and 2024.