Tech industry explores recycled water for data center cooling amid rising environmental concerns

A marketing campaign by Liquid Death featuring Jason Kelce jokingly suggested using human urine to cool data centers, but experts note that treated wastewater—including recycled urine—is already used to partially offset potable water demand in data center cooling systems.

Michael Obradovitch, vice president of Data Center Global Accounts at Ecolab, told TechCrunch that alternative water sources, such as recycled water, are already used to reduce reliance on potable water in data centers.

Bruno Pigott, executive director of the WateReuse Association and former acting assistant administrator in water for the U.S. EPA, emphasized that while urine can be treated for reuse, it is not used directly due to contaminants like salts, urea, and bacteria that could damage cooling infrastructure.

Dr. Greta Zornes, practice leader for water reuse at CDM Smith, said recycled water has been used for decades in industrial cooling, including data centers, but adoption depends on proximity to large wastewater treatment facilities capable of processing millions of gallons daily.

In Loudoun County, Virginia, home to over 250 data centers, facilities used about 200 million gallons of recycled water daily in 2025, yet still relied on 260 million gallons of potable water, according to Loudoun Water.

Zornes noted that rural data centers often lack access to sufficiently large wastewater treatment plants, delaying the shift to recycled water.

Meta has committed at least $270 million to wastewater infrastructure projects near its data centers, according to Obradovitch, who described data centers as potential "anchors" for local water infrastructure development.

Pigott advocates for a 30% tax credit to incentivize industries, including data centers, to scale recycled water infrastructure, arguing it would accelerate adoption.