Claims register
Every number we use in public, with its source.
If a figure is not in this register it does not appear on this site, in a proposal, or in a deck. Confidence is High for a primary source that is current, Medium for a secondary or older source, and Not claimed for anything we have not measured ourselves.
| ID | Claim | Source | Date | Geography | Definition / caveat | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C-001 | US direct data-center water consumption rose from ~5.6 bn gal (2014) to ~17 bn gal (2023); 97% from municipal systems | CRS R49057 | 2026-07-31 | United States | Consumption, direct only | High |
| C-002 | 47% of operators measured water use in 2025; 7 of the top 20 publish no WUE | Uptime Institute 2025 survey; Koomey 2026-08-17 | 2025/2026 | Global | Self-reported survey | High |
| C-003 | AWS reports 0.12 L/kWh (withdrawal basis); Microsoft 0.27 L/kWh. The bases differ and must not be compared directly | Company reports | 2025 | Fleet averages | WUE definitions differ | High |
| C-005 | Microsoft: all data-center designs since August 2024 use zero-water closed-loop cooling | Microsoft, 2024-12-09 | 2024 | Global | Cooling water only; fills and humidification excluded | High |
| C-006 | Mississauga (29 Jul 2026) and Oakville (11 Aug 2026) passed interim control bylaws pausing data-center development; Ontario published a data-center playbook on 13 Aug 2026 | CBC; Government of Ontario | 2026 | Ontario | Interim control bylaws | High |
| C-008 | Virginia requires data-center water-use reporting from 1 Jan 2027; Utah H.B. 76 requires reporting from 2027 with penalties up to $10,000 a day | Virginia HB 496; Utah H.B. 76 | 2026 | Virginia, Utah | Statute | High |
| C-010 | 2.1 billion people lack safely managed drinking water; 106 million drink surface water | WHO/UNICEF JMP | 2025 | Global | High | |
| C-012 | 40 long-term drinking water advisories in effect in 38 First Nations communities | Indigenous Services Canada | 2026-08-13 | Canada | High | |
| C-015 | Any Pleione treatment, savings or water-use-effectiveness performance claim | None | Not permitted until measured with laboratory verification on a Pleione site | Not claimed |
Last updated 23 August 2026. Corrections welcome through the contact form.