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Microsoft data centers in Mount Pleasant in southeast Wisconsin are projected to use much more water annually than would fill four Olympic-size pools.

Water to operate the facilities, including for cooling, will be supplied by the city of Racine.

The first data center, described by Microsoft as “the world’s most powerful data center,” is expected to begin operation in 2026.

Racine projects that facility will use 2.81 million gallons of water (roughly four Olympic pools) in 2026.

But a second data center is also under construction and a 15-center expansion is planned.

Racine projects total water usage will be 8.44 million gallons annually (roughly 12 pools).

The projections don’t include water that will be needed to generate electricity to fuel the data centers.

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimated in 2024 that 92.5% of the water U.S. data centers used was to generate electricity, 7.5% for cooling.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• The Conversation: Data centers consume massive amounts of water – companies rarely tell the public exactly how much
• Microsoft: Made in Wisconsin: The world’s most powerful AI datacenter
• City of Racine Water Utility: Mount Pleasant data center water projections
• WPR: Mount Pleasant commission approves Microsoft’s plans for data center expansion
• Badger Institute: Claims of data center water use are laughably wrong
• WPR: Microsoft data centers will use up to 8.4M gallons of water each year, records show
• Midwest Environmental Advocates: Demanding Data Center Transparency – City of Racine
• Clean Wisconsin: Analysis: Offsite Water Use of Data Centers

Is a claim that a massive data center will use only 4 Olympic swimming pools of water per year accurate? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.