AWS expanded recycled water use to 120+ facilities by late 2025, Google’s Douglas County GA site has used 100% recycled municipal wastewater for cooling since 2008, and Microsoft built a $31M water reuse utility in Quincy WA that cut their potable water use by 97%.
The main technical challenges are higher mineral loads causing scaling on heat exchange surfaces and increased Legionella risk from biofilm formation, but these are well-understood treatment problems with roughly a 6-year payback on the additional infrastructure.
AWS expanded recycled water use to 120+ facilities by late 2025, Google’s Douglas County GA site has used 100% recycled municipal wastewater for cooling since 2008, and Microsoft built a $31M water reuse utility in Quincy WA that cut their potable water use by 97%.
The main technical challenges are higher mineral loads causing scaling on heat exchange surfaces and increased Legionella risk from biofilm formation, but these are well-understood treatment problems with roughly a 6-year payback on the additional infrastructure.