STRAIGHT ANSWER
How much water does a single data center use per day?
It depends on cooling design, climate, and load, so there is no standard figure. The IEA's illustrative 100 MW U.S. hyperscale facility consumes about 2 million liters per day in total, with more than 60 percent of that indirect (from electricity generation). A dry-cooled site can be far lower on site; a water-cooled chiller plant can be higher.
The context
'This data center uses as much water as X homes' is a scenario, not a facility fact, unless the source discloses metered data and the household denominator it used. The same nameplate capacity can also run at very different load factors, and evaporative cooling demand peaks on the hottest days.
What this answer does not say
- That every data center uses 2 million liters per day.
- That nameplate megawatts equal operating load.
- That annual averages describe the maximum-day demand a local utility has to plan for.