STRAIGHT ANSWER
How much water do Virginia data centers use?
Virginia's legislative audit agency (JLARC) reported that the state's data centers used about 2.1 billion gallons of water in 2023, with more than one-third of it reclaimed water. It judged statewide supply manageable while flagging that local planning and growth still warranted attention.
The context
Virginia hosts the largest data-center cluster in the world, so it is the most-audited state. The reclaimed-water share and local utility conditions there are not representative of every region, and a statewide total does not describe any single county's peak-day demand.
What this answer does not say
- That other states have a similar reclaimed-water share.
- That a manageable statewide total means every local system is fine.