The Industrial Scramble for Non-Potable Cooling

As first reported by TechCrunch, a tongue-in-cheek marketing campaign featuring Jason Kelce and Liquid Death recently joked about using urine to cool AI data centers, but the underlying reality is a serious infrastructure challenge. As AI clusters demand massive quantities of water to prevent overheating, the industry is increasingly turning to recycled water—treated wastewater and sewage—to offset the burden on potable drinking supplies.

While raw urine contains salts and organic matter that would cause mineral deposits and odors in cooling towers, water treatment facilities utilize reverse osmosis, ultraviolet light, and membrane bioreactors to make the water safe for industrial use. Dr. Greta Zornes, a practice leader for water reuse at CDM Smith, told TechCrunch that while recycled water has been used in industry for decades, there has been a recent "boom" in its application for data centers.

However, scaling this solution requires significant infrastructure that often lags behind data center construction. In Loudoun County, Virginia, which houses over 250 data centers, recycled water accounted for only 43% of daily usage as of 2025. According to Loudoun Water, the remaining 57%—roughly 260 million gallons per day—still comes from potable water supplies.

To bridge this gap, some operators are investing directly in utilities. Michael Obradovitch, vice president of Data Center Global Accounts at Ecolab, pointed to Meta as an example, noting the company will spend at least $270 million on wastewater infrastructure projects located near its facilities. Meanwhile, Bruno Pigott, executive director of the WateReuse Association, is advocating for legislation to provide a 30% tax credit to help industries scale this recycled water infrastructure.