A satirical campaign by Liquid Death and Jason Kelce urging the public to donate urine to cool AI data centers has thrust the tech industry's massive water footprint into the mainstream. U.S. data centers consumed over 17 billion gallons of water in 2023, with individual facilities using up to 5 million gallons daily. This environmental demand has triggered intense public backlash, with 70% of Americans opposing local data centers. While states like Pennsylvania and Texas implement strict infrastructure and water standards, proponents point to billions in local tax windfalls.
Liquid Death satirical campaign
- ▪Liquid Death and Garage Beer launched a satirical joint marketing campaign on August 18, 2026, featuring former NFL player Jason Kelce, to highlight the water consumption of AI data centers.
- ▪The "We Want Your Pee" campaign video depicts Jason Kelce singing in a meadow and humorously asking the public to send urine to cool AI data centers, while including a disclaimer advising viewers not to actually do so.
- ▪Garage Beer, which Jason Kelce co-owns with his brother Travis Kelce, was valued at $200 million by September 2025.
AI data center water consumption
- ▪A United Nations report projected that the global water volume consumed by AI data centers will equal the daily water needs of 1.3 billion people by 2030.
- ▪The indirect water footprint of U.S. data centers, driven by the water consumed by power plants to generate electricity for the facilities, was estimated to reach between 211 billion and 800 billion liters in 2023.
- ▪A single AI data center can consume up to 5 million gallons of water per day for cooling purposes.
- ▪U.S. data centers directly consumed an estimated 17 billion to 17.4 billion gallons of water in 2023, primarily for cooling equipment.
Alternative data center cooling methods
- ▪Samsung Electronics announced a 240 billion won ($171.6 million) investment to build a new HVAC production line in Gwangju, South Korea, to manufacture coolant distribution units and fan wall units for AI data centers.
- ▪Meta committed to investing at least $270 million in wastewater infrastructure projects near its data center communities to support water recycling.
- ▪Direct-to-chip liquid cooling schemes pipe liquid coolants directly to microprocessors, allowing heat extraction at higher temperatures of 60°C or more compared to traditional air cooling.
- ▪Data centers in Loudoun County, Virginia, utilized approximately 200 million gallons of recycled wastewater daily as of 2025, representing 43% of their total daily water usage.
Public opposition to data centers
- ▪A Gallup poll found that approximately 70% of Americans oppose the construction of data centers in their local areas.
- ▪Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a directive in June 2026 requiring data center operators to pay for grid upgrades, reuse water, and minimize electricity costs.
- ▪More than 500 local jurisdictions in the United States have enacted restrictions or bans on new data center construction over concerns regarding water, electricity, and local costs.
- ▪Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed an executive order on August 18, 2026, requiring data center developers to fund all associated infrastructure upgrades and adhere to strict environmental standards.
Data center economic benefits
- ▪Data centers are projected to generate $27 billion in tax revenue across the United States over the next decade.
- ▪In Quincy, Washington, more than two dozen data centers pay over half of the city's property taxes, helping fund a new high school, sports complex, hospital, and library.
- ▪Data center tax revenues enabled Richland Parish, Louisiana, to pay $50,000 bonuses to local school teachers.
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