OWRC, in collaboration with @Oklahoma County OSU Extension Service and Kingfisher County Extension, will be hosting an educational session on Data Centers and Water Use – alongside a well water screening event on December 8, 2026. Learn more here: https://bit.ly/4crLw4W
Can data centers affect your well water? Data centers are not usually supplied by private wells, but groundwater usage by municipalities supplying data centers could affect water availability in the aquifer that your well pulls from if their pumping significantly increases.
Most data centers draw water from municipal water supplies, which are treated and safe for human consumption. Nationwide, nearly half – 48% in 2020 (USGS) – of public water supply is sourced from groundwater. In Oklahoma, 62% of public water supplies rely on groundwater.
Locally, data centers can use a significant amount of water. For instance, the data center hub in Pryor, OK used ~1.4 billion gallons of water in 2025 (Google, 2026). However, nationwide, data center water use was estimated at 449 million gallons a day in 2021, or only 0.14% of total U.S. water consumption (Mytton, 2021). This number is growing, and the U.S. Department of Energy estimates that total annual on-site water consumption could double or even quadruple by 2028 (Shehabi et al., 2024).
If you have concerns about a data center that could affect your well, you can establish a baseline by documenting depth to water and having a water sample tested through a state-certified lab.
Learn more here: https://bit.ly/4feuyuf
See interactive U.S. Data Center Map here: https://dcmap.us/?state=OK
Article Courtesy of the Oklahoma Water Resources Center Facebook Page
