One Data Centre Uses as Much Water as 9,000 Homes, Industry Told

‘Call it the new gold or the new oil industry, it is rapidly becoming the largest new water demand in the city,’ said Sydney Water Business Manager Paul Higham.

A general view of NEXTDC Sydney Data Centre in Sydney, New South Wales in Australia on Feb. 26, 2026. AAP Image/Steven Markham

Data centres in Australia’s most populous city are set to gobble up about 250 megalitres a day in the next decade, surpassing beer breweries.

With the proliferation of artificial intelligence tools and cloud computing, the storage behemoths are reshaping how governments and businesses are rethinking infrastructure projects.