England’s Environment Agency warns of massive water shortages worsened by AI datacentres
England could face a shortage of 5 billion litres of water per day by 2055, according to the Environment Agency (EA). That’s just for public use. Another 1 billion litres a day shortage is predicted for farming, energy, and tech—excluding datacentre water consumption, which remains unknown.
The EA admits it can’t track how much water AI datacentres are using for cooling. Most datacentres rely on public water supplies, but they don’t have to report their usage. This leaves a massive blind spot in future water demand forecasts. 
AI datacentres suck between 1.8 and 12 litres of water per kWh of energy, according to studies. Global AI-related water use may hit 6.6 billion cubic metres by 2027—nearly two-thirds of England’s annual consumption.
The government is pushing to expand AI datacentres by cutting planning rules and creating growth zones. But the EA warns this growth could stress fragile water resources.
EA chair Alan Lovell laid it out clearly:
“The nation’s water resources are under huge and steadily increasing pressure. This deficit threatens not only the water from your tap but also economic growth and food production.
Taking water unsustainably from the environment will have a disastrous impact on our rivers and wildlife. We need to tackle these challenges head-on and strengthen work on coordinated action to preserve this precious resource and our current way of life.”
Water companies plan nine desalination plants, ten reservoirs, and seven water recycling projects by 2050 to help. But water bills are rising—and will keep rising—to pay for it.
The government will also roll out smart meters to monitor household water usage more closely.
Climate change is tightening the noose, with hotter, drier summers threatening surface and groundwater supplies.
Meanwhile, Thames Water launched a public consultation on a £300 million drought plan to pump treated sewage into the Thames and extract 75 million litres daily during droughts. The plan faced backlash over pollution worries and river ecology impact.
Ofwat CEO David Black says:
“Boosting supply through building critical water infrastructure is essential to safeguard supplies of drinking water. The way is now clear for the water industry to build on the success of the recently opened £5bn Thames Tideway project by stepping forward to deliver an expanded pipeline of 30 major projects we need in England and Wales.”
The water crisis may soon clash with AI’s thirst for power, and the Environment Agency says the data gap on datacentres’ water use must be fixed—fast.
