AWS In-Row Heat Exchanger Cuts Water Use by 9% Compared to Evaporative Air-Cooled Data Centers
July 2, 2026
AWS In-Row Heat Exchanger Cuts Water Use by 9% Compared to Evaporative Air-Cooled Data Centers
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has introduced an in-row heat exchanger technology designed to reduce water consumption in its data centers, marking a significant step in the company’s ongoing efforts to improve operational sustainability. As hyperscale cloud providers face increasing scrutiny over their environmental impact, water usage has become a critical area of focus, particularly in regions prone to drought.
The new cooling system, which operates by placing heat exchangers directly between server rows, is projected to achieve a 9% reduction in water usage compared to traditional evaporative air-cooled data centers. This improvement is achieved by minimizing the reliance on water evaporation for heat rejection, instead leveraging more efficient liquid-based cooling loops that require less make-up water over time.
AWS has been testing the in-row heat exchanger design across select facilities, with early results showing consistent performance gains without compromising thermal management or energy efficiency. The technology is part of a broader portfolio of cooling innovations the company is deploying to meet its goal of becoming water-positive by 2030, meaning it intends to return more water to communities than it consumes.
Industry analysts note that even incremental water savings, such as the 9% reduction claimed by AWS, can translate into substantial environmental benefits when scaled across the company’s global fleet of data centers. The move also signals a competitive shift among cloud providers, who are increasingly investing in closed-loop and low-water cooling architectures to address both regulatory pressures and customer demand for greener infrastructure.
Source: datacenterdynamics
