(MENAFN) Amazon intentionally sought to obscure the full scale of its data centers’ water consumption, according to a leaked internal document.

The world’s largest data center operator is rapidly expanding its AI operations, raising concerns about the water required to cool its facilities. While the company has taken steps to improve efficiency, critics say it has failed to disclose total water usage, unlike rivals Microsoft and Google.

The leaked memo, reported by The Guardian on Saturday, reveals that Amazon’s cloud computing division, despite developing a water efficiency campaign, opted to report a lower figure that omitted some data center usage “to protect its reputation.”

According to the memo, Amazon used 105 billion gallons of water in 2021 — enough for 958,000 US households, roughly the size of a city larger than San Francisco.

Amazon spokeswoman Margaret Callahan called the leaked document “obsolete” and claimed it “completely misrepresents Amazon’s current water usage strategy.”

“A document’s existence doesn’t guarantee its accuracy or finality. Meetings often reshape documents or reveal flawed findings or claims,” Callahan stated.

The memo was dated one month before Amazon Web Services (AWS) launched its sustainability initiative, “Water Positive,” in November 2022, which pledged to “return more water than it uses” by 2030.

Executives discussed whether to include “secondary” water use — water consumed in generating electricity for AWS data centers — in disclosures. Callahan noted that efficiency improvements had already been implemented and highlighted that other companies also do not account for secondary water use.

Executives ultimately chose to report only the smaller primary water use figure — 7.7 billion gallons per year, about 11,600 Olympic pools — citing “reputational risk” if total consumption became public.

Under the Water Positive campaign, Amazon aims to reduce primary use to 4.9 billion gallons by 2030, still excluding secondary water consumption.

Scientists have criticized the selective reporting and the decision to omit secondary use from totals. While the campaign continues, Amazon has not disclosed its overall water consumption.

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