Making AI Less “Thirsty”: Uncovering and Addressing the Secret Water Footprint of AI Models
This is the source behind the often-mangled ‘bottle of water’ comparison. The actual estimate varies sharply by place, weather and model use, which is why the book treats it as a range rather than a slogan.
Cited in
Li, Pengfei; Yang, Jianyi; Islam, Mohammad A.; and Ren, Shaolei. ‘Making AI Less “Thirsty”: Uncovering and Addressing the Secret Water Footprint of AI Models.’ arXiv:2304.03271, 2023; v5 revised 26 March 2025.