The Google data center complex that’s coming to Botetourt County would start off as its sixth largest in the country and eighth largest in the world, according to data in the company’s recent 2026 environmental report.
That’s based on Google’s figures for water use for each of its data center locations. The Botetourt site is contracted for 2 million gallons of water per day, or 730 million gallons per year. According to the Google report, that would put it behind seven other Google sites:
Council Bluffs, Iowa (1,746.4 million gallons)Winschoten, Netherlands (1,401.2 million gallons)Mayes County, Oklahoma (1,396.7 million gallons)Eemshaven, Netherlands (1,060.8 million gallons)New Albany, Ohio (1,008.1 million gallons)Berkeley County, South Carolina (999.5 million gallons)Douglas County, Georgia (834.9 million gallons)Google has said that someday it might like to expand in Botetourt County to a size that, at current water use rates, would require 8 million gallons per day or 2.92 billion gallons a year, which would make it the company’s largest in the world (assuming these other sites don’t expand)…