The City of Hillsboro Water Department (HWD) proudly serves high-quality drinking water to more than 93,000 customers.

Data Centers and Water Use

HWD categorizes customers into seven classes, and tracks usage for planning purposes by class. HWD does not have a specific ‘Data Center’ class, so estimated numbers are based on information provided by Hillsboro’s Economic Development Department according to their records. 

In 2025, HWD estimates they served about eight different data center companies, at approximately 14 sites in the Hillsboro service area. This estimation is based on site addresses provided by other sources. A section of Hillsboro receives its water service through the Tualatin Valley Water District, so HWD does not have water demand numbers for those locations.

Based on 2025 data, data centers received about 1.76% of Hillsboro’s total water demand. Hillsboro used about 6.3 billion gallons (BG) in 2025, with 3.2 BG used in total industrial processes. About 111 million gallons (MG) were used at data centers, or about 3.4% of total industrial demand.

Hillsboro Water Capacity

Hillsboro currently has a treatment capacity of 41.7 Million Gallons per Day (MGD) and peaks (highest usage day in a year) at around 30 MGD. 

Plans for a secondary water supply for Hillsboro began 30 years ago, with the mid-Willamette River selected as an additional source after an intensive long-term supply study. Hillsboro last added to its water supplies in the 1990’s, with the expansion of Barney Reservoir, and since then the city has continued to grow. That growth is seen across all customer classes, not just in the industrial/commercial classes, which include data centers.

The focus of the Willamette Water Supply System (WWSS) is to bring resiliency and redundancy to Hillsboro’s water supply. Currently, Hillsboro only has one water source – the Joint Water Commission. If anything happens to that source, Hillsboro does not have another option to fall back on, unlike other water providers in the area such as Forest Grove, Beaverton and Portland.

The WWSS is being built to withstand the potential Cascadia Subduction Zone Earthquake, so water recovery time after a major disaster will be much less than most other water systems in the Pacific Northwest. Water system resiliency protects public health, provides fire suppression, and delivers water fit for human consumption in a major seismic event.