Net water positive: Can semiconductor fabs get there?

Semiconductors are everywhere — powering your phone, enabling AI breakthroughs, and running the servers behind the cloud. As the industry scales up, so does its demand for water — not just any water, but ultrapure water that is critical for cleaning and etching wafers and maintaining contamination-free environments.

How much water do we need?

By 2035, global water use for semiconductor manufacturing is expected to double, according to IDTechEx.

An S&P Global report puts this number into perspective: fabs today already consume as much water as the city of Hong Kong, which has a population of 7.5 million. In addition, 40% of semiconductor facilities are projected to be located in regions facing high to extremely high water stress by 2040.

What does net water positive mean?

Being net water positive means returning more water to the environment or community than you use. This goes beyond reuse or recycling and includes actions such as restoring watersheds and funding water conservation projects.

Many fabs already invest heavily in water reuse and recycling but face challenges such as contamination and process limits.

Despite the challenge, leading semiconductor manufacturers are taking meaningful steps:

Recycling: Wastewater from backgrinding, last rinse and acid waste can be returned to the ultrapure water treatment system.

Reuse: Wastewater from hydrofluoric acid treatment (low fluoride waste) and first rinse can be diverted for reuse as industrial service water, scrubber water and cooling water.

Zero liquid discharge: Implementing ZLD systems ensure all wastewater is treated or reused, eliminating liquid waste discharge into the environment. Companies in the semiconductor industry are increasingly viewing ZLD as a viable solution to meet stringent regulatory requirements and reduce the contamination from PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a group of 15,000 synthetic substances which are believed to be capable of lingering indefinitely in the environment.

Partnerships with purpose: Semiconductor firms can work more closely with governments and community groups to replenish aquifers, restore wetlands and improve access to clean water.

Why go net positive?

The stakes are high and the risks are rising. Fabs that invest early in net positive water strategies are doing the right thing, and getting ahead of regulatory shifts, building supply chain resilience, and environmental credibility.

Need a real-world example? In early 2024, environmental concerns over water use led a local court to partially revoke a data centre permit, forcing the tech giant to rethink a $200-million project in water-stressed Santiago.

In today’s climate, water risk is financial risk.

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Learn about a wastewater management project BW Water completed in 2025 for a leading semiconductor fab in Asia.