In view of the problem of water resources utilization in the design of ship locks，this paper summarizes the development trends at home and abroad from the perspective of water-saving technology. It focuses on the conceptual classification of water-saving technologies used in the Panama Canal locks and studies the application characteristics of each water-saving technology in conjunction with the lock’s multi-objective optimization design concept. The water-saving technologies used in the Panama Canal locks is realized by gravity，and the water-saving benefit is directly related to the water-saving technology and operation mode，which is essentially the optimal design of the spatial storage of water. The multi-factor analysis method is used to discuss the water consumption rate formulas of different water-saving technologies under the corresponding ship lock operation modes，so as to calculate the water-saving rate. It has important reference significance for the comprehensive development and utilization of water resources，energy-saving and emission reduction of water transportation and the future development of water-saving technology of ship locks.