Daily Water Intake Calculator: How Much Water Should I Drink?

Daily water intake calculator

A quick starting estimate for healthy adults. Free, no sign-up, nothing is saved.

How this estimate works

The starting points come from the U.S. National Academies' adequate intake for total water: about 3.7 liters a day for men and 2.7 liters for women, from all drinks and food. Roughly a fifth of that usually comes from food, so the calculator starts from about 3.0 liters (men) and 2.2 liters (women) of drinks.

It then adds a common rule of thumb of about 350 mL (12 oz) for every 30 minutes of exercise, and half a liter for a hot or humid day. These are planning numbers, not prescriptions. Thirst, the colour of your urine and how you feel are better day-to-day guides.

Who should not use a general number

If you have kidney disease, heart failure, or a doctor has told you to limit or increase fluids, follow their advice instead of any calculator. The same goes for pregnancy, breastfeeding, endurance events and children, whose needs differ.

Frequently asked questions

Do coffee and tea count toward my water intake?

Yes. All drinks count toward total water, including coffee and tea. Water is still the simplest choice because it has no sugar or calories.

Is drinking a gallon of water a day necessary?

Not for most people. A gallon is about 3.8 liters, which is above the drinks-only starting point for most adults on a normal day. More is not automatically better.

What is the easiest way to drink enough?

Use the same bottle every day and count refills instead of glasses. If your target is four refills, finishing one by mid-morning, one by lunch, one mid-afternoon and one by dinner keeps it simple.

How do I track refills without a spreadsheet?

Dropkin, a water reminder app from the makers of this page, lets you save the bottle you already carry and log a full refill in one tap, with half and quarter buttons. It works in ounces or liters, offline, with no account or ads. Dropkin on the App Store.

Sources: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Dietary Reference Intakes for Water, Potassium, Sodium, Chloride, and Sulfate (2004); Mayo Clinic, "Water: How much should you drink every day?". This page is general information, not medical advice. Disclosure: this page is published by the makers of Dropkin.

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