15 easy ways to drink more water

2026-10-30

The easiest way to drink more water is to stop relying on willpower. Keep water within arm's reach, attach a glass to things you already do every day (waking up, meals, coffee, breaks) and make your progress visible. Below are 15 concrete tips. You don't need all of them: pick two or three that fit your day and add more once those feel automatic.

A quick reality check on the target first. The European Food Safety Authority puts adequate total water intake at about 2.0 liters a day for women and 2.5 liters for men, and that total includes the water in your food. The NHS suggests 6 to 8 cups or glasses of fluid a day as a flexible guide. If you're not sure what your own number is, start with how much water you need per day.

Make water the easy option

1. Keep a bottle where you spend your day

The first tip on the CDC's list is simply to carry a reusable water bottle. What matters is that you can see it: a bottle on your desk, in your bag or in the car door gets used, one in a cupboard doesn't. A 17 fl oz (500 ml) bottle refilled four times is about 2 liters.

2. Pre-fill your day's water

Fill a large jug or two bottles in the morning. Seeing how much is left at 3 pm is a clearer prompt than any rule, and it removes the small "I'll get up and fill it later" barrier.

3. Put glasses where you already stop

Keep a clean glass next to the kitchen tap, the coffee machine and the bathroom sink. If a glass is already there, drinking takes five seconds instead of a decision.

4. Freeze a bottle for hot days

The CDC also suggests freezing water in freezer-safe bottles so you have ice-cold water all day. Fill it about three quarters full so it has room to expand, then top it up with cold water as it melts.

Tie water to things you already do

5. Have a glass when you wake up

You've just gone 7 or 8 hours without drinking, and the morning routine is the most predictable part of most people's day, which makes it a reliable anchor. (Whether morning water has any special benefits beyond that is a different question.)

6. Drink one glass with every meal

"Serve water during meals" is another CDC tip. A glass of about 8 fl oz (250 ml) at breakfast, lunch and dinner adds up to roughly three quarters of a liter without any extra effort, because you're already sitting down.

7. Pair every coffee or tea with water

Put a glass of water next to each coffee. Coffee and tea count toward your fluid intake too (the NHS lists them alongside water and lower-fat milk), but the pairing doubles the number of drinks without changing your routine.

8. Use transitions as triggers

Moments that repeat every day work well: before each meeting, after each bathroom break, when you get into the car, when you sit down to read the news. Choose one or two and stick with them rather than trying to remember a vague "drink more".

Make it more appealing

9. Get the temperature right

Many people simply prefer cool water. In sports research, cool drinks around 15 °C (59 °F) tend to be the most palatable and lead people to drink more. That review comes from a sports drink company's institute and is about exercise, but the idea is easy to test on yourself. A jug in the fridge is the low-tech version.

10. Add a slice of something

A wedge of lemon or lime is on both the CDC and NHS lists. Cucumber, mint, berries or a few slices of ginger work too. If plain water is the real problem, there are 12 more ideas in don't like plain water?

11. Switch to sparkling now and then

The NHS suggests sparkling water if you don't like plain water. Plain, unsweetened sparkling water hydrates just like still water, and the American Dental Association says the plain kind is generally fine for your teeth.

12. Eat some of your water

Fruit, vegetables, soups and yogurt all bring water with them, which is part of why "total water" targets are higher than drinking targets. A bowl of soup or a couple of pieces of fruit is an easy addition.

Swap, don't just add

13. Replace one sugary drink a day

The CDC recommends choosing water over sugary drinks, and the NHS advises limiting fruit juice and smoothies to one small 150 ml glass a day because of their sugar. Swapping one soda or juice a day for water or sparkling water raises your water intake and cuts sugar at the same time.

14. Order water when you eat out

"Opt for water when eating out" is on the CDC's list for a reason: it's free or cheap in most restaurants, and asking for a jug of tap water for the table means everyone refills without thinking about it.

Make progress visible

15. Count what you drink

You can't aim for a goal you can't see. A tally on a sticky note works, as does marking lines on your bottle. Tracking is also one of the most consistent pieces of habit-building advice, which we cover in how to make drinking water a habit.

If you'd rather use your phone, Water Tracker logs a glass, a bottle or a custom amount in one tap on your iPhone or Apple Watch, or from a Home Screen widget without opening the app. It suggests a goal based on your weight and activity, and its reminders go quiet once you've reached it. It's free, with no ads and no account.

Spread it out, and don't overdo it

More is not always better. Drinking steadily through the day is easier on you than catching up with a liter in the evening, and very large amounts in a short time can be harmful; the details are in can you drink too much water?. A practical check from the NHS: urine that's a clear, pale yellow color is a good sign you're drinking enough.

If you have heart, kidney or liver disease, or a doctor has asked you to limit fluids, follow their advice rather than general tips like these.

The bottom line

The tips that work best are the boring ones: a bottle you can see, a glass attached to each meal and each coffee, and some way of counting. Start with three of them this week:

Put a filled bottle on your desk or in your bag.
Drink a glass with every meal.
Track your glasses for seven days.

Once those happen without thinking, add another. Small, repeated changes beat a big resolution that lasts until Wednesday.

This article is general information, not medical advice. If you have a health condition, are pregnant or take medication, ask your doctor how much you should drink.