# Can I filter urine through a Brita?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-filter-urine-through-a-brita/110202
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 22, 2002, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-filter-urine-through-a-brita/110202 "2002-05-22T00:27:23Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2002, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-filter-urine-through-a-brita/110202/21 "2002-05-22T16:00:28Z")
nineiron:
> [@](#):
>
> Or, you could just drink the Mountain Dew that you’re trapped in your basement with. Just a suggestion, slightly better than drinking piss.
That’s very much a matter of opinion, thank you.
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### Author:  [@Tedster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tedster)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2002, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-filter-urine-through-a-brita/110202/22 "2002-05-24T04:55:20Z")
Brita filters are just carbon, it removes by adsorption odors and nasty tastes, it does not “purify” in any sense. yes, urine from a healthy person is sterile but that is irrelevant.
There are reverse osmosis filters available for rendering sea water drinkable, but they are extremely expensive and take quite a while for even a small amount of water. If you are in a life raft at sea, you probably have plenty of time on your hands.
Regular water filters use the principle of microfiltration, often down to fractions of a micron. Water purifiers might use an iodine matrix, which will kill microorganisms as they pass through the device. They will make water bacteriologically safe to drink, but the salts, urea, ammonia, and other nasties in urine (that’s why it’s called “waste”) will rapidly make you thirsty and sick.
I believe I’ve read somewhere, that if all you had to drink was regular ‘soda’ w/ sugar or corn syrup sweetening, you would die of thirst, as there is a net water loss with all that sugar i.e. it takes more water to digest than is contained in the product.
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### Author:  [@Yeah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeah)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2002, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-filter-urine-through-a-brita/110202/23 "2002-05-24T13:29:27Z")
“Brita filters are just carbon”
Not true. They include something (ion exchange resins?) to remove certain undesirable ions (e.g., lead).
“I believe I’ve read somewhere, that if all you had to drink was regular ‘soda’ w/ sugar or corn syrup sweetening, you would die of thirst, as there is a net water loss with all that sugar i.e. it takes more water to digest than is contained in the product.”
This doesn’t make sense to me bacause the end products of sugar catabolism are carbon dioxide and, guess what, water! It’s also hard to believe because a lot of folks down south live on Coke.
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### Author:  [@Tedster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tedster)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2002, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-filter-urine-through-a-brita/110202/24 "2002-05-24T23:05:53Z")
Hm, it’s essentially true – they are mostly carbon anyway, there is no disinfection of the water in any case, it will not render raw water potable in any way.
“A lot of folks down south live on Coke.” Well, they obtain water through other things. I guess I mean literally that – drinking nothing but sugarized soda – it has a tremendous amount. The caffeine is diuretic as well, can’t be good exclusively I wouldn’t think. Maybe a Doper would care to attempt this and report back?
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### Author:  [@Yeah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeah)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2002, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-filter-urine-through-a-brita/110202/25 "2002-05-24T23:20:31Z")
“Hm, it’s essentially true”
Yes, and what killed Ottilie Lundgren was essentially an envelope.
“if all you had to drink was regular ‘soda’ w/ sugar or corn syrup sweetening, you would die of thirst”
IANAN, but the answer is you can live on Coke.
(As long as your kidneys can produce a product that is more concentrated than what you drink, you are home free. Since the salt content of Coke is much less than that of concentrated urine [from a healthy adult] you can get all your water from Coke.)
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### Author:  [@Rhum\_Runner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhum_Runner)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2002, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-filter-urine-through-a-brita/110202/26 "2002-05-25T00:36:29Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Yeah \*
> \*\*IANAN, but the answer is you can live on Coke.
>
> (As long as your kidneys can produce a product that is more concentrated than what you drink, you are home free. Since the salt content of Coke is much less than that of concentrated urine [from a healthy adult] you can get all your water from Coke.) \*\*
I don’t think the issue is with the salt, but rather with the H2O required to metabolize all the sugar. I’m not saying that I know how much water you need to burn the sugar, just saying that salt is not the issue.
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### Author:  [@Yeah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeah)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2002, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-filter-urine-through-a-brita/110202/27 "2002-05-25T00:44:40Z")
The end products of sugar catabolism are carbon dioxide and water.
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### Author:  [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2002, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-filter-urine-through-a-brita/110202/28 "2002-05-25T01:02:21Z")
I can tell you for certain that you can live of cola and no water, because I have done it, for months, even years at a time. I dont like water. Animals bathe in it and fish make love in it. For a long time I would not drink it. Now, I mainly drink diet drinks, and iced tea, but only water once or twice a month max. I know I went over 6 months with drinking a single glass of water.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2002, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-filter-urine-through-a-brita/110202/29 "2002-05-25T02:08:49Z")
Remind me NOT to be thirsty at Sofa King’s house. :eek:
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### Author:  [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2002, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-filter-urine-through-a-brita/110202/30 "2002-05-25T03:37:15Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Mr. Blue Sky \*
> \*\*Remind me NOT to be thirsty at Sofa King’s house. :eek: \*\*
Well, if the tap water at **Sofa** ’s place is anything like the tap water we have here, you’d be better off drinking his Brita filtered urine.
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### Author:  [@Mirage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirage)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2002, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-filter-urine-through-a-brita/110202/31 "2002-05-25T04:19:12Z")
> [@](#):
>
> …but rather with the H2O required to metabolize all the sugar
There’s a difference between the amount required and the amount consumed. No matter how much sugar you take in, if the same amount (or more) water is left over at the end then you’re all set. There is the concern that your body requires water to store the sugar, and so if you consume too many sweets and too little water your water-balance might be off, but once you metabolize the sugar you’ve got that water back again.
This is what’s responsible for weight loss a day or two after starting a diet. The body burns its excess sugar and pees out the water used to store it. You drop 5 pounds in water and then get depressed when your weight loss slows down after that (starting to work on the fats).
H2O and CO2 are end products of aerobic metabolism. You ever wonder where the water dripping out of your car’s exhaust pipe comes from when you didn’t put any into your gas tank?
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### Author:  [@kbutcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kbutcher)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2002, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-filter-urine-through-a-brita/110202/32 "2002-05-25T07:12:09Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by bdgr \*
> \*\*I can tell you for certain that you can live of cola and no water, because I have done it, for months, even years at a time. I dont like water. Animals bathe in it and fish make love in it. For a long time I would not drink it. Now, I mainly drink diet drinks, and iced tea, but only water once or twice a month max. I know I went over 6 months with drinking a single glass of water. \*\*
I’m confused. I don’t mean to start a GD, but I don’t see how you avoid your water fears by switching to drinks that are mostly water. can you explain this anymore?
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### Author:  [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2002, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-filter-urine-through-a-brita/110202/33 "2002-05-25T13:31:35Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Tedster \*
> \*\*I believe I’ve read somewhere, that if all you had to drink was regular ‘soda’ w/ sugar or corn syrup sweetening, you would die of thirst, as there is a net water loss with all that sugar i.e. it takes more water to digest than is contained in the product. \*\*
Hmm… Considering that I almost never drink anything but soda I’d have to say that is false. (Yes, it’s something I want to change)
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### Author:  [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2002, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-filter-urine-through-a-brita/110202/34 "2002-05-25T13:34:46Z")
I had a friend who used to use the excuse “fish fuck in it” as the reason he didn’t drink water. I told him this was utterly stupid, as the beer he was drinking instead was made of _surprise!_ water with some stuff added to it.
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### Author:  [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2002, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-filter-urine-through-a-brita/110202/35 "2002-05-25T14:19:11Z")
It is not you guys…Its not water, its not…
sniff…
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### Author:  [@Tedster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tedster)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2002, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-filter-urine-through-a-brita/110202/36 "2002-05-25T16:41:49Z")
Brita Filters are activated carbon, with a tiny bit of silver in some form or another to prevent microbial nasties from breeding in the media.
There isn’t anything magical about this, and my point still stands – if, for some reason, urine is being considered as refreshment, distillation is the only rational method.
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