# Drinking your urine in an emergency situation **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 24, 2023, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-your-urine-in-an-emergency-situation/987481 "2023-07-24T17:38:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2023, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-your-urine-in-an-emergency-situation/987481/21 "2023-07-24T20:09:00Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > This was another question I had a few years ago here, but never got a good answer. How much can you dilute out seawater (or ‘stretch out’ your fresh water supply) to maximize survival time? Oddly we had a thread about this in 2007. > [@Surviving by drinking diluted sea water](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surviving-by-drinking-diluted-sea-water/405672/14): > > [This post in this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=8616492&postcount=2) gives you the amount of salt in a liter of seawater. The number is 35 grams/liter. Qadgop has given the amount of salt required per day. If your drinking water is distilled water and your emergency rations give you 480 mg then you can take in an additional 20 mg assuming no other salt intake (don’t let the sweat of your brow run down into your mouth). In that case a liter of seawater would have to be used over a period of 1750 days or 4 years, 9 mo. and 16 days. So… A qoogle search came up with answers between 1 in 4 (assuming the fresh is distilled , which is fairly common on a life raft), and 1-5 and _2889g of distilled water to each 1000g of seawater_ . So, to be safe 1-5. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2023, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-your-urine-in-an-emergency-situation/987481/22 "2023-07-24T20:19:35Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Test have shown the those stills- unless you have ALL the right stuff and perfect conditions- use up more water by making than you get. Two plastic soda bottles and some duct tape or a piece of a t-shirt are all you need. Could easily get you at least an extra day. More if you start sooner, and have other containers to store urine and distilled water. You could conceivably carry the still on your shoulders as you walk, but you’d be better off doing your walking at night and distilling water in the day time. Perfect for when you are stuck at sea. I don’t know how much urine you can distill per hour of daylight, but whatever you get will extend your life. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2023, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-your-urine-in-an-emergency-situation/987481/23 "2023-07-24T22:39:59Z")
I’m guessing that for many people, actually drinking their urine would lead to vomiting, for a multitude of reasons, and that too would be counter-productive. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-your-urine-in-an-emergency-situation/987481/24 "2023-07-25T08:41:41Z")
Wasn’t there a guy who survived on salt water alone in a life raft? Iirc he soaked his shirt in salt water and then rang the water out into his mouth as a primitive filter. Then he dried the t-shirt and repeated the process. ---
**Author:** ![Fish\_Cheer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fish_cheer/32/17179_2.png) [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-your-urine-in-an-emergency-situation/987481/25 "2023-07-25T08:47:17Z")
You can’t filter salt out of seawater with a T-shirt. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-your-urine-in-an-emergency-situation/987481/26 "2023-07-25T11:18:54Z")
On a few survival shows I’ve participated in (and by “participating” I mean watched), the contestants had some sort of filter device that they attached to the mouth of a water bottle, presumably for filtering out impurities. I don’t suppose using this on a bottle filled with peepee would do any good? mmm ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-your-urine-in-an-emergency-situation/987481/27 "2023-07-25T12:45:11Z")
I will start a sign up sheet for volunteers for a double blind study. Once the urine group or control group reach a 50% mortality rate, we will halt the study. No reason to be sadistic just because we are searchers of truth. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-your-urine-in-an-emergency-situation/987481/28 "2023-07-25T13:23:21Z")
FWIW, I used to know a guy who drank his own urine on a regular basis. I happened to encounter him doing so in the men’s room of a homeless shelter; he said his dad raised him to do that. I guess the family was sort of suburban survivalists. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-your-urine-in-an-emergency-situation/987481/29 "2023-07-25T14:14:32Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Test have shown the those stills- unless you have ALL the right stuff and perfect conditions- use up more water by making than you get. If you have a transparent sheet of plastic, then it takes very little effort to set up a solar still. If you don’t have one, then you’re probably not going to be able to make one at all. I don’t think there’s any scenario where you can make one but it takes a lot of effort. > [@Skywatcher](#): > > FWIW, I used to know a guy who drank his own urine on a regular basis. I happened to encounter him doing so in the men’s room of a homeless shelter; he said his dad raised him to do that. I guess the family was sort of suburban survivalists. Drinking some urine on a regular basis is fine. But if you drink all of your urine, it’ll kill you pretty quick. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-your-urine-in-an-emergency-situation/987481/30 "2023-07-25T14:21:09Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > If you’re dehydrated, urine contains virtually no water Um, not so. Even the most concentrated liquid urine is still mostly water. Just with more stuff dissolved in it. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-your-urine-in-an-emergency-situation/987481/31 "2023-07-25T14:40:14Z")
Cecil addresses “urine therapy” at the bottom of this column: > **[Why are men supposed to wash their hands after urination? Plus: urine therapy!](https://www.straightdope.com/21342195/why-are-men-supposed-to-wash-their-hands-after-urination-plus-urine-therapy)** ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-your-urine-in-an-emergency-situation/987481/32 "2023-07-25T16:49:49Z")
A filter will not remove minerals, they are designed to screen bacteria or cysts like Giardia or E coli. They won’t remove pesticides or other contamination. Seawater is a different problem. There are reverse-osmosis type pumps included in life raft survival kits. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-your-urine-in-an-emergency-situation/987481/33 "2023-07-25T17:01:12Z")
I can see drinking my urine in an emergency situation, if that emergency was someone holding a gun to my head and saying “Drink your urine, or else!”. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-your-urine-in-an-emergency-situation/987481/34 "2023-07-25T17:06:14Z")
You’d probably even have a ready supply, immediately available. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-your-urine-in-an-emergency-situation/987481/35 "2023-07-25T17:37:18Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > It has been scientifically demonstrated that people can live for a limited time without water, “Rule of threes”: three minutes without air, three days without water, three weeks without food. YMMV. If you google “miners drank urine” (_sans_ quotes) you’ll get a lot of stories about miners who did that and survived. Surprise, there isn’t a lot of reporting about the miners who did so and didn’t survived, so I’m not sure how useful that is. Business Insider says “Don’t”: > **[Should you actually drink your own pee in a survival situation?](https://www.businessinsider.com/what-happens-if-you-drink-pee-2018-8)** > > It turns out, despite the stories you may have heard if you're in a life or death survival situation, you should probably avoid drinking your own urine. It can end up hurting your chances of survival. Not sure I’d choose them as my primary source for survival info, mind. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-your-urine-in-an-emergency-situation/987481/36 "2023-07-25T19:54:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > If you have a transparent sheet of plastic, then it takes very little effort to set up a solar still. Again, even with that, more effort than it is worth. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-your-urine-in-an-emergency-situation/987481/37 "2023-07-25T20:54:49Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Again, even with that, more effort than it is worth. If you’ve reached that point you’ll be dead in minutes without fresh water. Unless a helicopter is one the way you’re going die whether or not you drink urine. The trouble with solar stills is the time it takes for distilling, not the energy required to set up a still. Start early if you expect to distill water from urine, or anything else. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-your-urine-in-an-emergency-situation/987481/38 "2023-07-26T06:44:32Z")
rough rule of thumb is 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food. though I sort of argue about that last one [sort of] I had an issue and I stopped eating, only nutrition was chicken stock, water and black tea with mint [unsweetened, I was having issues with the taste of anything sweet, and I had issues with anything solid.] I got ill first week of September, bailed on school and my first real meal was Dec 27th. I did lose 20 pounds. I am cheesed off, I missed the last Thanksgiving a friend of mine cooked, he passed the summer after. Marc made the most amazing pies, and his whipped potatoes were heavenly. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-your-urine-in-an-emergency-situation/987481/39 "2023-07-26T18:48:11Z")
Yeah, I assume the “three weeks without food” is based on the assumption that you’re in a survival situation, trying to walk out of the mountains or something, in which case you’re of course burning a lot more calories. Plus you were getting some nutrition (not so much calories) from the chicken stock, perhaps most significantly some sodium, probably. Only 20 pounds in over three months seems low! ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2023, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-your-urine-in-an-emergency-situation/987481/40 "2023-07-27T16:29:54Z")
I have a screwy metabolism - only time since 1980 that I have regularly eaten more than 1800 cal [american style reckoning, i know europe uses a different kcal/cal system and a different glucose rendering, my a1c normally hovers around 5.2 - 5.6.] i was doing chemo and radiation and it had stripped out my gut lining and it took me 4000 - 5000 cal a day to maintain weight. rad tech hate when the victims lose weight, they have to ct and redot the targeting tattoos.] it did screw with my hunger reflex in that I no longer have one, I have a timer on my phone set to remind me to eat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-your-urine-in-an-emergency-situation/987481.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-your-urine-in-an-emergency-situation/987481.md?page=3)