How long after drinking water do you pee?
Water you drink reaches the blood in about 5 minutes (Péronnet, 2012), and the bladder fills mostly within the next hour. After drinking 1 liter (about 1 quart) of water in 30 minutes, people passed about 1.3 liters of urine over 4 hours, more than half of it in the 1st hour (Maughan, 2016).
Simplified diagram, not to scale. Dotted curves are estimates based on published measurements; the figures in the notes are measured.
How long after drinking water do you pee?
A person drinks 1 liter (about 1 quart) of water: follow the water from the mouth to the bladder. Choose a situation, then tap a label on the drawing to learn what it is.
Sources: water passing into the blood (Péronnet et al., Eur J Appl Physiol, 2012); urine after 1 liter of 13 drinks (Maughan et al., Am J Clin Nutr, 2016); antidiuretic hormone at night (Rittig et al., Am J Physiol, 1989; Asplund and Aberg, J Intern Med, 1991); getting up at night (Bosch and Weiss, J Urol, 2010); kidneys and bladder (NIDDK). Drawing not to scale; scene timing and live urine: estimates.
Keyboard: 1 to 3 situations, Space pause, L slow motion, R restart, ← → previous or next step.
Frequently asked questions about water and the urge to pee
How long does it take for water to reach your bladder?
Water you drink starts reaching the bladder within minutes, and most of it arrives within the next hour. Labeled water showed up in the blood within 5 minutes of drinking (Péronnet, 2012). After drinking 1 liter (about 1 quart) of water in 30 minutes, 72 men passed about 730 grams of urine in the first hour (read from the figure), then about 380 grams in the second hour (Maughan, 2016).
How much urine can the bladder hold?
A healthy adult bladder holds about 1.5 to 2 cups, or about 12 to 16 ounces (NIDDK). You feel a first urge well before it is full, at around 150 to 250 milliliters, or 5 to 8 ounces (to be checked). The bladder is a muscle: it relaxes to fill, then squeezes to empty.
Does coffee make you pee more than water?
No, a regular cup of coffee does not make you pee more than the same amount of water. In a trial, 72 men drank 1 liter of coffee (212 milligrams of caffeine per liter), tea, cola or water: over 4 hours, they passed about the same amount of urine (Maughan, 2016). So coffee counts toward the water you drink in a day. For caffeine itself, see how long it stays in the body.
Why does alcohol make you pee so much?
Alcohol holds back the hormone that keeps water in, but the effect of a small dose is modest and depends on how much water is already in the body. In 12 well-hydrated men, 1 liter of 4% beer gave 1,279 milliliters of urine over 4 hours, compared with 1,121 for the same beer without alcohol; in the same men when dehydrated, the difference disappeared (Hobson and Maughan, 2010). A light beer does not make you pee more than water (Maughan, 2016).
Why do you wake up at night to pee?
At night, the body normally makes more antidiuretic hormone, which reduces urine (Rittig, 1989); with age, this rise often disappears (Asplund, 1991). Getting up once a night is common: 11 to 35% of men and 20 to 44% of women aged 20 to 40, and 69 to 93% of men over 70 (Bosch and Weiss, 2010). Drinking a lot in the evening, alcohol or poor sleep also play a part. If it happens several times a night and is new, talk to a doctor.
True or false?
Coffee dehydrates you: it makes you lose more water than it provides.
False. After 1 liter (about 1 quart) of coffee (212 milligrams of caffeine per liter), 72 men did not urinate more over 4 hours than after 1 liter of water (Maughan, 2016). A usual amount of coffee counts toward your daily fluid intake.
Water you drink reaches your blood within minutes.
True. Labeled water, drunk all at once, showed up in the blood within 5 minutes; half of it had gone through in 11 to 13 minutes (Péronnet, 2012). That is why the urge to pee can come less than an hour after drinking.
Before age 40, it is rare to get up at night to pee.
False. Between ages 20 and 40, 11 to 35% of men and 20 to 44% of women get up at least once a night to pee (Bosch and Weiss, 2010). What should prompt a doctor visit is getting up several times a night when this is new, or being very thirsty all the time.
This page as text
The same information as the charts, to read without animation: for each chart, the values at the main moments, then the notes with their level of evidence.
What happens to 1 liter of water, hour by hour?
Water reaches the blood within minutes; the kidneys then make much more urine, and most of it comes out in the 1st hour. Urine: measurements read from the study's figure; water absorbed and hormone: estimated curves.
| Hours after drinking, or time of day | Water drunk that has reached the blood (dotted) | Urine made since the start, in % | Antidiuretic hormone (ADH) (dotted) | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drinking | 0 | 0 | 60 | You start drinking 1 liter |
| 30 min | 62 | 29 | 34 | after you start drinking |
| 1 h | 94 | 55 | 16 | after you start drinking |
| 2 h | 100 | 83 | 30 | after you start drinking |
| 3 h | 100 | 94 | 48 | after you start drinking |
| 4 h | 100 | 100 | 58 | after you start drinking |
Key points
- In the blood in 5 minutes (Up to 30 min, Shown in humans)
Labeled water, drunk all at once (300 milliliters, about 10 ounces), showed up in the blood within 5 minutes; half of it had gone through in 11 to 13 minutes, and all of it in 75 to 120 minutes. Source: Péronnet, Mignault and du Souich, « Pharmacokinetic analysis of absorption, distribution and disappearance of ingested water labeled with D2O in humans », Eur J Appl Physiol, 2012 - The water-saving hormone drops (From 15 min to 1 h 30 min, Hypothesis)
When the blood is more diluted, the brain releases less antidiuretic hormone (ADH): the kidneys then let more water go. The shape of the curve is estimated. - The peak in the 1st hour (From 30 min to 1 h 30 min, Shown in humans)
72 men drank 1 liter of water in 30 minutes. In the 1st hour, they passed about 730 grams of urine, then about 380 grams in the 2nd hour (values read from the figure). Source: Maughan, Watson and Cordery, « A randomized trial to assess the potential of different beverages to affect hydration status: development of a beverage hydration index », Am J Clin Nutr, 2016 - About 1.3 liters in 4 hours (From 1 h 30 min on, Shown in humans)
Over 4 hours, they passed 1,337 grams of urine on average: more than the liter they drank, because they had also drunk half a liter before the trial, and the kidneys always make a little urine. Source: Maughan, Watson and Cordery, « A randomized trial to assess the potential of different beverages to affect hydration status: development of a beverage hydration index », Am J Clin Nutr, 2016 - The kidneys filter nonstop (Throughout, Shown in humans)
The kidneys filter about 150 quarts of blood a day, or about 140 liters; only 1 to 2 quarts, about 1 to 2 liters, become urine. Source: NIDDK (National Institutes of Health), « Your Kidneys & How They Work » - Estimated curves (Throughout, Hypothesis)
Urine follows the study's measurements, in % of the 4-hour total (read from the figure); water absorbed and the hormone are estimated relative levels.
Do coffee or beer make you pee more than water?
No, not more than the same amount of water: over 4 hours, 1 liter of coffee, light beer or water gave about the same amount of urine. An oral rehydration solution, on the other hand, is better kept by the body. Cumulative urine, 100 = 1,400 grams (values read from the figure).
| Hours after drinking, or time of day | Water | Light beer | Coffee | Oral rehydration solution | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drinking | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | You start drinking 1 liter |
| 30 min | 28 | 27 | 27 | 25 | after you start drinking |
| 1 h | 52 | 51 | 51 | 46 | after you start drinking |
| 2 h | 79 | 85 | 76 | 61 | after you start drinking |
| 3 h | 89 | 92 | 86 | 69 | after you start drinking |
| 4 h | 96 | 96 | 89 | 74 | after you start drinking |
Key points
- Water: 1,337 grams in 4 hours (Throughout, Shown in humans)
In this trial, 72 men took turns drinking 1 liter of 13 different drinks in 30 minutes. With water, they passed 1,337 grams of urine over 4 hours. Source: Maughan, Watson and Cordery, « A randomized trial to assess the potential of different beverages to affect hydration status: development of a beverage hydration index », Am J Clin Nutr, 2016 - Coffee and beer: same as water (Throughout, Shown in humans)
Coffee (212 milligrams of caffeine per liter), light lager (about 4% alcohol), tea and cola did not make people pee more than water over 4 hours. Source: Maughan, Watson and Cordery, « A randomized trial to assess the potential of different beverages to affect hydration status: development of a beverage hydration index », Am J Clin Nutr, 2016 - Oral rehydration solution is kept better (From 1 h on, Shown in humans)
With an oral rehydration solution, people passed 1,038 grams of urine over 4 hours, and with milk 1,049 to 1,052 grams: about 300 grams less than with water. Salt, sugars and proteins help the body hold on to water. Source: Maughan, Watson and Cordery, « A randomized trial to assess the potential of different beverages to affect hydration status: development of a beverage hydration index », Am J Clin Nutr, 2016 - Alcohol: a little more, if you are not thirsty (From 1 h on, Shown in humans)
In 12 well-hydrated men, 1 liter of 4% beer gave 1,279 milliliters of urine over 4 hours, compared with 1,121 for the same beer without alcohol. In the same men when dehydrated, the difference disappeared: 261 versus 174 milliliters. Source: Hobson and Maughan, « Hydration status and the diuretic action of a small dose of alcohol », Alcohol Alcohol, 2010 - Values read from the figure (Throughout, Hypothesis)
The 4-hour totals for water, the rehydration solution and milk are given by the study; the hour-by-hour points are read from its figure and may be off by a few %.
Why do you pee less at night?
At night, the brain releases more antidiuretic hormone (ADH): the kidneys make less urine, and it is more concentrated. With age, this rise can disappear, and people get up more often. Estimated curves, as relative levels.
| Hours after drinking, or time of day | ADH, young adult (dotted) | Urine made, young adult (dotted) | ADH, older person (dotted) | Urine made, older person (dotted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8:00 | 30 | 60 | 32 | 56 |
| 12:00 | 30 | 60 | 31 | 56 |
| 16:00 | 30 | 60 | 30 | 55 |
| 20:00 | 30 | 60 | 32 | 54 |
| 0:00 | 62 | 32 | 33 | 50 |
| 4:00 | 75 | 26 | 33 | 50 |
| 8:00 | 32 | 58 | 32 | 55 |
Key points
- At night, ADH rises (From 22:00 on, Shown in humans)
In 11 healthy people, antidiuretic hormone stayed stable from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., then rose clearly from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.: the kidneys made less urine, and it was more concentrated. In 15 people who wet the bed, this rise was smaller. Source: Rittig et al., « Abnormal diurnal rhythm of plasma vasopressin and urinary output in patients with enuresis », Am J Physiol, 1989 - With age, the rise often disappears (From 22:00 on, Shown in humans)
In 69 healthy older people, ADH measured every 4 hours did not rise at night, except in men who did not get up to pee. This may partly explain why people make more urine at night as they age. Source: Asplund and Aberg, « Diurnal variation in the levels of antidiuretic hormone in the elderly », J Intern Med, 1991 - Getting up at night is common (From 22:00 on, Shown in humans)
Between ages 20 and 40, 11 to 35% of men and 20 to 44% of women get up at least once a night to pee; after age 70, 69 to 93% of men do. Source: Bosch and Weiss, « The prevalence and causes of nocturia », J Urol, 2010 - The bladder, a reservoir (Until 22:00, Shown in humans)
A healthy bladder holds about 1.5 to 2 cups, or about 12 to 16 ounces. The bladder muscles relax so it can fill, then squeeze to empty it. Source: NIDDK (National Institutes of Health), « The Urinary Tract & How It Works » - Estimated curves (Day and night, Hypothesis)
The shape of the curves follows the studies; the heights are relative levels, not measurements.
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