How long can you go without a drink (water)?

[magicfarawaytreestime]

Got a new colleague who is really struggling with our rules at work. No water/drinks at desks
She is really unhappy about it and keeps going out for a drink, I’ve said you do get used to it but I’m not sure if she will!
curious if others would struggle. It’s 2hrs max between breaks

Yes I’d struggle after about 30 mins. I have to talk a lot in my job. I’d have such a dry mouth and a terrible headache.

I wouldn’t give it a second thought. But then I am from a pre water bottle generation

I’d manage ok I think, although I am quite headache prone and do suffer from low blood pressure/dizziness around my period so do prefer to drink regularly on those days.
I’d find the general attitude of not allowing adults to have a bloody sports bottle at the desk in case they spill it to be very annoyingly controlling though.

I used to get sick at school in the pre water bottle days. Actual vomiting from the stress on my body from it being too warm in the room and not having cold water to drink. I’m just sensitive to temperature and always have been that way.

This idea that we were fine without constant hydration is a fallacy. Some people were fine. Fragile people were stressed.

To think we used to have breakfast at 7am, coffee break at 10:30, lunch at 1, afternoon tea break at 3 then dinner at 6. No water bottles. No walking around with coffee cups. Then likely no more drinks until the morning. How did we survive? (Hint: just fine. Still could)

I definitely find that when I’m on my “drink more water” phases! When I’m exercising I drink loads
but I have breaks at 10.15am, midday, 2pm and 3.45pm ish

They're not being denied water, they can go to the kitchen for a drink when they want.

It depends.

i drink far less on days I’m WFH, unless it’s really hot; so wouldn’t be a problem there.

But the air conditioning in the office is brutal and I get a really dry mouth, so I’d either need to step away from my desk about every 10 minutes or keep some water on my desk.

I get horrendous migraines so not being able to sip water regularly would do me in! I’m also someone who really likes being hydrated.

Better than how offices used to be, with everyone smoking! Carrying water bottles is new, but they used to have fountains everywhere, with a cup attached to a chain, that everyone used. Hygienic. No, I'm not that old, but I've seen photos of the old days and been told about it.
Most offices I've worked in had people getting coffee every hour or so, and no one spilled,

I’m a big water drinker but could manage for 2 hours at a desk job without a drink unless it was unusually hot weather. However, if I need to make a lot of phone calls or talk a lot in a meeting I need something to sip because my throat just dries up and I get croaky.

30 mins between sips. If I'm not hydrated my IBS plays up.

It wouldn't cause me a problem at all because I'm like a lizard, but I think it's very poor behaviour on the part of the employer. The justification for it is pathetic and I wouldn't stay in the employment of someone who thought they could tell me when I was allowed to have a drink of water.

I couldn’t do it but I take medication that gives me a dry mouth so I drink constantly.

You don’t have to ask! You just get up and get some
same as in a lab or on a factory line. Theres no restrictions except you have to go out the room

And the reason I can go about 12 hours is that I’m also from the pre-water bottle generation. When I went to school the only option was room temperature water from a metal jug at lunchtime so generally had my first drink after school.

Except it's not a lab, or a factory line, is it. The reason is just control and that's the issue.

its really hard to say without being outing but part of it because the building itself
imagine an office but it’s in a listed Manor House for example and they don’t want spills on the carpet because it’s a Manor House

I wfh and drink a pint of water/squash every 2 hours so I couldn’t cope with that.

Hours and hours. I'm a teacher. The more I drink, the more I wee. I cannot leave the room all the time. I have a cup of tea when I arrive in work around 7 and then will very often have not had another drink until 2 or 3pm.

I go for hours without a drink unless it’s really hot weather. As a nurse working on wards we just didn’t have the time to be constantly drinking,also wouldn’t have the time to pee .

Still, no water is an overstep.

I could easily go 2 hrs but it depends on the environment. If I had to talk a lot of the time in meetings then I would need a drink. Same if croaky throat or tickle

All this obsessing over constant access to water has gone too far if you ask me.

Yes I know about hydration and all that jazz, but honestly, we're grown-ups. 🙄
Surely it is possible for any adult to drink a glass of water and manage to survive a couple of hours until the next one.

2hrs between breaks is quite fine

she might prefer otherwise but for most people every few hours is medically perfectly fine - it’s just habits

bodies are designed to go hours between water sources