WATER BY WEIGHT
CALCULATOR

Estimate a daily water intake target based on your body weight, using the 30–35ml-per-kg guideline used by dietitians as a starting point for hydration planning.

✅ Weight-Based Formula💧 Metric & Imperial📈 Litres & Oz
Your Weight
Your Water Target
--
Litres / Day
Standard (35ml/kg)--
Active Adjusted (40ml/kg)--
Lean Mass Based--
Advertisement
Ad space — paste AdSense code here
Hydration Reference
GuidelineTargetNotes
Sedentary adult (per kg)30–35 ml/kg~2.1–2.5L for 70kg person
Active adult (per kg)35–45 ml/kgAdd 500ml per 30min exercise
Hot climate adjustment+10–20%Increase for heat/humidity
NAS: Adult men3.7L totalFrom all food + drink sources
NAS: Adult women2.7L totalFrom all food + drink sources
Related Articles
Read Article
How Much Water Should You Drink?
indexbody.com/blog →

Weight-Based Water Formula

A commonly used starting point for hydration planning is 30–35ml of water per kilogram of body weight per day. Under this guideline, a 70kg person would aim for roughly 2.1–2.45L daily at baseline, before accounting for exercise, climate, or individual health conditions. Because the formula scales with body size, it tends to give a more personalized estimate than a single fixed daily target (such as "drink 8 glasses a day") that ignores how much a person weighs.

This calculator applies that formula to the weight you enter and also shows an "active" figure (40ml/kg) for days with exercise or heat exposure, along with an optional lean-mass-based estimate if you know your body fat percentage. Total fluid needs vary from person to person based on activity level, climate, sweat rate, diet, and underlying health conditions, so treat the number below as a reasonable starting estimate rather than a fixed prescription.

How the Numbers Are Calculated

The standard estimate multiplies your body weight in kilograms by 35ml. The active estimate uses the same weight multiplied by 40ml/kg to account for higher fluid turnover during exercise or hot weather. The lean-mass estimate, shown when you enter a body fat percentage, first removes estimated fat mass from your total weight and applies the 40ml/kg figure to the remaining lean mass, since metabolically active tissue accounts for most day-to-day water turnover. None of these figures include water obtained from food, which typically supplies a meaningful share of total daily fluid intake.

SM
Medically Reviewed by Dr. Sarah Mitchell, M.D.
Board-Certified Internal Medicine · 12 Years Clinical Experience
Dr. Mitchell reviews all IndexBody health content for clinical accuracy and alignment with WHO, CDC, and NIH guidelines.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much water per kg of body weight?
+
A commonly cited general guideline is 30–35ml per kg of body weight per day as a baseline, increasing to around 40ml/kg on active days or in hot climates. For example, a 70kg person would target roughly 2.1–2.45L at baseline, adding an estimated 500–750ml on exercise days. Individual needs can vary, so use this as a starting point rather than a strict target.
Do larger people generally need more water?
+
Often, yes. Larger bodies have more tissue to hydrate and tend to have higher overall metabolic activity, which can increase fluid turnover. Weight-based formulas account for this by scaling with body size, whereas fixed-quantity recommendations (like "8 glasses a day") do not.