Drinking and urinating a lot

This page is reference information compiled from the cited sources. It is not medical advice. For any decision about health, diagnosis or care, consult a qualified professional.

What it is

Drinking and urinating a lot relates to the quantity of urine produced. Average urine production in adult humans is around 1.4 L of urine per person per day with a normal range of 0.6 to 2.6 L per person per day. This production depends on state of hydration, activity level, environmental factors, weight, and the individual's health. Producing too much urine needs medical attention. Polyuria is a condition of excessive production of urine, defined as more than 2.5 L per day.

Key facts

Normal urine production occurs in around 6 to 8 urinations per day. The adult human bladder typically holds between 300 and 500 ml of urine before urination. About 91 to 96 percent of urine consists of water. The daily volume and composition of urine varies per person based on water intake and other factors. Urine color varies depending principally upon a body's level of hydration, with colorless urine indicating over hydration and dark yellow urine often indicative of dehydration. Producing too much urine is called polyuria.

When to seek professional help

Producing too much urine needs medical attention. Professional care is associated with conditions where urine contains an excess of protein or sugar, as this is suggestive of illness. Bloody urine, termed hematuria, is a symptom of a wide variety of medical conditions. Dark orange to brown urine can be a symptom of jaundice, rhabdomyolysis, or Gilbert's syndrome. A sweetened urine odor may occur in an individual with diabetes mellitus, which can also be due to kidney diseases such as kidney stones.

Source: Urine (CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikipedia)), retrieved 2026-09-23.