There are a lot of benefits to drinking filtered water, both for your individual health and well-being as well as the health of the environment. But how much water should you consume to ensure you remain properly hydrated? And is there such a thing as too much of a good thing when it comes to water?

Water is vitally important for a variety of essential bodily functions including digestion, absorption, circulation, and for facilitating excretory functions, as well as assisting the lymphatic system in moving toxins out of your system. It also plays a vital role in helping you make saliva, which helps protect against tooth decay; helps cushion joints; and plays a major role in maintaining body temperature. Since our bodies use and lose large amounts of water on a daily basis, our health and vitality depend on our ability to replenish this water by staying properly hydrated.

Many factors determine how much water you need to stay hydrated. Obviously, if you’re exercising or engaging in some form of strenuous activity you need more than you would in a resting state. You also need more if you’re pregnant, breast-feeding, suffering from fever, diarrhea or have kidney or urinary tract issues. How can you tell if you’re drinking enough? The easiest way is to check the color of your urine. If it’s dark or concentrated and looks more like apple juice then that’s a pretty sure sign that you’re a little dehydrated and could use some more fluids. When you’re properly hydrated your urine should be almost clear or with a pale hint of yellow (closer to lemonade). Thirst, fatigue, headaches and general achiness can also indicate that you need to drink more water.

You can consume other fluids to hydrate yourself but drinks like coffee, caffeinated teas, soda pop and fruit juices with high sugar content can put a needless burden on your liver and kidneys so you’re far better off drinking water (or herbal teas if you can’t bring yourself to take a other gulp of water). Also, if you’re drinking alcoholic beverages be sure to drink water between drinks to mitigate the dehydrating effect of the liquor.

While it’s rare to injure yourself by drinking too much water it is possible to go overboard resulting in low blood sodium levels (a potentially fatal condition known as hyponatremia that can cause cells to become waterlogged and swell considerably). This usually occurs when physically exerting your self so try to maintain your sodium balance by drinking electrolytes like those found in sports drinks like Gatorade.

Some holistic practitioners believe that drinking warm water or water at room temperature is better for digestion and detoxification than drinking ice-cold water. And remember, don’t wait until you’re thirsty to have some water!