How Long Can You Survive Without Water?

How long you can survive without water varies from person to person and is affected by factors such as age, illnesses, and even your location.

Generally, a person can survive without water from a day or two to about as long as a week, George Washington University biology professor Randall K. Packer tells Scientific American.

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Water is much more essential to immediate human survival than food, with the average person being able to survive at least three weeks without food. The human body is more than 60 percent water, and if no water is put into the body, it rapidly becomes dehydrated and can’t sustain life.

How long you can survive without water depends on several conditions: temperature, sunlight, and humidity, as well as the level of hydration the body starts out with. A higher temperature, direct sun, and higher humidity leads to sweat, which removes water from the body.

When about 10 percent of body weight in water is lost, it constitutes a medical emergency, according to the University of Rochester Medical Center as cited in Business Insider. If it is not reversed, it can end in death.

The symptoms of dehydration include the following, according to the Mayo Clinic:

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• Dry mouth
• Decreased saliva
• Less urination and dark urine
• Rapid heartbeat
• Vomiting and diarrhea
• Lethargy
• Skin that becomes blue-gray and cold
• Sunken eyes
• Rapid heartbeat and breathing

Finally, the body will go into shock and the blood pressure will drop. Death will follow without immediate intervention.

In extreme conditions, such as becoming stranded in the desert, this process will probably only take a day or two because of the high temperatures and the dryness of the sand.

Should there ever be a worldwide drought, based on how long you can survive without water, it could only take a few days to a week to see mass casualties in places where water supplies are depleted.

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