More than one-third of older adults don't drink enough water
Whether drunk from the tap or a bottle or eaten in foods, water has important health benefits. Not drinking enough water can lead to muscle spasms, kidney dysfunction, increase your risk of bladder cancer, and, in the extreme, even death. The traditional wisdom of “drink at least 8 glasses of water a day” to give you the water your body needs has no scientific research to back it up. It's just what our mothers always told us. Because the elderly are especially at risk of dehydration, the USDA examined total water consumption from the moisture contained in foods and beverages as well as from plain water and have made some recommendations.

Importance of water consumption
Water is the most abundant and essential nutrient in your body. It comprises about 50% of body weight for the elderly. Your body cannot store water; therefore, you have to drink water to replace what your body sheds or loses through evaporation.

Dehydration in the elderly
Dehydration can cause an imbalance in your system which can cause confusion and memory loss. Dehydration occurs when you don't drink enough water to replace what your body loses. This issue is especially important for older adults when your total body water has decreased because of losses in muscle mass, changes in the cells as you age, less efficient kidney function, and reduced thirst sensation. Thirst usually triggers us to drink water by signaling our brain that we need water. Older adults' brains sometimes miss the thirst signals, making you most vulnerable to dehydration.

Recommendations for water intake
For older adults the recommendations range from 7 to 12 glasses (eight fluid ounces) of water each day depending on your level of physical activity and interaction with medicines, especially diuretics. In addition to drinking plenty of plain water every day, eating foods with a high moisture content—such as fruits and vegetables—could be a good way to increase total water consumption.

Conclusion
Based on the USDA report more than one in three Americans over the age of 60 may not be consuming enough total water from all sources. So how do you know if you are one of those not drinking enough water?

Try this:

1. In the morning, measure out 10 glasses of water and pour it into a pitcher and put it into the refrigerator. During the day, whenever you drink water, pour it from the pitcher. At the end of the day, measure how many glasses are left. If you have more than three glasses left, you probably are not drinking enough water. Then do step two before you begin to increase how much water you are drinking.
2. Talk to your doctor about your water consumption. Keep a diary for a week, recording each time you drink a glass of water, fruit juice or eat a piece of fresh fruit each day. Show your doctor your diary, and based on the medications you may be taking, ask how much water you should be drinking each day.
3. After talking with your doctor to determine how much water you should be drinking daily, each morning pour that many glasses of water in a pitcher and pace yourself throughout the day to drink all the water in the pitcher by the time you go to bed.