With 175,000 music fans making the annual pilgrimage to Glastonbury, the music festival season is officially in full swing.
Festival fans setting up their tents will know this is a time to get back to basics. Amid all the festival indulgence, two basic needs are always at the back of festival goers minds: access to fresh drinking water - and to the toilets, yes those notorious festival toilets!
With alcohol playing a big part in the experience for many, it is even more important to keep adequately hydrated by matching this with plenty of drinking water - particularly before and after a drinking session.
Thankfully this is a need recognised by music festivals, which have drinking water points dotted around the site where revellers can fill up their water bottles.
Why drinking water at a music festival is so important
- Heat exhaustion - long days spent outside in the heat can lead to symptoms including, dizziness, intense sweating and nausea. Stay hydrated by drinking water, seek shade and use suncream.
- The body loses more water from exercising - festival fans can cover miles by foot each day, add in dancing and this equates to a very active weekend. Stay hydrated by regularly sipping drinking water.
- Alcohol - booze is a diuretic and, as a result, can dehydrate the body at a time when you need to be working to keep it hydrated. Make sure to fit in enough drinking water to keep festival fit.
Even if the sun isn't shining the exertion of being active all day at a music festival means drinking the recommended amount of water each day is important (1.5 litres for women, 2 litres for men).
A whopping 11 million litres of water is needed for Glastonbury festival, which is provided by the local water company. Glastonbury's Worthy Farm site provides 400 taps that can be used to access clean drinking water - and in keeping with its environmental ethos Glastonbury encourages festival goers to fill up at the taps rather than buy bottled water.
With hundreds of thousands of music fans setting out for festivals across the country this need for clean drinking water - and to cut plastic waste - is repeated throughout the summer months as big name festivals such as Isle of Wight, T in the Park, Leeds/Reading, V Festival, Download, Latitude, Green Man and Bestival, among many others, draw in the crowds.
Glastonbury Festival also uses the festival to raise funds and awareness for the Wateraid charity, which aims to bring clean drinking water and sanitation to those living without across the globe.
Plan ahead
Go prepared and take your own sturdy water bottle - don't add to the mountain of plastic waste by buying bottled water. Also plan ahead and fill up a large water container with filtered water before setting off that can then be stored at your tent.
For people concerned about the quality of the water at campsites, portable filters are available to give you peace of mind while on the move. Doulton's stainless steel gravity-fed system is a fully integrated water filter system that can be used on the go for better tasting, cleaner water.
Most importantly don't let dehydration ruin your festival, find your water bottle and fill up at no cost - to yourself or the planet.
