According to estimates, ORT (Oral Rehydration Therapy) has saved some 70 million lives since its introduction in the 1970’s. Not bad for a simple solution of salt, sugar and water. (Dadonaite, 2019)
Dehydration: An Old-Fashioned Killer
When people think of dehydration, I think most people think of a survivor deprived of water in a desert or adrift at sea, but most dehydration-related deaths are due to fluid loss due to diarrhea and/or vomiting and the victims are often the very young and the elderly.
I will list options for making your own ORS at home in case you don’t want to spend over $2 a glass for commercial Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS), you’ve run out, or they are not available for sale when you need them. I will list several different options to meet your needs so you can make use of the ingredients that you have on hand.
Is it Safe to Make ORS at Home?
Yes, it is perfectly safe to make ORS at home as long as you follow the following rules:
- Learn when ORT is indicated. If hyponatremia is mistaken for heat exhaustion, the administration of additional fluids could be fatal. For this reason, I have included a heading on hyponatremia in this article.
- Wash your hands with soap and potable water before preparing ORS.
- Wash the container and stirring utensil you will use with soap and potable water before preparing ORS.
- Use potable water. Putting salt and sugar in contaminated water doesn’t make it safe, so the water used must be safe to drink.
- Stick to the recipes provided. If you increase or decrease the amount of sugar or salt you can potentially make things worse, not better. This is true even added sugar or salt comes from juice or drink powder used to make it taste better.
- Use the ORS immediately. Unused ORS can only be stored for up to six hours and only if refrigerated, so it has a short fuse. Without refrigeration, you must have the patient drink what they can, throw out any leftovers and then make more later.
Basic Sugar, Salt and Water Homemade ORS
My wife calls this ORS “soro caseiro”, which translates to “homemade serum.” This recipe saved many lives during a cholera epidemic in Brazil. The Brazilian government even distributed little measuring spoons with two bowls, a larger one for sugar, and a smaller one for salt, to help folks get the measurements right.
It is the simplest and oldest ORS recipe, and you can usually get the ingredients for free anywhere you can find a cup of water, a little salt and a couple packets of sugar.
- ½ US teaspoon (3 grams) table salt
- 2 US tablespoons (30 grams – 2 tablespoons is 25 grams) sugar
- 4 US cups (1 quart/1 liter/32 oz) potable water
- Chill (if possible)
If available, add a packet of Crystal Light (with lemon or pineapple flavoring) to improve the taste. It doesn’t contain sugar or salt, so it won’t throw the recipe out of balance. It does contain a little sodium citrate, which happens to be one of the ingredients in the new commercial WHO reduced-osmolarity ORS formula.
Improving the taste is important if it gets the patient to drink more ORS, which can be difficult with kids. Just don’t flavor ORS with a drink mix that contains sugar or salt or you will throw off the recipe. You can use sugar and salt-free drink mixes, like sugar-free Kool-Aid. (University of Virginia School of Medicine, 2023)
Cereal-Based ORS for Infants & Toddlers
If you have a baby at home, you can make ORS from rice-based dry baby cereal. Rice-based baby cereal gently helps stop diarrhea, which makes this recipe a good choice for infants and toddlers with diarrhea since they are too young to be given OTC anti-diarrheal medications.
- ½ US cup (118 ml) dry baby rice cereal, cooked
- 2 US cups (473 ml) potable water
- ¼ US teaspoon (1.5 grams) table salt
Babies and toddlers should only be given ½ a liter per 24 hours, so this recipe is for half a liter/quart. Combine ingredients, mixing until they dissolve completely and form a smooth paste. (University of Virginia School of Medicine, 2023)
Cranberry Juice-Based ORS
- ¾ US cup (710 ml) cranberry juice
- 3 & ¼ US cups (769) potable water
- ½ US teaspoon (1.5 grams) table salt(University of Virginia School of Medicine, 2023)
Tomato Juice-Based ORS
- 2 & 1/2 US cups (590 ml) plain tomato juice (do not use bloody Mary mix or V8 juice)
- 1 & ½ US cups (355 ml) potable water(University of Virginia School of Medicine, 2023)
Sports Drink-Based ORS (Gatorade G2)
- 1 US quart ( 1 liter) Gatorade G2 (any flavor)
- ½ US teaspoon (3 grams) table salt(Alberta Health Services, 2024)
Sports Drink-Based ORS (Regular Gatorade Thirst Quencher or Powerade)
- 5 cups (375ml) Gatorade Thirst Quencher or Powerade (any flavor)
- 5 (625ml) cups potable water
- ½ US teaspoon (3 grams) table salt(Alberta Health Services, 2024)
New WHO Reduced-osmolarity Homemade ORS
This is the new homemade ORS recipe from WHO. The only problem with it is that most families don’t stock the ingredients, so stock them ahead of time.
- ½ US teaspoon (3 grams) table salt
- ¼ US teaspoon (1.5 grams) potassium chloride salt substitute
- ½ US teaspoon (3 grams) baking soda
- 30 grams (2 US tablespoons is 25 grams) granulated sugar
- to 4 US cups (or 1 quart/1 liter/32 oz) of potable water(Alberta Health Services, 2024)
The difference between the WHO homemade reduced-osmolarity ORS and the commercial version is that the commercial version features 1 & ¼ teaspoons trisodium citrate dihydrate instead of ½ teaspoon of baking soda.
Some of you might be interested to know that potassium chloride salt substitute can be used to generate potassium chlorate, a potent oxidizer used in medicine and improvised high explosives. The most elegant process involves the creation of an electrolysis tank known as a chlorate generator.
Substitutes for Sugar
You can substitute an equal mass or volume of honey or maple syrup for granulated sugar.
Don’t Mistake Hyponatremia for Dehydration or Heat Exhaustion
Hyponatremia is a type of electrolyte imbalance stemming from a less than normal amount of sodium in the blood. This is caused by too much water in the bloodstream or too little excretion of water.
In survival ordeals, people usually get there by drinking too much water because they have exerted themselves for four hours or more. They often increase water intake due to concern about dehydration. At the same time, do not eat as many salty snacks and food as they normally would because they have a belly full of water.
Symptoms include loss of appetite, irritability, headache, nausea, decreased cognition and diminished sense of balance. Severe cases result in water intoxication, swelling of the brain, muscle spasms, convulsions, coma and death.
Correct diagnosis is extremely important because hyponatremia is often mistaken for dehydration or heat exhaustion and the treatments are opposite and treating the patient for the incorrect diagnosis could make worsen the condition or even kill them. In a hospital, it would be treated by IV administration of normal saline.
In a survival setting, fluids should be limited, and salty snacks or broth should be eaten. If the patient exhibits neurological symptoms more severe than a headache, the Wilderness Medical Society recommends that the patient be given a broth made from 3 or 4 bouillon cubes in half a cup of water to make a solution of around 9% saline if they can keep it down. (Bennett PhD, Hew-Bulter DPM, PhD, Hoffman MD, Rogers MD, & Rosner MD, 2025)
Hydrate, but don’t drink so much that you overdilute or excrete too many of the electrolytes from your body. Drink enough that your urine output remains clear and copious. There is no evidence that increased salt intake has a prophylactic effect, so it is not necessary to increase salt intake. Salts sweated out through exercise should be replaced through a normal diet which will include some salty snacks.
Administering ORS
ORS is effective in treating dehydration caused by cholera 80% of the time. (WHO, 2023)
- Give babies and toddlers with diarrhea ½ liter of ORS each 24 hours.
- Give children with vomiting and/or diarrhea 1 liter of ORS each 24 hours.
- Give adults with vomiting and/or diarrhea 3 liters of ORS each 24 hours.
- See a healthcare professional as soon as possible. Babies should be given ORS or breast milk in-route.(CDC, 2026) A clinic can administer IV ORT if necessary.
Summary
With the safe, simple recipes in this article, potable water, and a few pantry ingredients, any responsible person can replace fluids during sickness or heat exhaustion. Do not mistake hyponatremia for heat exhaustion. Stick to the recipes and follow the rules for safely mixing and administering ORS.
References
Alberta Health Services. (2024). Oral Rehydration Solution Recipes. Retrieved from albertahealthservices.ca:
https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/assets/info/nutrition/if-nfs-ors-recipes.pdf
Bennett, B. L., Hew-Butler, T., Hoffman, M. D., Rogers, I. R., & Rosner, M. H. (2025, January 29). Wilderness Medical Society Practice for Treatment of Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia: 2014 Update. Retrieved from wildmedcenter.com:
https://www.wildmedcenter.com/uploads/5/9/8/2/5982510/wms_exercise-associated_hyponatremia_12-2014.pdf
CDC. (2026, January 1). How to Make Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS). Retrieved from cdc.gov:
https://www.cdc.gov/global-water-sanitation-hygiene/media/pdfs/ors_seasia_508.pdf
Dadonaite, B. (2019). Oral rehydration therapy: a low-tech solution that has saved millions of lives. Retrieved from ourworldindata.org:
https://ourworldindata.org/oral-rehydration-therapy
University of Virginia School of Medicine. (2023, November). Homemade Oral Rehydration Solutions. Retrieved from med.virginia.edu:
https://med.virginia.edu/ginutrition/wp-content/uploads/sites/199/2023/12/Homemade-Oral-Rehydration-Solutions-11-2023.pdf
WHO. (2023, March 10). Cholera Outbreaks. Retrieved from who.int:
https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/cholera-outbreaks
Disclaimer
I’m not a doctor or a lawyer, so please don’t mistake anything in this article for medical or legal advice. For medical advice, please consult a licensed physician. For legal advice regarding the potential liability of aiding others, or other matters, please consult a practicing attorney. Even electrolyte solutions can be dangerous and can even kill in the hands of the ignorant or the irresponsible, so do your research before attempting treatment.
Read the full article here
