Hold Your Wee for a Wii!

In 2007, Jennifer Strange died after competing in a radio station contest. The contest was held to see how much water you could drink without going to the bathroom; the prize was a Nintendo Wii video game system. Jennifer supposedly drank 2 gallons (7.5 liters) of water over approximately two hours.

What caused Jennifer Strange's death? Well she died due to water intoxication, which is caused by drinking too much water and can also cause hyponatremia (dilution of sodium in the body). When too much water enters the body's cells, the tissues swell with the excess fluid. The cells in our body maintain a specific concentration gradient, so excess water outside the cells (the serum) draws sodium from within the cells out into the serum in an attempt to re-establish the necessary concentration. As more water accumulates, the serum sodium concentration drops (hyponatremia). The other way cells try to regain the electrolyte balance is for water outside the cells to rush into the cells via osmosis. Osmosis is the movement of water across a semipermeable membrane from higher to lower concentration. Both electrolytes and water move across the cell membrane in an effort to balance concentration.

Therefore, Jennifer Strange died not specifically from the amount of water she drank but how fast she drank that water. You are unlikely to suffer from water intoxication, even if you drink a lot of water. As long as you drink over time as opposed to intaking an enormous volume all at once.

Article:

Woman dies after water-drinking contest