What can be added to water to make it more appealing for an elder to drink?

Funny, sitting here musing. God supplys all good and would give herHoly Water that is good for her to drink...A lovely pitcher of cold water,ice and big sprig of Lemon Balm
in the pitcher of water...Something beautiful,not medicimal looking...How about a flavored slushi...peppermint tea? Glass of water with ice cube with a frozen leaf or flower...

We both enjoy the new sweeteners, my wife is diabetic and I just enjoy the good things that I do to stay trim and fit. One of our favorites is Stevia. Another is Augve. Both are excellent sweeteners and I've been using both of them, (mostly Stevia) for a couple of years. Try mixing Stevia with a pack of kool aid, it's really great. If you like you can slip in a little Gatorade of the same flavor and the added electrolytes will make both of you smile. I hope I've helped.

My mother refuses to drink water and will only take the tiniest sips with meds. I use artificially flavored drink mixes. Walmart brand or Crystal Light. Mom loves them and hasn't had an infection since I've started using these.

I'm not a fan of plan water either. I have found the flavored water at my local grocery store a good way for me to take a couple bottles in the car when I'm traveling. I also us the flavoring similar to Crystal Light, Aldi has a grape that seems to be my main choice, I make that by the pitcher at home. For work I have the individual pkgs of Crush orange and grape and I find these too sweet for the amount of water as directed. For those I am using a 30oz Ibex tumbler. I also love the fresh fruit in the pitcher when I have that available.

Many people who have become incontinent, or are on diuretics or drugs that lessen bladder control will simply limit themselves, fluid wise. Using the bathroom is so daunting, they simply won't drink enough to keep themselves properly hydrated.
I know my mother has a diet coke with tons of ice for breakfast/lunch. She will not drink again until dinner at 4:30 and then it's water or about 4 oz of orange juice. No ice water, or anything at all during the day. She has a supra pubic catheter and is still incontinent, to a degree. Her urine is so toxic smelling---she doesn't even fill up the smallest bag in a whole day. I was with her for 5 hours last Sat., it was HOT and in that time I drank a 20 oz Diet Coke, and about 24 oz of bottled water. She drank nothing. I was still thirsty! I'm sure that the fact she doesn't sweat at all and doesn't exert herself makes a difference, and the inconvenience of using the bathroom is annoying, but we cannot get her to drink more. She's stubborn and has dug her heels in.
I'd be thrilled if she chewed ice. Yes, it's bad for her teeth, but she's always dehydrated and if her body is, so is her brain. We NEED our brains to have sufficient cerebral spinal fluid around them to think straight! Mother is far better earlier in the day when she's had fluids. As the day wears on, she gets more addled. I can't help but think some of this has to do with the lack of water in her diet.

This may sound absolutely bizarre, but for my own self, when I need to drink more I eat spicy food or fish or something that makes me need to drink more. It doesn't do much between meals but it does make me drink more with my meals.

My Dad enjoys drinking the flavored drinks I bring and put in his mini fridge. He calls it Koolaid, but they're packed with vitamins and antioxidants. Here's one of my recipes.

Cherry flavored alkaline water

In a 50 oz bottle:

Fill 1/3 with alkaline water

Add 1 cup 100% Tart Cherry Juice

Juice of 1 lemon

1 scoop of Nano Reds Superfood. https://www.biopharmasci.com/nanoreds-resveratrol-supplement-p/4nr10-btl.htm

Shake well.

Add alkaline water & leave 2 inches.

Shake, pour into empty water bottles, and refrigerate.

Watch for aspartame in the water flavors, there are other sweeteners that are better. Fresh fruit on the water flavors without sugar. We use a full pitcher with strawberries .. She has to drink the full pitcher each day (depends on the amount of water she needs to ingest). Best of luck!

#1 Ice makes it SO much better
#2 Lemon
#3 Orange
#4 A variety of additives on the market

My idea is to have this elder try samples of different flavors of water but they very careful especially with her having some level of kidney failure and infections. What you may want to suggest is have her doctor start her on IV fluids if she's not already on them. This would help her stay hydrated much easier than it would be to make her drink water she doesn't like, at least for now until you can find something she can drink that's palatable. It may also be necessary to regularly put her on IV fluids to keep her hydrated. If her doctor will do this, then I would go that route

MsMadge
Chewing on ice? Has she been tested for anemia? That is one of the signs.

Turns out my mom like Ensure Clear. It tastes like juice and is fortified. Maybe your mom's doctors will okay it!

Ohhh, I totally missed that your mom is in a facility, that changes everything. Unfortunately you have to rely on the staff there to follow through with anything you come up with and I'm doubtful that will happen, my own mom is in a NH and has her beverages delivered regularly but staff seldom help her to drink and she can't on her own.

My husband will only drink Peach Iced Tea. But it works.

I read the first 10 or so answers and then decided to reply so I do apologize if I am repeating an answer. Your mom is in memory care which means that you must rely on the staff to give her water and encourage her to drink it, and then hope that your mom remembers that she needs to drink more water. It is a challenge. My mom has caregivers and wherever she goes they take along her flavored water. We use a 24 oz. cup, with a lid and straw hole. We tossed the straw that came with the container and use extra long disposable straws for better sanitation. Mom never was much of a water drinker or drinker of any other type of beverage for that matter, so having a glass of water to sip is something new. Her Dr. suggested Gatorade type products mixed with the water. We use about a quarter of the glass with the flavored beverage and the rest with cool water since mom doesn't like it cold. But, it is still a struggle. "Here mama, drink more of your water". I hear the caregivers saying that all the time.

Perhaps the staff needs to be more directive and tell her that she needs to drink a full glass (6 to 8 oz.) with her pills so that she doesn't choke. Then, what else can they do? They are with her during the day, but pill time and meals would be when they have the most direct contact. Maybe you could find a photo or poster of a gal drinking a glass of something as a visual reminder to your mom.

It is indeed a challenge. Good luck.

Being aware of the importance of water intake - all the aspects of your body that are affected by not getting enough (turned around: all the benefits to keeping up hydration) - and perhaps continually reminding as you encourage drinking, maybe even posting some of them visibly, can be helpful. This includes the cleansing of toxins, and their ultimate elimination through urination. (When my mom complains that drinking water will make her have to pee, I make sure to let her know that is a GOOD thing! It is part of one of the amazing cleansing processes designed for our bodies.) I do understand that it is an annoyance, and can create some difficulties - I just try to divert her attention to the positive aspects of it. In her case, the trips to the bathroom are just about her only physical activity, too - another bonus. ;)

Beyond that, a couple of tips:

1) Medications should be given one pill at a time - for several reasons, really - but this ensures at least one of those tiny sips per pill! (But more should definitely be encouraged with medication.)

2) Keeping water in reach all the time is a given, but try making it a SMALL glass. The amount seems more manageable to them (you may be surprised by that difference alone) and the results are more measurable for those providing care.

Side notes/other potential tips:

I care for my mom 24/7, so I keep my own glass of water handy also. Periodically throughout the day, I will get her attention and say "cheers!" with my glass raised - and we both take a sip.

Also, if I've been a bit preoccupied (have slipped on monitoring/encouraging intake) and realize she has just not been drinking for a significant portion of the day, I will break out one of our colorful 2 oz. shot glasses and have her drink a "shotta watta" ;) (I literally have her down that amount while I wait.)

Water is the essence of LIFE! Peace and love to all.

Since you have issues getting her to drink, my Mom is the same way, I also by a product called Elete. It is just electrolytes with no flavor to add to any drink. The electrolytes help give her the maximum value for drinking only small amounts. Just 5 to 7 drops in her flavored water will really help her body get maximum benefit. There are many flavors to add to water as there are great answers here but the electrolytes are super important for the ones that don't like to drink a lot of liquid.

My mother in law who is 96 and never drinks has started to enjoy Lemonade that I make with little packets at the grocery store. I buy the brands with Stevia rather than artificial sweeteners. There are different flavored available. I also bought a reusable drinking cup with a straw. It has a nice handle to make this easier. I keep 1-2 in the frig at all times. It's surprising how fast she drinks this flavored beverage!

I love the organic lo sodium tomato vegetable juice in water about 1/4 juice rest of it cold tap water...I make unsweeted hot chocolate with milk and water...soup, look for ways to use water.

Have you asked Mom what she'd like? I don't like plain water either. I buy the little bottles of Crystal Light and Kool-aid and add a few drops to a glass of ice and water. I also love fresh brewed iced tea. Also, has mom had a swallow test? If she had an episode where she took a drink and it "went down the wrong pipe" so to speak, she may be afraid to drink.

I am a non water drinker. All have a flavor I do not like from tap to bottle. The best flavoring for water is MIO a liquid in a small bottle. You can use as little or as much as you need. But now there are many less pricey. They also have single serve packets for water bottles. All are available in grocery or big box stores where they sell water. They are all sugar & sodium free but read labels. My favorite packets are Walmart Great Value Iced Tea or Blueberry Acai. I even take to restaurant to add to water there.

Depending on your mother's age, I would seek a second opinion. The elderly are not used to drinking a lot of water and most get an adequate amount of liquid from tea, coffee and other liquids. If she is incontinent, drinking more water only exaserbates this. Trying to force the issue of more water won't make a difference in an incontinent individual who is at an advanced age

I buy Vitamin Water Zero. It's low sugar because sweetened with Stevia. My mom likes the lemon or orange.

Another option is to make your own iced tea. It is very easy to make and cost effective. Look at http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/sun_tea/. I recommend trying different types of herbal uncaffeinated teas. I just leave my pitcher on my kitchen counter for several hours.

I also love Perrier, Pellegrino and the Lacroix flavored soda waters though they are pricey. I find the grocery and drugstores generic versions of soda waters with lemon/lime are not bad either and very affordable.

My mother loves cranberry juice. I mix it half and half with water.

A squeeze of lemon in cold water is good. Different bottled waters have different tastes. Try them out. Also, there is a company in Santa Cruz (I think) that makes something called Good Earth Tea which is delicious.
Some juice popsicles are also wonderful. Strawberry or lemon are my favorites. There are so many specialty bottled juices on the market that you ought to be able to find something that appeals to your mom.

Lemon juice is the healthiest addition if you don't want to add extra chemicals, caffeine or sugar. Plus it is also a natural citrus energy booster and good for stimulating the liver, as well as a natural antioxidant. I fill a 2 Liter pitcher with water, ice and then just squirt a little bit of liquid lemon juice on top of it ( 2 to 3 teaspoons or to taste ) and it's wonderful all day. Personally, I aim to drink two of those pitchers a day since the pitcher system makes it easy to keep track of how much water you have drunk. I teach singing, and this is the way I get students who hate water to drink more water. You can also do this with lime juice or fresh sliced lemon, Orange slices, cucumber slices, strawberry and grape fruit and other summer fruits like the Arizona fancy spa hotels do. :-) Plain soda water is good too, alone or with any of these additions. It is nice to have an option that feels more like a treat sometimes. Good luck!

I don't have much more to add, such wisdom in this forum, it's awesome. I have the same problem because mom hates water. Mom has some kidney issues but not horrible. So talking to a dietitian is the number one route to go.
I was told juices were ok for mom, which helped. Watermelon was another good one, but then she stopped eating that. Mom likes everything sweet, I tried flavored waters but it was a hit or miss thing. The nutritionist that we saw said anything liquid would help, she wasn't as focused on water as the doctor was. So we do juices, Ensure, breakfast drinks, some soda but usually clear sodas mixed with gatorade or juicell. Then between myself and the aides that come to the hous keep asking her all day long if she is thirsty and offer her a drink. Believe it or not, it adds up over the course of the day. Good luck.

Propel water has some pleasant flavored waters. My husband and I were sickened by contaminated food in a restaurant (several people died), and plain water sickened us and recovery was long. Propel wasn't overpowering and we enjoyed it. I'd stay away from too much caffeinated drinks.