BOTTLE RECORD — SCOPE AND REFERENCE Bottle identity and working capacity: Reference level and unit; measured, estimated or unknown: Period begins / ends: Opening contents: Addition events: time / actual amount added: Other outgoing: time / poured away, shared or transferred: Closing contents: Uncertain readings or unrecorded events: Choose one method: bottle balance OR drinking-event entries. This record does not choose a personal drinking target. PERIOD REVIEW — KEEP COUNTING METHODS SEPARATE Sum of actual additions: Sum not personally drunk from this bottle: Opening + additions - closing - other outgoing: Result or “cannot separate drinking from unknown losses”: Other bottle records; internal transfers reconciled: Other drinks/foods are outside this plain-water bottle scope: Estimated inputs remain estimated; do not invent precision. No hydration diagnosis or clinical approval follows. BALANCE FOR ONE BOTTLE / ONE PERIOD Opening contents + actual additions - closing contents - amounts not personally drunk from this bottle. Unknown loss is not zero. COMPLETE FICTIONAL 600 mL LEDGER Opening contents 0 0 400 Already in the bottle; record as opening stock. After drinking 0 0 150 Illustrative 250 mL decrease attributed to drinking. Top up to the known 600 mL level 450 0 600 Add only the increase, not another 600 mL. After drinking 0 0 300 Illustrative 300 mL decrease. Pour away some water 0 100 200 This outgoing amount was not personally drunk. Top up to the same level 400 0 600 The second addition differs from the first. After drinking 0 0 150 Illustrative 450 mL decrease. Close the recording period 0 0 150 Closing stock is not an extra drinking event. FICTIONAL WORKED RECORDS — NOT DRINKING TARGETS 1. Full refills with water still left at the end Mara’s 500 mL bottle begins full. She drinks 425 mL and pours away 75 mL, leaving it empty. She refills and drinks 500 mL, then refills again and drinks 375 mL. At closing, 125 mL remains. Opening 500 + additions 1,000 − closing 125 − other outgoing 75 = 1,300 mL. Two later refills do not mean only 1,000 mL was available, and three full fills do not mean all 1,500 mL was drunk. 2. Top-ups with different amounts Jules uses the 600 mL fictional ledger above. The first top-up adds 450 mL, the second adds 400 mL, and the record includes 100 mL poured away. Opening 400 + additions 850 − closing 150 − other outgoing 100 = 1,000 mL. Use the actual additions. Do not replace different top-up amounts with the bottle’s capacity. 3. A partly full bottle carried into the next period Priya’s first period starts with 500 mL and ends with 200 mL, with no additions or other outgoing water. The next period begins with that 200 mL; after it is drunk, 500 mL is added and 100 mL remains at closing. First period: 500 − 200 = 300 mL. Next period: 200 + 500 − 100 = 600 mL. Combined: 900 mL. The 200 mL is closing stock once and opening stock next time. It becomes drinking only when it actually leaves that scope as personal consumption. 4. Water shared with another person Sam begins with 600 mL. Another person receives 150 mL, no water is added, and 100 mL remains at the end. All other decreases in this invented record are Sam’s drinking. Opening 600 + additions 0 − closing 100 − shared 150 = 350 mL. Shared water must not be attributed to Sam. If the shared amount is unknown, the personal-drinking result is also uncertain. TRANSFER RECONCILIATION Bottle A, capacity 500 mL Opening 500; additions 0; closing 100; 200 transferred to B. 500 − 100 − 200 = 200 mL. Transfer out is not personal drinking from A. Bottle B, capacity 300 mL Opening 0; 200 received from A; closing 50; no other outgoing. 0 + 200 − 50 = 150 mL. The receipt is an addition to B; it is the same transferred water. QUESTIONS 1. A 600 mL bottle has 150 mL left before it is topped up to the known 600 mL level. How much should the addition entry be? 2. A bottle starts with 500 mL, receives 1,000 mL during the period, ends with 125 mL, and has 75 mL poured away. What does the complete balance give? 3. Yesterday’s record subtracted 200 mL left at closing. Today starts with that same 200 mL. Is writing it as today’s opening stock automatically double-counting drinking? 4. Some water was spilled, but the amount is unknown. Should the other-outgoing field be zero so the calculator can finish? 5. You log every drink in an app and also calculate a 1,000 mL period balance from the same bottle. Should you add another 1,000 mL app entry? 6. The calculator returns a positive volume. Does that prove you reached a suitable daily-water target or have no dehydration? ANSWER NOTES 1. 450 mL added. The addition is the increase in contents: 600 − 150. Recording 600 mL would count the existing 150 mL again. 2. 1,300 mL accounted as personally drunk from this bottle. 500 + 1,000 − 125 − 75 = 1,300. This is arithmetic from the stated complete record, not a recommendation or independent health measurement. 3. No. Opening and closing stock are not themselves drinking events. The remainder was excluded from yesterday’s consumption. It can be included as today’s opening stock, with today’s actual additions, closing contents and other outgoing amounts. 4. No. Keep the loss unknown and the attribution unresolved. Zero means a known absence of other outgoing water. An unknown spill cannot be separated from drinking by the bottle balance alone. 5. No. Reconcile the two methods without summing both. Both records concern the same consumption. Adding the period total to its individual drinking events would duplicate it. 6. No. It establishes neither conclusion. A bottle record has a limited scope, depends on complete inputs and excludes other food/drink contributions. Personal needs, symptoms and clinical instructions are separate questions. SOURCES https://www.nist.gov/pml/owm/si-units-volume https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/dehydration/ https://www.cdc.gov/healthy-weight-growth/water-healthy-drinks/index.html One bottle record is not total water from all foods/drinks, a suitable personal target, an ORS mixing/dosing instruction or a diagnosis. Follow clinical instructions and appropriate care. Use one counting method for each total; reconcile transfers and carry-over rather than duplicating drinking.