Water Bottle Smackdown

I am relieved to hear, once again (this lively and thorough discussion, including coverage of common beliefs like "if you feel thirsty, you're already dehydrated," from Junkfood Science), that there does not appear to be any solid scientific evidence for the notion that all humans should be drinking at least 8 8-ounce glasses of water per day to stave off dry, parched brains and eventual desertification. 

I had heard this previously, and pretty much determined to feel OK about drinking water whenever I'm thirsty and not worrying about it otherwise, but I'm always pleased to hear that I'm already doing whatever it is I should be doing. 

I do carry a bottle of water with me if I'm going to be wandering around for a while without ready access to liquid and think I might get thirsty, but aside from my five daily mugs of tea (which, come on, is already enough liquid to drown a small animal), I don't go out of my way to suck down the stuff, and I'm still functioning so far.

Besides, I've read that potable water is likely to be the next big shortage (I like to keep up on potential approaching disasters), so why encourage people to get in the habit of swigging gallons of it if they don't need to?