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There are a variety of medical methods to assess hydration status, but obviously as divers we need something more suited to "the field": a few of the more practical methods would be to monitor urine output, especially colour - low output with darkish colour indicates dehydration. Another is the condition of your mucous membranes (lungs, mouth nose etc) this is a bit difficult for self assessment but if your nose feels dry and irritable inside, or you have an irritable cough with increased air intake it could indicate some dehydration. Another is "capillary refil time, eg press on your finger nail or pinch some skin (which has a good blood supply) for a couple of seconds, then let go and see how long it takes for the colour to come back, over 3 seconds capillary refil suggests up to 10% dehydration.
If we belive the "8 glasses a day" idea , most of us are likely to be dehydrated most of the time, incidentally that idea is just that - an idea - there have not yet been any good studies to back it up with hard data, but if we're aiming for 8 and fall short we should be fine.
HTH
Steve
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