I can't seem to find any topic about the water drinking that actually suggests anything to improve it. Mostly the posts are just people complaining and then the trolls eating them up and finally turning on each other.
So here is my suggestion: Drinking water will require one single action. Said action's counter will be determined by the percentage of thirst the character currently has. Containers with water in them will have a limit on how long they can be drank from in total, determined by their volume value.
Please keep this simple and just post a +1 or -1 if you agree or disagree.