Kidney Disease (Nemours TeensHealth

The kidneys have a big job. About 200 quarts (189 liters) of blood pump from your heart through the kidneys every day. Think of your kidneys as your body's filtering system. What our bodies don't use (from the food we eat, and waste products from chemical reactions, etc.) build up in the bloodstream. These waste products flow to the kidneys, which sort out what isn't needed and remove it through miniature filtering units called glomeruli (pronounced: glow-MARE-you-lye).