Are the Claims that Ionizing Water is Beneficial for Your Health Accurate?

Ionic water also promoted as alkaline water and Anti Oxidant water

Are the Claims that Ionizing water is beneficial for your health accurate?

A Water treatment application using a combination of electrolysis and water filters is being promoted by a dozen or so companies and each are quick to provide books and letters from Doctors on the health benefit of drinking moderately high levels of alkaline water.   The health claims range for neutralizing oxidizing toxins or free radicals in the body that are common with aging and some processed foods, to preventing these toxins from creating an environment in the body that cause cancer and other degenerative disease to flourish. The Claims are bold and convincing enough when coupled by how much health care issues and concerns evoke our fear of the inevitable factors of aging. And if you are already sick and struggling with a diagnosed or un-diagnosed disease then the prospect of feeling better from drinking water from a alkaline water machine seem like a good solution to try with the promise of feeling better.

But even if the water treatment system does offer remarkable benefits, is it possible that a treatment systems can work with every type of water contaminants?  And are there other factors to consider when using an ionic water treatment system before drinking the water?   As with any water treatment system there are tradeoffs to be considered when choosing a water filter system. Water analysis - water analysis - water analysis.   There cannot be enough said about having your water analysis conducted by a professional laboratory that can provide detail information about the water going into a alkaline water machine like the Alkazone or any other name brand. The trace amounts of ions found in the water are essential to identifying before drinking ionized water. You need to know what anions are going to be introduced into the machine and at what levels they exist.  Also test the water coming out of the machine to identify the quantity of anions in the drinking water. Though there are a lot of publications on the benefit of the ionized water, there remains a shortage of imperial data that examines the drinking water produced by these machines when certain common contaminants are present in the water.   For example anions like Fluoride, Nitrates or Nitrites and Sulfates, Mercury, in an ion state would tend to flow out the drinking water stream. Testing to make sure these contaminants were well below EPA’s Maximum Contaminant Level Goals would be extremely important before using the machine for drinking water purposes. Currently there are no standards for the alkaline water systems to meet in order to test the units for the purpose of certifying the claims that a manufacture makes regarding the machines water treatment performance. These machines lack third party certification for meeting any NSF/ANSI standards of Performance for removing the above contaminants or any other contaminants from a water source.    

A water treatment system known for producing alkaline water or anti-oxidant water works by taking the incoming water and splitting the water into two outgoing streams. The water you drink and the water you put down the drain (may get used for none drinking use). The water that is discharged is not suitable for drinking due to the lower pH value of the water which could be anywhere from 6- 4.5 pH value and maybe lower depending upon the water quality coming into the machine and the setting in which the machine programmed to operate.   At any rate there is a waste factor to be considered in the trade off with the Ionic water machine. Generally a 1:1 ratio of alkaline water made to water wasted. There is a concern for the water discarded by the machine also having a negative impact on metal components it comes in contact with since the water is corrosive.

An additional water filtration system may be necessary before using alkaline water treatment machines. Our suggestion would be to use a filtration system that is capable of removing the negative charged contaminants as well as being certified to remove other contaminants in order to insure the performance of removing known contaminants from the water supply before running the water through an alkaline water machine.

The alkaline water machines have many people excited about the unique water they create. The health benefits claims are exciting and enticing when they come from those who have already made the purchase. But be warned that inorganic chemistry dictates that not all ions that are similar to alkaline ions in their electrical charge are beneficial for consumption which these machines concentrate in the drinking water stream. To better understand what are the best condition to operate in an alkaline water machine, contact a water specialist or feel free to call our customer service.