The biggest enemy of a water ionizer [or any water related device is hard water.

Hard water can deposit anywhere from a whitish film to full-blown scaling and clogging, depending on your water hardness, the water ionizer model you purchase, the prefiltration you set up, the hardness reduction devices you use and the everyday care you give it.

There is a fairly simple method of cleaning your water ionizer of its scale build-up that I'm going to teach you about in this post. In high school I once did an experiment where I took a hardboiled egg and placed it in vinegar over night. I was amazed that the next day I could bounce that egg like a rubber ball. What happened was the calcium, which made the egg shell hard, was eaten away by the vinegar. Vinegar [soaked overnight] will react with the calcium clogging up your water ionizer and will loosen it up and allow you to then flush it away.

Water Ionizer Owners: How do you know it’s time to clean your water ionizer?

• If your water ionizer’s pH is dropping over time it’s time to clean.
• If your water ionizer’s flow-rate is slowing down it’s either time to change to a new filter, time to clean [vinegar wash] your water ionizer or both.
• If you see a whitish film forming around your alkaline spout [flexi-hose] it’s a sign that it’s close to time to clean.
• If it’s been a year, and/or you’re getting ready to change your filters [and you've not given your water ionizer a good cleaning yet], it could be a good time to clean it just for good measure! [Please Note: Using products such as the EOS (Elimination of Scaling) device and/or the hard water buster http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com/product/HardWaterBuster may prolong or even eliminate the necessity for the cleaning that is described below.]

Why Would a Water Ionizer Need a Vinegar Wash?

• Water ionizers do a good job of cleaning themselves with their acid washes, especially the Jupiter models, with their continuous cleaning methods. So, inside the water cell your electrodes would or should be squeaky clean, but there are lots of hoses & connectors inside a water ionizer that may get clogged. Calcium is a good mineral, and you need it for ionization, but at times you can have too much calcium in your water. The problem with calcium is, because of its crystal shape — it collects, sticks & clogs. That’s what calcium does. You need calcium though, because you can’t ionize water that’s too soft.
• Even if you don’t live in a hard water area, with extra calcium in your water, you may need to do these periodic cleanings to keep your water ionizer clean inside. But, particularly if you know your water is hard, plan on doing periodic cleanings or get yourself a device or two to prevent hard water build-up. You can find out the hardness [TDS & Calcium levels in your water] by calling the number on your water bill.
  • If you’re noticing the need to do these periodic cleanings more than twice a year, you may want to consider purchasing an EOS http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com/product/EOS or “hard water buster” http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com/product/HardWaterBuster or just do more acid washes [push the acid water button more often].
  • If you have a programmable water ionizer, it can hopefully be programmed to your water hardness to increase the frequency of acid washes.
  • You can pro-actively increase the frequency of acid washes in a way that doesn’t waste the water with this idea: Let’s say you drink your alkaline water at 9.5 pH (or Level 3), there is absolutely no reason why you couldn’t push the acid water level 3 button and get your drinking water out of the bottom hose once a day. This may be a smart thing to do if you’re finding your hard water build-up to be too frequent.
• If your TDS is way too high [over 625ppm] you may even be smart to consider hooking in a reverse-osmosis-remineralizer which would then bring your TDS down to the proper range for ionization without the over-kill of too much hardness. 
• Another possibility for handling TDS that is way-out above the “appliance kill range” is a whole house [natural-sodium-free] water filter & softener, such as the Water Dove System which I sell on my site.
• I suggest not to use a sodium exchange water softener, because it’s unhealthy for you [too much sodium], sodium is not good for the water ionizer [tends to corrode], and it’s bad for the environment [where does all that salt-water go?] However I was in Lowes the other day and noticed they have come out with sodium reduced water softeners. So that may be a way to go. Then if it was me, I’d get rid of that little bit of extra sodium with an Omni-Pur sodium reduction cartridge http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com/product/Sodium-Reducer .

It’s up to you to take care of your water ionizer and keep it safe and protected against scaling.

How to do a Vinegar Wash

What you will need:

• You should save your old used-up filters in the refrigerator in a plastic zip-lock bag to put into your filter port during your vinegar washes. This procedure will ruin your filter for anything but another vinegar wash. Or if you have a Chanson water ionizer, just remove the filter from its container and close it back up again and you’ll be good to go.
• 1 bottle white vinegar.
• Tape [masking or duct]
• funnel

Beginning Your Water Ionizers Vinegar Wash:

1. Unplug the water ionizer.
2. Place water ionizer on its back or side [on a folded towel -- for a cushion]
3. Take the acid hose and raise it to a position higher than the water ionizer. Tape it there, temporarily for the Wash.
4. Make sure your water ionizer has the old [used up] and drained filters in it.
5. Remove the calcium basket and tighten back on the lid. 
6. Curve the flex-spout upwards and using a funnel pour vinegar down the spout [or hose], either one, until it starts pouring out the other [spout or hose]. [If spout is clogged, remove it and let it sit immersed in vinegar for a few hours before you get to this step.
7. Let sit overnight.
8. Using the flex-spout as a straw, blow into it and suck [suction it] to agitate the vinegar inside the ionizer. Try not to spill too much vinegar out the hose. 
9. Over the course of several hours or a day, keep the ionizer in this position and do the agitation described in step 8 as frequently as you can.
10. When you think you’ve done enough, return the water ionizer to its normal position.
11. Run water through the ionizer, and if it’s not clogged anymore test the pH at the highest level [both acid and alkaline]. If all looks good, you’re done.
12. Repeat process [steps 1-11] if the ionizer is still clogged or if the pH ranges are not satisfactory yet.

[Note: If you have a very clogged water ionizer...don't worry if it is very slow-flowing or a trickle at first. The calcium build-up will eventually dissolve with this technique. I have nursed an almost unworking water ionizer back to like-new using this technique over a 3-day period.]

Also Note:

The steps outlined in this blog are steps you can use with any water ionizer to clean it. However, some water ionizer companies have their own cleaning cartridge they sell you to clean your water ionizer annually or semi-annually [as needed]. If this is the case, I would suggest to do the periodic cleaning according to your water ionizer manufacturer’s instructions. If you’re not sure if your water ionizer company has a cleaning cartridge or not, call 1-888-MY-ALKALINE [Cathie] and I’ll let you know.

After over 16 years of drinking alkaline ionized water, I can say with conviction that the very best thing I could give to myself or a loved one is a WATER IONIZER!  Even though Christmas is over, give yourself and your family the gift of health this year! And…  

Have a safe and happy winter!

Email Us: Support@alkaline-water-plus.info
Website Home: http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com
Copyright © 2006 – 2011 Alkaline Water Plus
Call for a “Best Price Quote” 1-888-MY-ALKALINE
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I’ve spent many hours over the past month testing the new AlkaStream Non-Electric water ionizer filter to see how it compares to other water ionizers. I am not going to tell you that the AlkaStream is as good as other water ionizers. No, hands down, when it comes to water ionizers, there is no comparison…

Electric water ionizers are much better.

But, the AlkaStream, which is a non-electric water ionizer. It’s basically a good filter. It’s made in Hong Kong under the direction of Austrailian researcher, Ian Blair. It debuted in the US in November, of 2010. The AlkaStream does a pretty good job actually ionizing, even though its main function is filtration. What it does is purify and soften the water with ion-transfer technology and a variety of filtration media. It claims to reduce the hardness and total dissolved solids [TDS] of the source water, then remineralizes the water [to re-establish the correct levels of calcium and magnesium].

The AlkaStream can be Customized for Variations in Source Water [Hard or Soft Water] Filtration 

Finally, the water flows through bioceramics and magnets to lightly ionize the newly purified water.

AlkaStream

The Alkastream comes with a diverter to hook it directly to your faucet. It requires monthly maintenance [scrubbing the ceramic filter with fine sandpaper (provided)] and filter changing about once every 6 months to a year. Here’s a demo video. Please note that the first batch of AlkaStreams had a leaking problem. That has now been fixed:

I’ve seen ads stating that the AlkaStream was the “Ultimate Antioxidant Water Filter”. Is this true?

No. It’s not the ultimate, but when compared to water filters, yes, it’s pretty good. It is small, easy to use, attractive, and does a pretty good job of effective purification of the water. What I like best is that it then adds alkalizing and ionizing to the mix. So, if you’re comparing this to Britta, Culligan, or other filtration, yes, it is far better than that. However when compared to electric water ionizers. You can see in my testing videos and charts, below, that the AlkaStream produces about 1/3 the pH and ORP of the electric water ionizers being tested [Melody, Athena, and Enagic SD 501 water ionizers].

The AlkaStream Non-Electric Water Ionizer is cheaper [at first] than electric water ionizers, but it is not designed to last as long as the electric water ionizers I sell. The warranty is for 2 years, and it is designed to last the length of a prefilter housing [which is about 8 years] vs. the typical electric water ionizer I sell is warranted for your lifetime and are known to last 20-30 years. Filter replacements are likely to be more frequent with the AlkaStream [than with regular, electric water ionizers], because they are removing dissolved solids from the water. And, they are fairly expensive to make [because the AlkaStream is basically a filter housing with a filter in it -- the filter is the main thing]. Also, the AlkaStream will only go so far in helping you alkalize and anti-oxidize your body. It performs at the range of the first, introductory, levels of electric water ionizers. This is great for you at first, but after a while I’m guessing you will want to invest in a regular, electric water ionizer to be able to achieve the maximum benefits of the full range of pH [low acid to high alkaline] and ORP [maximum ORP (antioxidant) per unit of pH]. In my own personal experience, the medical savings alone have paid for my water ionizers many-fold over the years. Just as a single example, I went from at least one ear/nose/throat infection per year prior to age 40 to NONE in the 18 years I’ve been drinking ionized water. That’s just me. I have similar examples for the rest of my family and extended family, who have all benefited from that one ionizer I bought 18 years ago.

So, the AlkaStream water ionizer is not, in the long run, cheaper than regular, electric water ionizers.

I don’t recommend the AlkaStream for everyone, but I do think it has a place in the water filtration line-up.

Who is the AlkaStream going to help the most?

Obviously, it is cheaper, so it will benefit anyone who is willing to pay the $399. for good water, but not willing to do the initial investment of over $1,000 for better water. Some ionization [along with good filtration] is a great start.  Then after a year or so, the person could of course give the AlkaStream to a family member or friend [or sell it] if they want to upgrade to a regular water ionizer.

But the population I see the AlkaStream as helping most, and the real niche I see for the AlkaStream, is the person whose doctor says they can’t drink high pH water. There are people who have liver disease or other conditions which specifically prohibit the drinking of liquids over the pH of 8.5. For these people, they will get the benefits of ionization [in particular, low negative ORP -- for the antioxidant value] and only slightly raise the pH of their source water. Perhaps in doing this, they can drink more water and gently nurse their bodies back to a more normal state eventually. Actually, in St. Louis, the AlkaStream doesn’t raise the pH of my source water very much…it stays about the same, but the ORP goes from a positive 300 to a negative 150 or so.

Here’s an actual example. My mother-in-law has only ever been able to drink ionized water at the “purified water” level or Level 1 [8.5] of a regular water ionizer. For some reason she ends up with diarhea if she drinks water that is higher than our St. Louis 9.4 pH source water. In St. Louis, this is a challenge usually [to get ionized water without raising our already high pH]. But with the AlkaStream I was able to get her -175 ORP ionized water [by reducing total dissolved solids then adding back only the healthy, needed minerals] without raising the pH at all. Her body is responding well to this water so far.

Testing and Results:

The following videos and charts show my testing and comparing of the AlkaStream. I compared it with the Jupiter Melody, Jupiter Athena and Enagic SD 501 water ionizers set at level 3 [or Kangen water 9.5].

Part of my purpose with this series of water ionizer tests was to compare how well the ionized water stored.

I had heard stories that the AlkaStream would do better. Actually they all four did about equal to each other and because I used better storage methods than ever before, they all did quite well in maintaining the pH and ORP over time. I have one more video to do, which is after about a month of storage, so look back for those results to be added to this post in about the beginning of February.

You might notice that the pH actually didn’t change much at all with the storage over hours or days, while the ORP dropped. That’s because -ORP is directly related to -H [negatively charged Hydrogen] in the ionized water [which gives it the quality of being the simplest, most basic, antioxidant in the world. Hydrogen is of course a very light gas and will find its way to escape even the most "sealed" locations. I suppose if it were vaccume packed it might not escape [but even then, I'm not sure]. This series of tests has pretty good results for the storage of ionized water [for all four water ionizers]. The reason is the fact that I used glass jars with rubber-sealed lids, screwed them on tightly, and didn’t open them until it was time to test them.

What can be learned about storing ionized water?

I believe a lesson has been learned here in this series of water ionizer tests. The results suggest that to get the best storage of your ionized water one should:

1. Use glass jars or bottles with rubber-sealed lids or caps.
2. Fill the bottle to the very top — leave no gap.
3. Don’t open the bottle until you intend to drink the water.

You also should consider filling multiple small jars/bottles rather than a few larger containers. This way you won’t be opening them hours before use, and you’ll be more likely to get the full benefits of best storage for your ionized water.

Well that’s it for now. I hope you learned something from this series of water ionizer comparing and testing, I know I learned a lot.

After over 16 years of drinking alkaline ionized water, I can say with conviction that the very best present I could give to myself or a loved one is a WATER IONIZER!  Even though Christmas is over, give yourself and your family the gift of health this year! And…  

Have a safe and happy winter!

Email Us: Support@alkaline-water-plus.info
Website Home: http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com
Copyright © 2006 – 2011 Alkaline Water Plus
Call for a “Best Price Quote” 1-888-MY-ALKALINE
WE ARE OPEN FROM 8am TO 10pm CENTRAL TIME [7 DAYS PER WEEK!]
Get the Latest Water Ionizer Deals and News: Tweet! Tweet! Follow AlkalinePlus on Twitter! 

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