I get many questions about water quality and filtration, and where there is uncertainty about a person’s water quality I often recommend using one of my test kits. The main reasons for uncertainty about water quality are: 1) a person has their own well and they don’t regularly test all of the elements of water quality for their well-water, and 2) a person lives in an older home or community and there are old, questionable, pipes bringing the water to their tap. I have a company policy to pay for this test kit for the customer, by the way, provided they buy their water ionizer from me.

Prior to writing this blog post, I hadn’t actually taken apart and done one of our “Water Test Kits” before, and I was curious as to how useful and accurate they really are. Plus I wanted to know how easy or hard the test kits were to use.

The city water test kit tests for bacteria, lead, chlorine, pesticides, nitrates/nitrites, hardness, and pH.

Here is a video of Susan demonstrating the use of the test kit.

The Results

How to Interperet Results

Bacteria:

Bacteria is the test recommended to be done first. The reason is that it takes 48 hours to get your results from this test. I imagine the time delay is to allow bacteria to grow [if there are any]. This test is self explanatory and easy to do.

Why test for bacteria? There are various different kinds of bacteria that can be in water, and they all can make you sick. If you have municipal water, the water company regulates these things daily, so there shouldn’t be much worry, but if you have well water or spring water, you might want to regularly test for bacteria yourself to be on the safe side.

Lead:

Per the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for lead is zero. The reason for this is that any lead is poisonous to people. Drinking water with lead in it can cause children to delay in physical or mental developement and can also cause learning disabilities. In adults, lead can cause kidney problems and high blood pressure. In older buildings, lead can be a concern even when the city tests show no lead in the water leaving the municipal plant. If there was any lead sodder used anywhere along the pipeline, it could potentially leach into the water passing through that line. I have a customer who lives in an older building in the city of St. Louis, and I used her water for this test. It’s very nice to see her water tested negative.

Lead is a problem in the city sometimes due to old pipes giving off lead. I got this water from a very old builing, so I did want to see if that would be a problem.

This test was very simple to do. There is some wait time so be prepared, but other than that not too complicated.

Chlorine:

Per the EPA the MCL of chlorine in drinking water is 4mg/L. This can cause eye and nose irritation and stomach discomfort. Our test was well below that. We tested at 1ppm(parts per million) which converts to .99mg/L.

This test was very simple and easy to do. You just immerse the test strip in the water for a brief period of time and wait a few seconds and compare the color to the color chart given in the instructions.

Pesticides:

There are many many different kinds of pesticides all for various pests that you may find. Because there are so many different pesticides, there are many different side effects. Some of them irritate the skin and eyes, some of them effect the endocrine system, etc. Obviously we don’t want this in our water. This test should be negative.

This test was done in the same way as the Lead test. Wasn’t difficult at all, just a little wait time.

Nitrates/Nitrites:

These come from runoff of fertilizers, or leaking septic tanks(which can be a problem in the city). It is also a natural deposit. Per the EPA, the MCL of Nitrates is 10mg/L and for Nitrites is 1mg/L. So our test was acceptable in the St Louis city water. Apparently if infants drink water that contains more than the MCL, they can become very ill.

This test was done in the same way as the chlorine test. It was very simple and easy to do.

Hardness:

Water is considered soft or hard according to the ppm or gpg of calcium and magnesium in the water. Most references report the following: •Soft: Below 17 ppm [or 0-1 gpg] •Medium: 18 – 75 ppm [or 1 - 4 gpg] •Medium Hard: 76 – 150 ppm [or 4 - 8 gpg] •Hard: 151 – 200 ppm [or 7 – 11 gpg] •Very Hard: Over 200 ppm [or over 11 gpg **Very, Very Hard: Over 300 ppm [Note: can go as hard as 500 or more ppm]. Above 200ppm, I would suggest doing prefiltration if you have a water ionizer.

Surprisingly enough this test used a simple test strip and took hardly any time at all. It was done just like the Chlorine and Nitrate tests.

pH:

We have talked about this many times. A pH of 8.5 to 10 is desirable for drinking. Above that might be too alkaline. You wouldn’t want to drink below 7pH.

This test was very easy to administer.

Overall

This city water test was pretty simple. Do ensure that you read the instructions. It doesn’t take too much time. You can do almost all of the tests in a 15-20 min time slot (and then an extra 48 hours before reading the results of the bacteria test).

References:

www.epa.gov

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! Give yourself and your family the gift of health this year!

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 [692-5525]

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I was noticing recently that several very cheap water ionizers are appearing on the internet.

I’m not talking about portable or non-electric water ionizers [which aren't nearly as good as regular water ionizers, but have their place]. I’m talking about electric water ionizers with multiple functions for making acidic and alkaline water and claiming to have platinum/titanium plates.

Something seemed wrong about this, because I know what it takes to make a water ionizer work, or I should say “work well”. The number-one ingredient, platinum, sells at over $1500/oz. For more info on the need for platinum, see: http://alkalinewaterplus.info/blog/page/2/?s=platinum With that in mind, it didn’t make sense how some of these companies could sell a whole water ionizer for less than half an ounce of platinum. So I investigated. I wanted to offer my customers a cheaper water ionizer if I could, so I was prepared to add the water ionizers into my line-up if they turned out to be good ones.

What I found was …these cheap water ionizers are being imported from China. In China, there are no real validations regarding the product and what is in it. The wholesale company is simply taking whatever looks good from China and marketing it in any way they can to people who are either trying to get started in internet sales or trying to save money on their water ionizer purchase. They sell you a large ticket item tell you there’s a warranty, and then you’re on your own if you need any servicing. They use tricks to make you think you’re protected, but cleverly conceal the true information [or even lie about it] so they can trap you into a sale. Here’s what happened to me:

One such company was advertising right at the top of Google a nice-looking water ionizer…

It claimed to offer an 8-year warranty on this product. When I did some checking, I found out that:

• The company advertising on Google for this water ionizer was operating under a pseudonym;
• The actual company had an “F” Better Business Bureau rating;
• I called this company and they seemed big [lots of operators], but the sales rep was unknowledgable about the product. I asked for information about the “8-year warranty”, and was told it was not them, but the manufacturer, who warranted it. I asked who the manufacturer was and was given a false name and website of not the manufacturer, but an old US importer of the product.
• The name of that water ionizer did belong to another company who was no longer importing that product, because the Chinese manufacturing company was shady and unscrupulous. He actually owns the name of the water ionizer, but never heard of, nor did business with, the company advertising the water ionizer on Google;
• He told me, the original importer, that he never offered more than a 2-year warranty [but has reduced that to one...and plans to sell off the last 20 water ionizers he has in stock and then break ties with the unscrupulous Chinese manufacturer that he originally bought the ionizers from];
• the original importer never heard of this new company who is using his name, but this new importer is pretending to be the old importer, and he may be forced to sue him; 

Bottom line: it was a convoluted mess! Forget the warranty! Their “F” BBB rating and the multitudes of consumer complaints listed on the BBB site and online scam-watch reporting sites tells us that the warranty will never be honored, but that’s not the least of the trouble. It’s the safety that I think is the biggest issue. There are other issues too, like where to get the internal filter replacements when all of the fly-by-night companies go out of business. But for me, the most crucial thing that would keep me away from this deal would be the safety.

Who knows what’s in this water ionizer…or is it even safe?

I did find out it’s made in China. And that says it all for me. I will not import from China, because there are insufficient regulations and verifications there. The ethics and morals with regard to Chinese manufacturing are shady and the climate of trust just doesn’t exist. And, while it may be okay for some goods to be made in China, such as “China” dinnerware, it is not a good idea [in my opinion]for water ionizers to be made by a questionable company.

In Japan and Korea the manufacturing of water ionizers is heavily regulated by the respective country’s FDA, because water ionizers in those countries are considered to be medical devices. In China, even in the best of circumstances, you just cannot trust or verify the safety of these devices.  

Ionized water, that you drink, is going to go through this water ionizer for years [maybe decades]. Therefore quality does count!

Not only are you counting on this water ionizer to help your health, but you are certainly counting on the fact of its general safety. I think it’s of ultimate importance that the device is made by a highly reputable company and is not questionable as to how it’s made or what is in it. The fact that the KFDA and Japanese Ministry of Health & Welfare both oversee production of water ionizers in Korea and Japan is very reassuring to me.

When you add it all up, it just doesn’t make sense to me to buy a water ionizer from a shady company.

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!  Give yourself the gift of health this year! And…

Have a great holiday season!

.

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!]
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Bottled Water vs. Ionized Water | There is no Comparison!

In this article, I’ll explain why ionized water is a far better choice than bottled water.

Let’s start with ORP.

ORP stands for oxidation reduction potential: which is another way of saying anti-oxidant potential. Here is a chart that shows the ORP of  58 different kinds [brands or sources] of water. Of all the bottled waters the range of ORP is about +350 to +600 on the average. That means you are getting one heck of a lot of free radicals through your water.  Note: tap and well water sources are also in this high range of ORP.  If you look on the chart, at the “Jupiter Science Water” row, you’ll see that the ORP of ionized water using a water ionizer from Jupiter Science is up to -850 [and this will vary according to the source water used]. That’s an incredible difference! With a negative ORP of even -300 it is considered a medical grade of ORP. With this kind of negative ORP you can really antioxidize and get rid of the free radicals in your body!

Now let’s take a look at pH.

PH stands for potential Hydrogen. It is another way of saying how acidic or alkaline a substance is. Our bodies need a slightly alkaline pH [7.365 pH] for health, however this is very challenging for our bodies to do with our modern diets. Without the proper buffers for the alkalinity our bodies need, our bodies have no choice but to rob our joints and bones of calcium to buffer the poisonous acid wastes produced by our cells.

If you look at the pH of the bottled water in the above chart, you’ll see that there’s a wide range of pH in these waters. The lesser expensive water, such as Aquafina, is acidic [5.96 pH], and while some of the spring waters are alkaline, watch out! Because many of the spring waters are gotten from valley springs [which tend to be acidic]. If you need to drink bottled water, look at the lable and try to get the mountain spring water. Make sure the word “mountain” is in the description [otherwise surely it is NOT mountain spring water]. To really provide enough buffers for most modern day diets, I think people should drink water at a pH higher than 9 if possible. The only water on the chart that has a pH higher than 9 is the Jupiter water ionizer’s ionized water. And, that can get up to 11 pH!

Sometimes, it’s true, you do need to drink bottled water.

So here’s what I would do if I were going out of the country, and didn’t trust the water [or otherwise HAD to drink bottled water: I'd bring my Waterman Portable Water Ionizer [little 1-cup water ionizer that doesn't use electricity] and pour mountain spring water into it. I think that would be the best and safest water for traveling into places where I didn’t trust the water. The Waterman Pitcher is so inexpensive and lasts for 800L [you can also refill the cartridge for another 800L for even cheaper], so I think this would be something that anyone could do!

Finally, last but not least, the amount of waste produced by all those bottles isn’t good for the environment.

Even if you recycle, there is a lot of energy waste and pollution caused by so much plastic. The statistics are: a lot of those bottles do not get recycled. Food for some green thought.

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I have an online store, and I sell water ionizers. People often ask me why I decided to sell water ionizers. I’d like to share that, and maybe inspire someone else to join the cause!

I have been drinking alkaline ionized water for 16 years and I have found it to be the best nutritional-related thing I’ve ever done! Actually, nothing in the past 36 years of research and investigation into nutrition and natural healing has come close to this in simplicity and truth…in what your body needs to be healthy [in a basic nutritional sense]. When you find something that really works, it tends to simplify your life.

The massive amounts of nutritional supliments, routines, secrets, programs, etc. all take on a new perspective when you get your body’s basic needs fulfilled. You find you’re not in need of as much “suplimentation” after all.

The reason ionized water helps you nutritionally has to do with the acid/alkaline pH balance in your blood, tissues & cells. When you’re acidic (which almost everyone is in the US) your cells can’t get rid of their acid wastes & so these build up in the cells, organs & tissues. The older you are the more acidic you become. Ionized water helps re-establish the pH balance you had as a child. Actually even better.

Germs, cancers, funguses & viruses need acidity to thrive. Only the healthy cells thrive in the correct pH environment.

Alkaline ionized water is the easiest, most natural way to restore the pH your body needs for health. First of all, you need to drink water, and lots of it, daily. However, you don’t need chlorine, fluoride or any of the other chemicals that are added to your water by your city water company. So a water ionizer filters & eliminates the bad stuff from your water. But beyond that it keeps the alkaline minerals (such as calcium & magnesium) in the water coming out of the top spout (your drinking water) and gets rid of the acidic, poisonous elements (such as fluoride, chlorine, etc.) out of the bottom spout.

Ionization also puts a negative charge on the water, making it a free-radical scavenger. No substances are added to the water, and so there are no side-effects, although your body may experience detox symptoms as your cells begin to release their acids they’ve held onto all these years. But that happens slowly, and usually detox symptoms are very mild if any.

For newbies, I highly suggest my e-book [ http://www.health-e-water.com ] which further explains this and the multitudes of other great ways a water ionizer helps your water to do the job of reversing the acidity your body has accumulated in your cells, tissues and organs over the years.

Bottom line…I really want to share this great information with others!

Most people in the US are not clued in to this data. A year ago I decided to sell water ionizers and bring this information to a many people as I can. I have developed a main webstore [ http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com ] & blog [ http://www.alkalinewaterplus.info ] & an affiliate program. My affiliates earn a good commission by bringing this information to their contacts. What a great way to earn! Everyone wins!

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