I’ve been drinking ionized water for years and only just recently started using reverse-osmosis-remineralized-water as my source water. I had no subjective knowledge of reverse osmosis prior to about 6 months ago, so I am writing this blog post for others who are in that situation.

There are many reasons one might need to use reverse osmosis. But, there is a serious problem with Reverse osmosis, and that is: it takes too much out of the water, leaving it void of all the healthy minerals and leaving it acidic as a result. RO used to be considered unhealthy, “dead water”. However, now, with the use of the Water Remineralizer, RO water is a healthy source water to use with a water ionizer. With my reverse osmosis system, the RO water before being remineralized is about a pH of 4, and after remineralization it’s about a 9 pH. If you’re not happy with your municipal water, co-op or well water as a healthy enough source for your ionized water, reverse osmosis might be the very best option for you.

Reverse osmosis was originally developed to remove salt from seawater. Which prior to that time, only distillation would do this trick. So if you use a whole house sodium-based water softener, something like a reverse-osmosis-remineralizer-system would be needed for your drinking water.  

To give you an idea of just how small of a particle an RO system will filter out, here’s a chart that might help you grasp it:

• A 1 micron filter  will filter out particles up to 1millionth of a meter [or 1 thousandth of a millimeter] [or the width of a single strand of hair].
• A .1 micron filter will filter particles 10 times smaller than 1 micron.
• A .01 micron filter will filter particles 100 times smaller than 1 micron.
• A reverse osmosis unit will filter particles from 1,000 times up to one million times smaller than 1 micron.

There is another problem with reverse osmosis: that is the time to filter using RO is very slow. Before I got my reverse-osmosis-remineralizer system I could get a gallon jug filled, no problem, for my husband to take to work with him, but now [with the RO system hooked in] the pressure drops too low after about 2 quarts. Then you have to wait for 20 minutes to fill up the rest of the gallon. So, you may not be able to get all the water you want, when you want it with RO.

I’m not really complaining [too much], because…

I LOVE MY NEW REVERSE-OSMOSIS-REMINERALIZER-SYSTEM!

But, for someone wanting ionized water on the run, just keep it in mind that using reverse osmosis as your source water will slow things down, and you may run out of water during heavy-use times.

I did a series of videos, trying to figure things out with my reverse osmosis system – so I could answer my customers’ questions and communicate more accurately about reverse osmosis systems in general. Those videos follow this short section giving brief answers to the main questions I think people need answered. This is a work-in-progress, so I’ll post what I have so far done and learned…but add to it later as I find out more answers to my own questions.

How Much Does an RO System Cut Your Water Flow to the Water Ionizer?

The RO System cuts the pressure to the water ionizer quite a bit, so it is capable of flowing through the water ionizer about 40% slower — almost in half [in my observation]. So, a glass of water takes about twice the time to fill using RO as it would using your regular municipal water.

How Much Water Does a 6-Gallon Reverse Osmosis Tank Hold?

It holds about 4 1/2 gallons of water. The rest is filled with air [pressurized], which is necessary for maintaining the water pressure.

Using a 6-Gallon Tank, How Much Ionized Water in One Pouring Can I Expect to be Able to Get?

After the initial 40 ounces or so of ionized water production, there is a severe lessening in the water pressure to where it slows down so much the water ionizer stops ionizing [or ionizes the water only intermittently].

How Can you Tell How Much Water is in a Full Tank?

Water weighs about 8.35 pounds per gallon. Knowing the weight of the empty tank [11 lbs.] and the weight of the full tank [46 lbs] you can mathematically figure out the amount of water in the “6 gallon” tank. [35/8.35 = 4.2 gallons]

Here I am Weighing the Full RO Tank

Here I am Talking a Little About the Way the RO and Remineralizer Work

Here I Am Showing You How Much RO Water Will Flow through the Water Ionizer Before the Flow Rate Gets Too Slow.

Here I Am Weighing the Tank to See How Many Gallons [Total] Were Run Through the Water Ionizer

The tank weighed 38.8 pounds after pouring close to 2 quarts of alkaline water from the water ionizer [as opposed to 45.8 pounds full]. So it lost 7 pounds, which is the equavalent of about a little more than 3/4 gallon. So…

How much water can you flow through a water ionizer before the pressure drops too much?

Ans.: About 3/4 gallon out of the 4.5 gallons in the tank.

That having been said, the tank will replenish that 3/4 gallon in a pretty short time. So, in about 20 minutes you should be able to get another 2 quarts of ionized water from your water ionizer.

As I stated earlier, I’m still learning. As I refine my skills and knowledge related to reverse osmosis systems I’ll share that knowledge here. I do have a feeling I could pressurize my tank better and that should help in getting more ionized water at a time.

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Not all water ionizer filters are alike!

Before you buy your water ionizer, you might want to see how its filter-changing steps are, compared with the other water ionizers. I’ve provided you with a water ionizer filter comparison video followed by some commentaries below.

This video shows how to remove and replace…

filters from the Tyent, KYK and Jupiter water ionizers.

Some Water Ionizer Filter Insights:

• The easiest filter to replace was the Jupiter. You just pop it in and out.
• The next easy one down would be the Tyent. You just unscrew/screw it. Although it takes a little coordination to get it started.
• I didn’t show the Chanson in this video, but I did in an earlier blog post. It’s very similar to the Tyent in that it screws/unscrews.
• The KYK is the most complicated. You need to carefully remove the computer chip from the top of the filter. Be careful, because the entire operation of the KYK will go awry if the filter chip isn’t reading correctly. You’ll just get an error message until you fix the problem.
  • Once the chip is out, turn the kyk 1/4 turn and then wiggle and pull till it’s out.
  • But watch out for the water. The filter is in upside-down and so water pours out as you are removing the filter. It would help to do this in or over the sink.

Water Ionizer Filters: There are Other Differences

I’ve included links to the information pages for each of the water ionizers’ above filter pages. There are differences in cost and in what the filters will filter out.

• Athena Water Ionizer: The first filter [on the left] is usually a sediment filter: the Athena #1 Sediment Filter [49.95], and the right filter is either the Biostone .01 [89.] filter or the Biostone Plus [79.]. If you have a municipal water company supply and treat your water, then choose the Biostone Plus. If you use well-water, use the Biostone .01. I’ve seen people use two Biostone Plus filters. This would be for those people doubly concerned with chloramine and fluoride in their water. The Biostone Plus is the only filter to my knowledge that is specifically designed to filter out chloramine*. So this is definitely a “PLUS” for that filter!

*[Chlorine is an unstable element and because of that is very easy to filter out of water -- it bonds with the carbon in the cheap carbon-block filters and out it goes. Chloramine, on the other hand, is a stable compound of chlorine plus amonia (yuck!), and because of its stability it is difficult to filter out and special filter media must be used to get rid of it. Chloramine is a fairly recent compound being used by water treatment companies, and because it's far cheaper to use than chlorine...most municipalities these days are using it. Call the number on your water bill and ask them if they treat your water with chlorine...or look it up online by typing "water quality report" and your city/state [most municipalities post their water quality reports online now).]

• KYK Water Ionizer: The KYK filter set costs $129.50 and filters out fluoride, heavy metals, chlorine, and more.
• Tyent Water Ionizer: The Tyent filter set costs $85.00 and filters out chlorine, heavy metals and more.

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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 time to clean.
• If you see a whitish film forming around your alkaline spout [flexi-hose] it’s 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 the best time to clean! [Please Note: Using the EOS (Elimination of Scaling) device 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 or in the case of Jupiter, alternating polarity inside the water cell, your electrodes will be squeaky clean, but there are lots of hoses & connectors inside a water ionizer that may get clogged. Even if you’re using RO [reverse osmosis] remineralized water to ionize with, you still have calcium in your source water and a concentration of calcium coming out of your alkaline spout. Calcium is a crystalline mineral and 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.
  • Basically the minimum amount of TDS [total dissolved solids] to ionize well is 100 ppm [parts per million]. So even with soft or non-hard water, when you have a water ionizer a little periodic washing [maybe annually] may be needed from time to time.
• If you live in a hard water area [over 320 ppm of TDS or over 19 grains], with extra calcium in your water, you may need to do these periodic cleanings even more often [perhaps monthly] to keep your water ionizer clean inside. 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 or “scale-block prefilter” or just do more acid washes [push the acid water button more often].
  • If you have the Chanson model, it can be programmed to your water hardness and set to a customized frequency of acid washes.
    • 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. 
• 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 Dove System which I sell on my site. Never use a sodium exchange water softener.
  • It’s unhealthy for you [too much sodium]
  • It’s not good for the water ionizer [tends to corrode]
  • It gets concentrated in your alkaline drinking water [so it's double unhealthy when ionized]
  • It’s bad for the environment [where does all that salt-water go?]

It’s up to you to take care of your water ionizer and keep it safe and protected against scaling. The rest of this post is explaining a basic procedure that can help de-scale a clogged up water ionizer or just help any water ionizer by giving it the periodic cleaning that it wants:

Here is the Vinegar Wash Procedure:

A vinegar wash is probably the cheapest and most effective type of special cleaning you can do. Here are the steps: [Note: I have not personally used this technique, because I've not had any of the symptoms saying I need to do it. These steps have been supplied by a water ionizer technician, and I believe they should work. When it's time for me to change my filters in my Athena water ionzier, I'll do a video of it and re-post this blog with the video-demo at that time.]

What you will need:

• You should save your old used-up filters in the refrigerator in a plastic zip-lock bag to use for your vinegar washes. This procedure will ruin your filter for anything but another vinegar wash.
• 1 gallon white vinegar.

Begining Your Water Ionizers Vinegar Wash:

1. Take the acid hose and raise it to a position where the water won’t run out. Tape it there, temporarily for the Wash.
2. Make sure your water ionizer has the old [used up] and drained filters in it.
   • If these have been used recently, make sure they’ve been drained. [Take them out and drain them for 2 hours in a dish drain (standing upright). then replace them.]
3. Open the calcium port [if there is one] and if it’s full of water — empty it. Remove the calcium basket. Then fill the chamber with vinegar. Replace lid.
4. Curve the spout upwards and pour vinegar down the spout until full. [If spout is clogged, remove it and let it sit immersed in vinegar for a few hours before you get to this step.
5. Let sit overnight or until unclogged/cleaned inside out.
6. Lower the acid hose to the normal position.
7. Run water through the ionizer.
8. Repeat process if the ionizer is still clogged.

[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.]

Rinsing the Water Ionizer:

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’s manufacturer, however the steps outlined in this blog are steps you can use with any water ionizer to clean it. 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.

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Water Ionizer owners look at this!

This Water Ionizer easy-to-do trick is something that you can use if you live in a hard water area…to keep your water ionizer squeaky clean. Or even if you don’t live in a hard water area, but your water ionizer seems to need periodic cleanings. This trick can help you not need those cleanings so often [or ever!] No matter what brand of water ionizer you use, even the best self-cleaning brand [such as the Athena Water Ionizers], may have problems [of your water ionizer clogging up with scale] in hard water areas. This trick can save you time and money…and help you understand the workings of your water ionizer better. Here’s the video:

The Water Ionizer trick shown in the above video could save you time and money…and all without wasting any of your great, filtered, ionized water. Here’s a re-cap of the steps shown in the video [just in case you're unable to see the video for some reason.]:

• About once a day do this:
  • Reverse the polls [by choosing an acid setting] of your water ionizer to get your alkaline [drinking level] water from the bottom hose. [the first time you do this use the pH drops to ensure you're getting the right drinking level of water from the bottom hose.
  • Collect your acid water [if desired] from the top spout at the same time.
• Doing this once a day will give your water ionizer extra cleaning without wasting the filtered ionized water or wasting any of your time.
• If you live in a really hard water area, you may see that doing this twice a day is needed.
• If you use your water ionizer a LOT, you may want to do this more than once a day.

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Why Would You do anything else With a Water Ionizer other than Ionize Your Water?

One popular thing is to use a prefilter with a water ionizer. This is needed if you live in an area that has either very hard or very soft water. With very hard water there are things you can get which help extend the life of your water ionizer. One such thing is a scale-block prefilter that can remove some of the hard water elements from your water prior to it entering and potentially damaging your water ionizer. There are two other products that I recommend even more than the scale-block prefilter now [because they're cheaper and last longer]. These devices can really help with hard water problems, they’re all natural, and they don’t add anything to your water. They are: the Ionizer Armor, and the EOS Anti-Scaling Device. With very soft water or RO (reverse osmosis) what I recommend is called a remineralizer cartridge [which adds only natural, organic, plant-source calcite & coral calcium, with 70+ organic plant-source trace minerals]. The Remineralizer Kit comes with an ordinary prefilter housing.

I’ve devised the following chart for you to look at if you are uncertain of exactly what, when and why you would add any extra prefilters or gadgets into your line before your water ionizer. Since water ionizers are so expensive, this is of great interest [or should be] to people everywhere who own a water ionizer. Here’s the chart:

 Hope this helps!

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Some water ionizers, like the Melody and Venus water ionizers and the Athena water ionizer can be installed under your sink with an undersink kit. The Water Ionizer Under Sink Kit comes with instructions and a diagram, but still and all some people will benefit from this video demonstration.  Here’s the video:

Here is the diagram that is referred to in the video:

Which Water Ionizers can be Hooked into an Undersink Kit?

Some countertop water ionizers turn on and off by water pressure. If water is pushed through the water ionizer it turns on, otherwise they go to “sleep”. The Venus, Melody and Athena water ionizers are like this. Though those water ionizers are made for countertop use, they are perfectly able to be converted.

The Genesis and Tyent can’t be converted with an undersink kit, because to pour water out of them you need to first turn them on, then push a button on the water ionizer itself. This won’t work well with undersink installation. They can both be hooked into your main cold water line, though, so you can have extra freedom and attractiveness around your sink and faucet area.

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What is the Water Ionizer Armor, and how will it SAVE YOUR WATER IONIZER?

In this video, I demonstrate the new “Water Ionizer Armor”. This is a magnetic device which will save the life of your water ionizer by not allowing calcium to stick to the insides of your water ionizer machine! Calcium scale build-up is the enemy of every water ionizer, no matter whether you own a Melody, Athena, Life, Tyent, KYK, Jupiter, Chanson, Enagic Kangen Water or other water ionizer! 

Why did I buy a Water Ionizer Armor if my Melody Water Ionizer cleans itself so well?

My Melody Water Ionizer does clean itself really, really well [as I've described on many other blogs], but that cleaning is going on inside the water cell. There are lots of other parts inside every water ionizer that could be affected by scale build-up. The spout is one example. I plan to have my water ionizer for 20 or so years and all that time I want my water ionizer to be as healthy as I am!

Ultimately, the pH and ORP are the only real way you can judge how great your water ionizer is. But, to this I would add that over time, the pH and ORP should also stay consistent with when you bought it. That is achieved both with really good cleaning and with using something like the Ionizer Armor.

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There are several things you can do to extend the life of your water ionizer.

• You can purchase a gadget called “Protection Plus Ionized Armor” @ $82.00 (& never needs replacement) which magnetically causes the water to become negatively charged BEFORE it enters your water ionizer. This inhibits the elements in the water from sticking to the internal tubes, channels, electrodes, and spouts of the water ionizer. Negatively charging the water is also going help the water ionization process without adding any elements or chemicals into the water, so it’s a win-win-win situation.
• You can purchase what’s called an “EOS Anti-Scaling Device” @ $160.00 (to be replaced about every 2000 – 3000 gallons). EOS stands for “Environmentally-Friendly + Omits + Scaling”. This is perfect if you have any kind of hard water that you’re concerned about. Hard water is HARD on water ionizers, because the water ionizer concentrates the alkaline minerals (i.e. calcium) into one stream inside the water cell, and this concentration of calcium tends to cause a calcium build-up (otherwise known as lime) which if it coats the plates (electrodes) even a small amount, you can lose some of your pH and ORP values. The EOS is an environmentally friendly way to reduce the amount of scale in your water ionizer! Calcium normally occurs in a crystalline structure which makes it adhere to virtually any surface creating a hard scale deposit that can accumulate as time goes on.  The EOS works by using a process to dramatically change the crystalline structure of calcium to a smooth, soft, spherical structure that does not create damaging scale build-up in your water ionizer. If you already have scale, guess what? It will dissolve the existing calcium carbonate scale build up (de-scaling effect!).
• I also sell two specific prefilters for water hardness on my website, but honestly you don’t need this if you have the two devices I’ve described above! That’s great news, because these devices don’t take up any extra room and are not unsightly on your counter-top!

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Chanson Water Ionizers Has a Great New Gadget that Promises to Extend the Life of your Plates!

The new gadget is called the “Protection Plus Ionizer Armor”. Here’s what it does:

• Uses magnet technology to reduce or eliminate scaling and hard water build up on your water ionizer electrodes. This technology has been used in factories for years.
• Extends the life of your water ionizer’s performance. 
• Gives the ionized water a silky smooth, delicious taste.

One thing I like about this (other than the things listed above, of course, is the fact that it doesn’t add anything to the water. Here’s the video:

I like this new gadget and hope you do too! I’m buying mine today. It works with any water ionizer. I want to make sure my Melody water ionizer has the best advantage to last 20 or so years [which most water ionizers are designed to last], and I think this will help ensure it does that.

You can find this new gadget for sale on my website: http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com/product/Armor  Mention this blog post in the comment section of the order form and I’ll give you a 10% discount on your Ionizer Armor order.  Enjoy!

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Can Calcium Build-Up Affect a Water Ionizer’s Performance? Yes! It absolutely can. And, here’s why…

A water ionizer creates two streams of electrolyzed water: alkaline and acid. The alkaline water is rich in Calcium. Calcium is good for you and contributes to creating alkalinity in the water, but is also a naturally occurring crystalline mineral which creates lime. Lime is another name for Calcium Oxide [formed from a reaction with calcium and the oxygen in the water]. Because of its crystalline structure, Lime tends to scale up on the inside of pipes…and will clog up the inside of your water ionizer if you don’t have a good method of cleaning the plates and pipe works on a regular basis. Even with a good cleaning method, people in “hard-water” areas have reported lime-build-up problems with their water ionizers from time to time.

Here are some ways you can prevent the problem from plaguing you:

• If you live in a hard-water region, get a “hard-water” pre-filter to use in conjunction with your water ionizer. Some appropriate pre-filters to protect your water ionizers are: “Scale-Block prefilter” [$85.00]. It doesn’t matter what water ionizer brand you use, any pre-filter will work.
• Here’s another devise that can really help. It lasts for 2 – 3 years too! It’s called an EOS [Elimination of Scale] Anti-Scaling Device and sells for $160.00. This device transforms the Calcium crystals into a spherical shape which will not cake or scale up, and so it makes it impossible for the scale build-up to occur. How it does this is by adding carbonate ions to the water, it turns the Calcium ion into a Calcium Carbonate ion. Calcium Carbonate crystals are spherical shaped to be harmless & anti-scaling for your water ionizer, and Calcium Carbonate is a healthy mineral for you to consume. It’s also environmentally friendly.  This device is as easy as 1-2-3 to install as well, and doesn’t take up any room on or under your counter.

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