I had a phone call the other day asking about a filter that gets potassium out of water.  I wanted to explain in detail here why you should filter this out if you have a water ionizer, and the best way to do so.

Salt and Potassium based Water Softeners

The two most popular water softeners that are used today use either salt or potassium to exchange with the “hard” mineral, calcium.

Salt and potassium should not be constantly run through a water ionizer as these are both conductive minerals.  It will wear on the plates and cause the ionizer to not be as effective.

If your water has excess salt or potassium in it, you need to filter it out (if you want to protect your water ionizer from excess wear and tear).

Reverse Osmosis

Reverse osmosis is the best way to filter out salt or potassium.  Both salt and potassium dissolve very thoroughly in water. This is why you must use Reverse Osmosis to get it out.

If you think about it, sea water has salt in it.  If it was easy to get salt out of water, we wouldn’t have a water conservation problem on our planet.

RO [reverse osmosis] will filter out most other toxins as well!  The only thing to keep in mind when using reverse osmosis with a water ionizer is that you must then remineralize the water.  In order for electrolysis to work, you must have minerals in the water.

Another option you would have if you didn’t want to get an RO [reverse osmosis unit] would be to install a direct water line to hook the water ionizer up to.  In this event, you would want to protect against hard water as the problem with excess calcium in water is that it will tend to scale the insides of the water ionizer. We do have devices to reduce/control scale, so give us a call if you’re interested in that.

Ionizer Set-Up

The good thing is that once you have your ionizer set up properly, you won’t need to do much to keep it working at it’s best!

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!

Wishing You Water Wellness!
Sincerely,
Cathie LoGrasso

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I had a concerned customer ask me why there were so many air bubbles in their alkaline ionized water. Here’s the answer.

Tiny pockets of air bubbles are created during the process of ionization. These come from separating the acidic water from the alkaline and the micro-clustering that takes place. The amount of air bubbles depends in part on the source water [i.e., on the amount of dissolved oxygen in the source water] and in part on the degree, strength, and efficiency of ionization.  These little pockets of air are harmless and will usually go away after several minutes of letting the water sit.

So these bubbles are just an indication that your water ionizer is working.

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!

Wishing You Water Wellness!
Sincerely,
Cathie LoGrasso

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]

Or call my [Cathie's] CELL: 314-452-9560

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Are there any long-term concerns about drinking ionized water?

In Japan and Korea, about 15% or so of the population has been drinking ionized water for over 30 years…some even longer. Many hospitals in both Japan and Korea use water ionizers for both its alkalizing/anti-oxidizing properties for drinking and for its acid properties in healing skin sores.

Innumerable tests have been done on mice, rats, chickens, etc., and in almost every instance there were good results noted and no negative results have ever been able to be replicated. There have been no substantiated incidents of negative long-term effects of people drinking ionized water.

I have personally known people who are cancer-free today primarily because of ionized water. My family and extended family are so much healthier because of ionized water! Over the years I have had hundreds of customers who either have written to me or spoken with me on the phone and told me their stories of how water ionizers have help them and their families so much.

Water ionizers have a bona fide and rightful, life-long place in any family’s healthy home.

As a long-time educator [I was a teacher/principal for over 24 years], I am very interested in educating people [and giving people the straight scoop] about water ionizers. I will not allow myself to sell a product that could do harm or isn’t tested thoroughly enough for safety. I also personally, have been drinking ionized water for over 16 years, along with my family and extended family. I can safely say that I am healthier today, at age 59, than when I started drinking it at age 43! The reason I am selling water ionizers today is because a water ionizer is the one, single, best, health product I have ever purchased. So after retiring from teaching I decided to pursue this passion.

Are there negative reports about ionized water?

There are going to be people who will, no matter what it is that you are advocating, will advocate against it. In every case, when I’ve come across a report I have given it my full attention. One chemist was warning people that ionized water could upset the balance in your colon. It seemed like a silly warning, especially in light of all the colonoscopy work that Dr. Shinya has done to show the great things ionized water does for all of his thousands of patients’ colons [Dr. Shinya is the inventor of the colonoscopy]. But even though the claim seemed silly, I still checked it out on myself.

Just a few months ago my husband and I had comprehensive stool analyses [which showed a perfect supply of good bacteria, zero bad bacteria, zero parasites, and good results in every other way.]

Not only do we feel healthier than ever, but the blood, stool and urine tests my husband and I have done [after drinking ionized water for over 16 years] are showing this as well!

Another health-reporter was worrying people about long-term use [he said short-term use for detoxing was good but not long term...however didn’t specify his reasons]. He hinted at the stomach/colon, and possibly “leaky-gut”, but was elusive [I think he just wanted to sell his newly imported water filters]. So, just last month I had a urinalysis [along with test for leaky-gut] and the comprehensive report showed that all levels for everything tested were perfect. In addition my heart rate and blood pressure were so good the nurse made a comment about how envious she was.

It’s interesting that none of the “authorities” that I’ve run across who have advocated against water ionization have ever actually tried it.

Their reports are obviously flawed in such a way as to show they haven’t much knowledge about water ionizers either. Many health authorities or scientists who HAVE fully checked out water ionizers have concurred with what I know from experience, that the health benefits possible are quite bona fide and even amazing. Here’s a question/answer report of an interview with Ray Kurzweil [inventor/scientist] who did in fact check out water ionizers top to bottom and highly advocates them. http://alkalinewaterplus.info/blog/uploaded/Ray_Kurzweil_Q_A.pdf

By the way, the chemist, mentioned above, is an interesting character. He seems to hate everything natural. But he definitely has an agenda, and a great article exposing his agenda can be found here: http://www.canlyme.com/quackwatch.html .

How do vitamins fit in with water ionizers?

Another benefit: Since I’ve been drinking ionized water, my intake of vitamins and minerals have lowered. I take a normal amount of vitamins today, but took a greater than normal amount 20 years ago…because I wasn’t as healthy then as I am today. Last year my husband and I had our blood fully analyzed and, just as we knew it would, every level of dozens of things the test covered was perfect.

Medical Uses for Water Ionizers:

There is one particular water ionizer that claims to be the only one suitable for medical uses [such as if a person has cancer or some other condition they are worried about]. This is bogus and absolutely, completely, 100% untrue. The actual fact of the matter is that it is a sales pitch and it is in my opinion bordering on fraud.

Water ionizers, in general, have been approved for manufacturing in 1965 by the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare as medical equipment to produce medical substances.

In Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, water ionizers are considered as medical devices, but also as water treatment devices. In the U.S., water ionizers are not considered medical devices, and it could be risky for a company to market them as such. Enagic gets away with their marketing, because mostly these claims are being made person to person or in closed group settings. However it is a risky thing to do, and could put the company out of business or at least cause some damage in the way of fines. Several years ago, when I started hearing the claims by Enagic dealers, I decided to find out for myself. I was perfectly willing to switch companies if the Enagic was better. I just wanted to know. I cannot tell you how many times I have tested and retested [and retested and retested] their water ionizer against the other two top water ionizers, the Athena and Tyent water ionizers, as well as other water ionizers, and other than an occasional higher pH [for cleaning water…too high to drink] and a higher flow-rate [which in my opinion is not a good thing…because the filtration suffers when the flow-rate is too fast] the Athena is better. The Tyent is probably tied…but the warranty is better with the Tyent and so is the price.

For long-term use, when is it best to consume ionized water?

It is best to consume ionized water away from mealtimes if your meal contains meat. Some also suggest to not drink it while taking medications [vitamins are fine though]. A good rule of thumb is for 20 min. before and 20 min. after meals or taking medications, drink little or no alkaline water. If you like to drink water with meals containing meat, then I suggest you squeeze a slice of lemon into your ionized water and you’ll change the pH of it to acidic or just drink filtered water. The reason for this is that during the initial phases of digestion your stomach needs to maintain a more acidic environment [in particular if your meal contains meat].

How do You Know You’re Getting the Best Quality of Water Ionizer?

One way is to compare the water ionizer’s ORP per Unit of PH: Not all ionizers will give a good ORP at lower pH levels, such as at pH settings of 8 or 8.5. That’s why I’ve done extensive testing of both the pH and ORP of all of the leading water ionizers. I have also tested ionizers in a variety of different locations, so I could get an idea of how source water affects the ORP at the various pH levels.

Why Would People Need the Lower PH Settings of 8 or 8.5?

People whose diets are mostly fruits and vegetables are probably more naturally alkaline and may need to set their ionizers to give them pH levels of about 8 or 8.5. Also, depending on the pH level of your incoming water, some water comes in at already a 8 – 9 pH. In this case, the ionizing of water is still very beneficial, because ORP [oxidation reduction potential, or antioxidant value of the water] delivers over 50% of the health benefits from water ionization.

People whose diets are fairly typical of US, with several trips to a fast food restaurant per week and/or more than 40% of food intake [visually] is from meat and grains will probably be more acidic and need higher pH settings for their ionized water, such as a pH of 9 or 10.

Which are the Best Water Ionizers?

It probably depends a little on your source water [where you live], but I’ll give you a very brief summary of what I’ve found to be the best water ionizers.

Medium-Hardness Water Areas: The best ionizer I’ve found for giving high ORP per unit of pH in medium-hardness water areas is the Athena water Ionizer [and also its under-sink equivalent, the Delphi]. The Tyent is also good, as well as the Enagic, Miracle Max or VS70, in that order, although these perform better at the higher [too high to drink] pH settings and do not get as good ORP per unit of pH in the lower pH settings. The Enagic is not good at getting lower PH levels when the source water is too alkaline to begin with. You can do it, by increasing the flow-rate and reducing the power-setting, but then the ORP is not good.

Soft Water Areas: The ionizer needs to work harder in soft water areas to bring the pH level up. Some water ionizers are more suited to this. The best ionizer I’ve found for giving high pH and ORP in extreme soft water areas [such as BC, Canada, or Washington state] is the Chanson Miracle Max or VS 70 water ionizers. The Athena or Delphi water ionizers are good if you set the pH-Boosting setting up to the highest level, and add a mineral filter to one of the filter ports. In this case you will get fantastic ORP per unit of pH in soft water areas, better than the Miracle Max, however you may not be able to get much higher than an alkaline value of 9.5 or 10 pH or much lower than an acidic potential of 4 or 5 pH [for cleaning purposes]. The Tyent and Enagic water ionizers are great too, probably equal to the Athena for drinking pH-levels, if you add a Remineralizer. In all cases, if you have extremely soft water [either because you have reverse osmosis or if you live in an extreme soft-water area, I recommend using a Remineralizer for the best results. With the addition of a Remineralizer or two, you can boost your incoming hardness to any desired amount.

Very Hard Water Areas: In very hard water areas, such as Arizona or Vegas, or in the case of very hard well-water, it is difficult to use any water ionizer to its full potential unless you do something to fix your source water first. For instance, you may be able to get decent drinking water, but may not be able to get any acid water lower than a pH of 5 or 6. The best results would come from reducing your source water to medium-hardness levels before ionizing it. I have had very good reports from people who have used the Reverse-Osmosis-Remineralizer-System to treat their water prior to ionization. The only down-side to this is the amount of water you are likely to be able to use at any given moment is about 1 ½ gallons. After that, you will need to wait about a half hour before you can pour more. The second-best fix for water that is extremely hard is the Spartan Ionizer Shield. I have several very good reports from happy customers about this product. The Spartan Ionizer Shield pre-filtration system doesn’t reduce your water flow or quantity, and it cuts the hardness in about half. If you use a whole-house softener [which uses sodium or potassium] the Spartan Ionizer Shield wouldn’t be the right product, though. The only effective filtration for sodium or potasium is reverse osmosis.

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!

Wishing You Water Wellness!
Sincerely,
Cathie LoGrasso

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]

Or call my [Cathie's] CELL: 314-452-9560

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A few weeks ago my father, who has a Jupiter Melody water ionizer, sold his house in South Carolina and moved to upstate New York to live with my sister. He, of course brought his water ionizer with him. He had been getting great, high pH, alkaline ionized water, along with the accompanying health benefits, for over a year and did not want to be without it.

I got a call from my sister shortly after the move, saying she wasn’t sure if the water ionizer was still working right, because there, in upstate New York, the highest setting of his water ionizer was only producing a pH of about 7.5-ish. I told her not to panic, it was probably her source water and not the water ionizer. But either issue is fixable.

Water Ionizers do not Always Work the Same in Every Location!

It is nice that I know how to fix just about any source-water issue, and in addition it’s good that the water ionizer has a lifetime warranty, so if it turns out to be something wrong with the water ionizer [rather than source water] it is covered. Whew!

I found that the pH of my sister’s source water [which is well-water, by the way] was about 4.5. That is a very low pH!

Her well water pH was over 100 times more acidic than neutral!

I thought at first perhaps the pH drops had gone bad. But, I did some research, and found that much of upstate New York well owners are likely to get a low pH like that in their source water. One reason is the high frequency of acid rain in the area, another factor is that fir trees add acidity to the groundwater and they are in the midst of a huge fir forest. One other thing that has a huge effect on the pH of well-water in an area is the type of soil and rock that the water filters through to reach bedrock, and in the Adirondacks [the main mountain range in upstate New York], the soil and minerals the water goes through is quite acidic. Here’s a pretty good article that explains more. http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/phdiagram.html The article even shows a map which demonstrates that most of the eastern states have a very low rain run-off water pH compared to the rest of the country.

Where my dad used to live, in South Carolina, he was on a regular municipal water supply. This makes a huge difference, as I explain, below in the section entitled “Life and Death Issues Regarding Your Water”, because when a municipality takes care of your water they buffer it [always] as one of their regulated safety measures.

The first thing we decided to do to fix my dad’s new source water was to do a “Comprehensive Well-Water Test”, which I offer for $29.95.

The test revealed that there were no toxicology issues, just pH issues! Great news!

So, knowing this, and knowing the geology of the region, I ordered a Remineralizer for them to put in-line and prior to their water ionizer. This should do the trick. What will happen is the acidic water, being acidic due to a lack of exposure to alkaline minerals to buffer it, will travel through the mineral-rich filter and buffer itself. It is possible that they may end up needing a second Remineralizer if the one filter doesn’t provide enough buffer. However, in my experience one Remineralizer is usually good enough.

I’m waiting for the Remineralizer to reach them, and will post the results when I find out how that worked. I predict that with the remineralizer they will once again be able to get about a nice 9.5 pH alkaline, ionized, drinking water.

Life and Death Issues Regarding Your Water

The pH of water is so important that it can actually be a matter of life and death for you, if you are a well owner, to learn this essential information, so read on…please.

Well Owners Must Know The Following Facts About Water!

Acidic water can be a matter of life and death for you to fix, and fix quick. Here’s an example of the life & death nature of the water’s pH. Changes in the pH of rain, due to pollution, has literally wiped out whole species of animals in ecosystems which are affected by acid rain. See these Government sites for more details about this very serious issue. http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/phdiagram.html , http://epa.gov/acidrain/effects/surface_water.html ,

Normally, rain is slightly acidic anyway, because as it falls through the sky it picks up acidic minerals [such as carbon or nitrogen], but in areas that are polluted there is extra carbon, nitrogen and even sulphur given off into the air [as emissions from fossil-fuel burning, etc.]. These, being acidic minerals, lower the pH of the rain as much as 100 times its normal, slightly acidic, pH! The effects are often catastrophic to animals, whose health is jeopardized when they drink acidic water from the streams, rivers and lakes in their habitat.

The effects of rain on the pH of groundwater vary from region to region based on the nearby cities, their altitude, location of their watershed, types of minerals which are found in the soil, types of trees growing in that region and rock in that region, etc.

Rain, going through limestone, will suffer a far less serious effect than going through coal or iron. What happens in limestone regions is that the limestone [mostly calcium] buffers the acid in the rain and the groundwater in that region will be found to be neutral or even slightly alkaline. That’s why in limestone regions, groundwater coming up through wells tends to be more alkaline than the water in nearby streams, rivers and lakes.

People are often shielded from the devastating effects of acidic water supplies, because their local water companies buffer their water supply for them. Well owners, on the other hand, are often not aware of the dangers of pH imbalances in their well, and so possibly do not buffer their well-water properly.

What are the dangers of acidic well-water or acidic groundwater?

The dangers are, the more acidic the water is, the more it tends to dissolve and absorb various minerals in the soil or rock it travels through. The water can travel through toxic heavy metals, such as lead, nitrites, pesticides, radioactive materials, or even pharmaceuticals on its way to a well.

In coal-mining regions, for instance, the water sifting down through the layers of coal tend to become dangerously toxic. According to these articles, http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/phdiagram.html , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_mine_drainage , water found running out of abandoned coal mines is very dangerous. It has been found to be up to one hundred-thousand times more acidic than neutral. This is quite deadly to any animals or people drinking it.

Changes in the pH of water can also alter, and make worse, the way the chemicals in the water effect you.

According to this article, http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/NR_WQ_2005-19.pdf
“Ammonia is relatively harmless to fish in water that is neutral or acidic. However, as the water becomes more basic (the pH increases) ammonia becomes increasingly toxic.” Also, “Heavy metals such as cadmium, lead, and chromium dissolve more easily in more acidic water (lower pH). This is important because many heavy metals also become much more toxic when dissolved in water.”

So, what is a well owner to do?

There are usually plenty of good and inexpensive methods of fixing your source water if you are a well owner. It often is a much simpler job than you’d think. Water pH, for instance, is good for washing, showering, etc. if it’s slightly acidic. Therefore treating the whole house or well is often unnecessary if it is a simple pH problem. It is of utmost importance, though, for you to know what contaminants are coming into your tap by testing what’s in your water.

A well owner should definitely test their water periodically, and treat it either at the source or point of use if dangerous chemicals, such as arsenic, lead, nitrites, etc., are found in it. Point of use treatments are usually easiest and cheapest. It is ultimately up to you to decide.

These articles discusses what a well owner might expect and what they can do with their water, based on where they live in the country http://water.epa.gov/drink/info/well/index.cfm , http://www.wellowner2.org/2009/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=56

One point-of-use method is reverse osmosis. Often well owners filter their drinking water using reverse osmosis, because they have been told that this is the best filtration. Reverse osmosis seems like a good solution for getting the toxic minerals out of the water, however in many cases more simple, contaminant-specific, filters are easier, better and cheaper,

With reverse osmosis you are going to end up with drinking water that is too void of minerals [similar to rain water], and it will be slightly acidic [similar to rain as well], so when it travels through the terrain of your body it will pick up the minerals it finds there, which usually means it will leach minerals [calcium] from your bones and joints. This is not good. However, if you run your filtered reverse-osmosis water through an additional filter or two full of healthy minerals it will buffer the water first before entering your body. This would be a better solution. Then of course the next thing to do would be to put a water ionizer on the end of the line. And, that would be the best solution.

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!

Wishing You Water Wellness!
Sincerely,
Cathie LoGrasso

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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The Jupiter Biostone Plus Filter has been improved!

As well as using improved cutting edge filter medias, the Biostone Plus has also added another all-natural element which helps prevent scale build up inside all of the hoses and water cell of the water ionizer. This is a great new feature. In addition the new Biostone Plus filter has special filtration to improve taste.

This filter is manufactured in the United States.  It is made for United States water, in that it will filter out chloramine [chlorine + ammonia] and fluoride. Both of these chemicals are toxic and both are commonly found to be added as part of most water companies’ treatment processes in the US. These are also hard to filter out of the water, due to size and stability, and so take specialized filter media to do the trick.  The Biostone Plus filter has always had superior filtration quality, but now is even better due to the new filter media in use.

Vortex Hydraulics

The Biostone Plus filter uses the natural properties of “vortex hydraulics” to ensure optimum performance.  A vortex is “a spiral motion of fluid in a limited area, especially a whirling mass of water or air that sucks everything near it towards its center.”  This allows for a filter to be able to clean the water more thoroughly.

Filtration

With the new improvements in the Biostone Plus filter, comes an improvement of contaminant removal and improved flow rate!  There is an increased contact time and reduced resistance of granulated filter beds.  The more contact time the water has with the filter media, the better the filtration will be.

So, not only does the Biostone Plus filter out chlorine, chloramines, and heavy metals, it also prevents hard water scaling and improves the taste of your water!

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!

Wishing You Water Wellness!
Sincerely,
Cathie LoGrasso

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]

Or call my [Cathie's] CELL: 314-452-9560

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We are going to do a before and after water ionizer comparison with the Athena Water Ionizer before and after using the Spartan Ionizer Shield.

We just got a new TDS (total dissolved solids) meter, and we are very interested in finding out what the Spartan Water Ionizer Shield will do to the TDS measurement as well as the pH and ORP of the water ionizer. It would seem logical that the TDS would decrease with the use of the Spartan Water Ionizer Shield, but we will see what happens.

We are testing the water ionizer in St Louis, and as a note, the water is not particularly hard here, and our water ionizer works very well without any prefiltration. But, I wanted to see what the Spartan Ionizer Shield would do to it. My hypothesis was that it would possibly make it easier for the water ionizer to do it’s job and increase the ORP.

What is the Spartan Ionizer Shield?

The Spartan Ionizer Shield consists of three prefilters.  It is used in cases of very hard water to protect the water ionizer from scaling and improve the taste and quality of the ionized water.

• Filter Number One:  This filter conditions the pre-ionized water by changing the scaling calcium into a non-scaling form which helps protect your water ionizer and also optimizes the pH into a range that is more effective in removing fluoride.  This stage also removes iron, hydrogen sulfide, manganese, chorine, chloramines, fluoride, lead, arsenic, and selenium.
• Filter Number Two:  This stage removes lead, mercury, nickel and other heavy metals as well as chlorine and chloramines.  It also prevents scaling in hard water areas.  This filter also improves the taste and clarity of your ionized water.  The final stage in this filter reduces water tension and makes the water ideal for ionization.
• Filter Number Three:  This filter reduces the harmful effects of hard water scale on the water ionizer and also improves the taste, odor, and water clarity and offers added protection from chlorine/chloramines, VOC’s, and disinfectant byproducts in the ioinzed water.

Go to this link on our webpage for detailed information on the Spartan Water Ionizer Shield.  http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com/product/Spartan

Athena Water Ionizer

Athena Water Ionizer Plus Spartan Ionizer Shield

Results

Summary of Results

TDS

It looks like the TDS was not dramatically changed one way or the other in the ionized water.

It seems like the higher the pH of the alkaline ionized water, the higher the TDS reading. This makes sense to me because the concentrate of alkaline minerals increases as the pH increases in the ionized water.

pH

The Athena water ionizer seemed to have trouble getting a wide range in pH before the Spartan ionizer shield was put in. After, the ionizer shield was put in, there was a wider range in pH. It allows you to get a lower acid water which is very useful in many different circumstances.

ORP

The ORP seems to be slightly higher at the lower pHs and lower at the higher pHs in the ionized water. It’s hard to tell from just one test, but the ORP overall looked better without the Spartan ionizer shield.

Conclusion

The Spartan water ionizer shield is not effective in improving the ionization in St Louis.  However, in very hard water areas, such as the Las Vegas area, it would improve the quality of the water and also prevent scaling.  I have had several customers in this area give very positive feedback on the results of the Spartan water ionizer shield.

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!

Wishing You Water Wellness!
Sincerely,
Cathie LoGrasso

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 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!

Wishing You Water Wellness!
Sincerely,
Cathie LoGrasso

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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The Jupiter Biostone Plus filter was the most advanced water ionizer internal filter that I had come across until now. It had [and still has] filter media [all 100% NSF certified media] designed to specifically to filter out things like chloramine and pharmaceuticals [which are of concern in the US]. This is a US made filter, which is specific to the needs and concerns of US water. Another thing I really like about it is the documentation of its effectiveness. It’s one thing to say your filter does this and that, but quite another to provide actual laboratory proof of your claims. The Jupiter company has always been good about providing an abundance of proof. Here’s a link to one of the lab reports showing the effectiveness of the Biostone Plus filter. Lab Report

The new and improved Biostone Plus filter will do everything of the old Biostone Plus filter, and will also do three more important things to help your water quality and ionization:

• Anti-Scaling Media is added [based on the same technology that's used in the EOS device]. This media will not add anything to your water, but will condition the calcium to not stick to the insides of the water ionizer. It is made of all-natural ingredients which are documented to be both antioxidizing and detoxifying to the body. The anti-scaling media is NSF certified for use as a filter media. For people with very hard water [over 200 ppm], it is still recommended to do more than just this to pre-filter your water, but this is a great plus for the Biostone Plus [and great value for the customer]. 
• Centaur Carbon Block filtration is added. What this does is uses solid block technology, which forces the water to pass through a solid wall of carbon. This makes it impossible for any molecule of water to pass along without being filtered. The Centaur Carbon Block has 150 times more surface area than GAC [granulated activated carbon], it has 20 times the adsorption capacity and 10 times faster adsorption rate than standard GAC. With chloramine, pharmaceuticals, VOCs pesticides, trihalomethanes, and radium in our US water supplies, this extra added stage to the Biostone Plus is a great plus!
• Special, Patented KDF filter media is also added! This is going to give you even more effective removal of heavy metals such as iron, mercury and lead, manganese, hydrogen sulfide, chlorine and chloramines.

I am very happy with these wonderful Jupiter water ionizer filter improvements. These are all coming to you with no increase in price too!

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
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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Any Water Ionizer may be able to ionize well in St. Louis, where I live, but the same water ionizer may not ionize well in your municipality.

Why? Because the hardness and total dissolved solids from place to place are so different! If you look at the hardness map, above, you can get a general idea of the wide differences in water hardness around the USA. Keep in mind that these are general ground water conditions and do not take into account the other sources [lakes, rivers, springs and fresh water runoff collected when it rains]. If you live in an area that is …

• Temperate and moist, but very hard [i.e., the red areas on the map], your municipal water company may get their water from a variety of places [wells and rivers for instance] and so you may look hard according to the map, above, but not be too bad when it gets to your tap.
• Hot and dry,  your municipal water company probably gets most of your water from wells. In this case with the map, above, it shows probably a good picture of your water hardness. If you live in a hot and dry [all year long] location, and you have very hard ground water, I’m going to guess you also have a very high TDS [total dissolved solids].
• If you live in a region with very soft water it is possible that your municipal water company adds calcium [lime] to your water to buffer it. Water that is too soft may corrode pipes and so it is for the protection of the pipes that the water treatment companies do this.
• If you have a well, on the other hand, then your source of water is only the ground water, and so the map would more likely be showing a pretty good representation of the water you are getting.

The actual hardness of municipal water should be looked up, and if it’s your own well it should be tested.

The parts per million [ppm] of hardness is a very important number to a water ionizer owner. It means you are either going to probably get good, better or best ionization….or possibly not so good, and you should know something about this ahead of time, so you’re prepared in the event you need to do some prefiltration [in line with your water ionizer].

Your municipal water company has a responsibility to report to you what your water quality is. They file an annual water quality report online usually, and this can be located and looked at. The report usually tells you the levels detected of certain contaminants deemed to be regulated by the EPA. The report doesn’t have to tell you your water hardness, but sometimes you can find it in there. It’s a good thing to look at your water quality report from time to time, and if you can’t find it or if they don’t say what your hardness is you can call the phone number on your water bill [or your landlord's bill]. They will usually be very good about answering your questions.

What does this mean for your water ionizer purchase?

Very Hard Water: This water is possibly some of the hardest water to ionize. Many, many people in this situation are already using a whole house water softener and reverse osmosis. If this is you…you can simply add a Remineralizer in the line and you should be able to ionize just fine. [The best water ionizers to put in-line with a reverse-osmosis-remineralizer set up are the slower-flowing counter-top water ionizers, like the Jupiter models or the Chanson Eden. If you have a faster flowing water ionizer, then you could have difficulty with getting sufficient pressure and may need a water flow-rate booster pump to put in-line with the ionizer.]

Very Soft Water: This water isn’t too troublesome. If your water is too soft all you need to do is get a Remineralizer to put in-line with your water ionizer. Some ionizers have a mineral port for adding some calcium to the water. If all you need is a little boost, then this may be enough. [Note: Only use chunk calcium in the mineral port]

Medium Waters: The best water to ionize is between 80 and 180 ppm of hardness. Below that you may want to use a Remineralizer or mineral port. Harder than 180 you should still be able to ionize well all the way up to about 250 ppm, but you would need something to keep scale from damaging your water ionizer, [such as one or two Ionizer Armors or an EOS Device ].

Related Blog Posts:

Here are some articles I wrote that are of importance to the use of water ionizers with various types of water around the country. Rather than re-write the articles, I’m listing them here.

A New Hard Water Solution for Water Ionizer Owners

Water Ionizers: Where, When and Why Prefilter or Use Extra Devices?

The Melody Water Ionizer Works Great with the Soft Water of Tacoma, WA

Can You Hook Up a Water Ionizer When You Have a Whole-House Water Softener?

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Well water owners: Whether or not you use a water ionizer with your well water…

You, as the only controller of your well, should know what’s in the well water you plan to drink. There are some elements that are in well water that could damage your water ionizer, and some could even damage your health. Here is a partial list of what would be good for any well water owner to know about especially if intending to use a water ionizer: hardness, TDS [total dissolved solids] sulfides, nitrites, nitrates, silica, manganese, iron [in excess], copper [in excess], bacteria, pesticides, and lead.  

These days it’s not too hard or expensive to find out exactly what’s in your well water.

For instance, you can now get a complete and thorough lab test and analysis from an EPA certified lab for under $100. [including shipping}

The best thing I can recommend to you is to get a full picture of what's in your water and have it analyzed by a professional who knows both about water ionizers and about water quality in general. This is a full, top-of-the-line, certified lab test and analysis: http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com/product/Well-Water-Lab-Test

Another good solution for well water owners is to purchase a do-it-yourself kit, the Comprehensive Well Water Test Kit, which lets you see instantly what amounts of nine of the most common elements concerning well water.

Some municipalities offer their residents free or cheap water testing. It may be worth your while to check this out before you spend your money. However, beware of "free". Often the free tests are not comprehensive enough to give you a full picture of what's in your well water.

In all cases, once you know your well water test results you can contact us and get a full, free, no obligation, analysis of your results by a professional water expert.

There is always a way to get your water in shape to be drunk and/or ionized safely. Some people have tougher situations than others, but I've never seen a hopeless case or a case where it was too cost-prohibitive to handle the situation.

Most well owners find out that their water is fine, and while you might think they wasted their time with the testing, for me the peace of mind would be worth every penny.

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