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!

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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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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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