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How Do Water Ionizers Work: Water Quality Experts Describe the Process
Callum Strempel
You must have heard about the latest trend among health enthusiasts – the water ionizer. Although there isn’t any proven scientific research on its benefits, it is definitely the hype these days. Every health trend expert out there, including Dr. Oz is talking about it!
No matter what, ionized water has been linked to various health benefits like balanced pH level, increased energy, and better taste. If you want to try it yourself, a wide variety of water ionizers are available today.
So before getting one, you might want to know how does a water ionizer work if you are planning to get the best water ionizer on the market? Let’s find out more about it.
What Is Ionized Water?
Often we hear the term ionized water whenever we talk about water ionizer devices. But do you know what it means? Water turns into ionized water when it contains mineral ions.
In fact water from all natural sources becomes ionized when it comes into contact with substances like rocks or sediments. Ionized water can be of two forms- acidic and alkaline.
Another example of ionized water from nature is the natural spring or the glacial stream. It contains minerals that make it more alkaline. The pH of alkaline water is 8 or 9. Other than natural ways, water can be ionized to make it more alkaline by the process of electrolysis, which is also used by water ionizers.
What Do Water Ionizers Do?
These electronic water filters are efficient and powerful, almost similar to the size of a toaster.
As these are of the latest technology, they provide you with the smart experience – the touchscreen – through which you can control the water flow and water source. You can also check the necessary information, such as acid or alkaline levels through the touchscreen.
A water ionizer transforms tap water into antioxidant-rich water. For this transformation, the device uses a combination of power and titanium plates. These plates separate the water into high and low pH levels while adding antioxidants. Unlike water softeners, it does not eliminate minerals from water.
You can connect the ionizer to your standard faucet or install it under your kitchen sink. The machine provides ionized water through the faucet that you can use for drinking or cooking. Along with the standard faucet, there is another faucet through which oxidized water comes out. You could use it as a fantastic sterilizing agent and for your daily cleaning.
Along with ionization, a few well-known water ionizer filters also remove solid contaminants, such as sand, rust, mud, and sediments.
How Does A Water Ionizer Work?
The operation may seem complicated to you at first. We will explain in simple steps-
1. Water comes from your tap and enters into the back tube
First, tap water or the water supply linked to your kitchen enters into your water ionizer device through the ‘In’ tube located behind the device. After that, the water passes through the in-built water filter, ridding it of contaminants. You should note that the device requires some water impurities to work properly.
2. Water is filtered for contaminants
This is another reason for you to consider such a device as a good investment. Water contaminants such as- sand, mud, sediment, lead, herbicide, pesticide, and bacteria are filtered out from the tap water before the electrolysis process.
There are also some ionizers that purify water without using any chemicals.
3. Water passes over the plates in the ionizer
You probably remember the term electrolysis from your school chemistry that is used in the ionizer. After the water goes through an initial filtration, it passes over negative and positive electrodes. As you know, when water enters this section and passes over the plates, a low voltage electric current is passed through it. This causes the impurities to be attracted to a positive or negative pole.
4. Alkaline and acidic water are created
As you can see, the soluble minerals, heavy metals and other kinds of impurities are attracted to the positive or negative pole, which separates the water into two streams – alkaline and acidic water stream. Through ionization of electrodes, you get these two types of water after the water is split into negative and positive ion.
5. Ionized water and oxidized water comes out of separate faucets
The water is separated into two forms, acidic and alkaline, which comes out from two faucets. For this, you have to connect the filter with your faucet and make arrangements for receiving the two forms of water. The electrolysis process is responsible for the antioxidant boost in water.
For drinking, try the alkaline water since it contains an increased level of molecular hydrogen. The acidic water should be used for external purposes like for cleaning and washing.
Conclusion
You are what you drink. You may be surprised to know that most health complications arise from unsafe drinking habits. We tend to overlook the water we are drinking. Water ionizer filters could be the answer since you can get it for pure drinking ionized water.
FAQ:
Q. 1: Is ionized water really good for you?
A. A 2012 study found that alkaline water may help reduce acid reflux by deactivating pepsin. Even though there is a lack of scientific evidence, small studies have shown the following benefits of alkaline water:
- Smooth blood flow
- Anti-aging
- Colon-cleansing
- Reduce acid reflux
- Increase energy
Q. 2: What are the side effects of drinking alkaline ionized water?
A. If you take alkaline water in excess then you might be exposed to side effects as it is not completely free of dangers. It could cause:
- Gastrointestinal issues
- Skin problems
- Nausea
- Dizziness
- Muscle twitching
Q. 3: Do water ionizers filter water?
A. Water ionizers filter out harmful components and ionize it to provide two separate streams of water. It does not provide complete filtration like other filters since it still needs impurities to work with.
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