High pH vs. Low pH | custom-water-service

High pH vs Low pH and the Aggressive Nature of Water

PURE water, Reverse Osmosis, Distilled and Deionization, are what we call in the Industry, aggressive water. What we mean by this is that due to the fact there is absolutely nothing in the water dissolved into its solution, the water will want to pull minute to large parts and pieces of whatever it flows over, around or through. Water naturally will do this regardless of how thick or dirty its dissolved solution may be. Water by its fundamental hydraulic properties wants to dissolve, pull or grab anything and everything it touches if it can therefore making anything it dissolves pulls or grabs a part of the dissolved solution of the water. The purer the water, (low dissolved mineral content) the more aggressive it is. The dirtier the water, (high dissolved mineral content) the less aggressive it is.

In my several decades in the water business, there have always been two prevailing groups of thought. The first one being, “That PURE water will pull or grab from the body much needed nutrients and minerals along with contaminants and things that shouldn’t be in the body”. And the Second group of thought is “That the body is smart and won’t allow the release any of the acquired much needed nutrients and minerals that the body needs to function properly by the consumption of PURE water”. I believe that it’s a little of both because I can’t help believing that PURE water such as deionized, distilled and reverse osmosis will pull some needed nutrients and minerals along with contaminants and things that shouldn’t be in the body out.

All PURE waters, Reverse Osmosis, Distilled and De-ionization, share another similarity in that they are all said to have a neutral pH hovering anywhere above and below 7.0 pH. This is due to the absence of anything and everything being dissolved in the waters solution. Dissolved minerals, mainly calcium and magnesium found in many water solutions naturally bring the pH up above neutral to 8.0 or greater.

What is pH in drinking water?

The pH level of your drinking water reflects how acidic it is. pH stands for “potential of hydrogen,” referring to the amount of hydrogen found in a substance (in this case, water). pH is measured on a scale that runs from 0 to 14. Seven is neutral, meaning there is a balance between acid and alkalinity. A measurement below 7 means acid is present and a measurement above 7 is basic (or alkaline).

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not regulate the pH level in drinking water. It is classified as a secondary drinking water contaminant whose impact is considered aesthetic. However, the EPA recommends that public water systems maintain pH levels of between 6.5 and 8.5, a good guide for individual well owners. Water with a low pH can be acidic, naturally soft and corrosive. Acidic water can leach metals from pipes and fixtures, such as copper, lead and zinc. It can also damage metal pipes and cause aesthetic problems, such as a metallic or sour taste, laundry staining or blue-green stains in sinks and drains. Drinking water with a pH level above 8.5 indicates that high levels of alkalinity minerals are present. High alkalinity does not pose a health risk, but can cause aesthetic problems, such as an alkali taste to the water that makes coffee taste bitter; scale build-up in plumbing; and lowered efficiency of electric water heaters. http://www.watersystemscouncil.org/

What are the health effects of pH?

Typical Countertop Water Ionizer's

What are there health benefits to High ph water?

Wikipedia: A water ionizer is an appliance that ionizes water. Although there is no empirical evidence that ionized water is beneficial to human health, it is marketed with claims that it is an antioxidant and can slow aging and prevent disease. Such claims contradict laws of chemistry and physiology and are often unfounded.
Uses: There is no empirical evidence to support claims made by manufacturers that drinking ionized water will have a noticeable effect on the body. Drinking ionized water would not be expected to alter the body's pH, due to the acid-base homeostasis. Electrolyzed water has been used by the food industry to sanitize food products; though effective in bacterial solutions, it was found less useful when sanitizing utensils, surfaces and food products.

However…
In the 1980s the Japanese Health Department recognized that ionized alkaline water from water ionizers had proven health benefits and described water ionizers as health devices. Major Korean corporations who also manufacture in Japan such as Hyundai, LG and Samsung manufacture their own ionizers, and all have approval from the Japan Ministry of Health and well known authorities on ionized water endorse ionizers such as Dr. Robert Young (author of The pH Miracle), Dr.Theodore Baroody (author of Alkalize or Die), Daniel Reed (author of The Tao of Detox), Harold Tietze (author of Youthing), Ian Hamilton (author of The Untold Truth...) and Sang Whang (author of Reverse Aging).
http://www.waterionizer.org/site/898596/page/900321

The Alkaline Myth & Hype- The Acid-Alkaline Truth Exposed

Chanson VS70 Water Ionizer

CUSTOM WATER SERVICE offers the

Pryor to installation, many water Ionizer companies try or suggest completely purifying the water somehow, mainly by the use of deionization. I may be mistaken but I believe that some water ionizers do employ small canisters of deionization media to achieve this within the inner workings of the unit itself along with basic carbon filters with a few amenities included. Then put a post canister filter holding some form of Calcium Carbonate/Magnesium mix (Sometimes the cheapest crap on the market) so the water can be re-mineralized so the Ionizer can then ionize the new minerals in the solution to higher pH levels. Highly alkaline water cannot be produced within a water ionizer unless basic minerals are dissolved in the water. The harder or more dissolved minerals present in the water, the better the ability of an ionizer to produce high pH and ORP ratings.

A common Pre filter used in many of today’s water ionizers is Emco’s BioStone Filtration System which employs 9 stages of filtering media to clean the water and prepare it for ionization. The BioStone employs Silver impregnated GAC, calcium, tourmaline (in the form of BioCeramic beads that slightly alter the electrical properties before ionization) and a fiber mesh system. I would assume that it’s probably not always the stand alone filter within the system as there may be accompanying filters. I feel that a filter of that size with so many different medias encapsulated within such a small cartridge may not last that long and you’re not really getting a lot of bang for the buck. Plus, if small canisters of deionization media are used, depending on the quality of the water, the beads could exhaust and fill rather quickly. When I employ the use of deionization, I use small to large tanks holding 1/3 of a cubic foot of mixed bed media or more allowing for greater capacity and less channeling.

Your source water will play a large role in the performance and longevity of Water Ionizers

Some competing websites have disguised themselves as “consumer review” type websites for ionizers and in most cases, ends up steering you towards a certain brand (which is the brand they happen to sell) and the reviews are certainly biased and will try to steer you toward the model that makes them the most profit. It is very important to realize that outside of all the marketing each manufacturer does to sell their product, these machines are plumbing fixtures just like your dishwasher and faucets and shower heads. They process water and we all know what eventually happens to all of our plumbing fixtures, they succumb to scale and rust and get clogged up or cease to perform efficiently. The difference between a high end dishwasher and a cheap is the high end will handle more abuse and use over a longer period of time. The same goes with Ionizers.
Your source water will play a large role in the performance and longevity of these Ionizers. Those with very hard water (high mineral content) will achieve the most impressive pH and acid numbers initially but as scale builds in the machine the performance will drop just like your water heater does as it builds scale inside. Those with soft water (low mineral content) will achieve the lower pH and acid numbers but their machines will perform longer with more consistently. Self cleaning features are becoming common features found on many water ionizers as technology improves.

Diet affects the body’s pH more than anything else

Americans diet of trans fats, processed sugars and carbohydrates along with high animal proteins tends to over time, lower our bodies pH.
Wikipedia: Osteoporosis, ("porous bones", from Greek: οστούν/ostoun meaning "bone" and πόρος/poros meaning "pore") is a disease of bones that leads to an increased risk of fracture. In osteoporosis, the bone mineral density (BMD) is reduced.
A lifetime of eating in this manner causes our bodies to pull calcium from our bones to balance our imbalanced acidic state to that of a more alkaline one which leads to osteoporosis and other disease. Also, organs like our pancreas work overtime producing enzymes needed to break down the animal proteins. This could be the cause of many heartburn issues because Americans, as they grow old just don’t have the enzymes left to continually digest the things they eat. So our stomach produces more acid and we get heart burn. So we chew on TUMS. What’s TUMS made of? Calcium Carbonate! What do water ionizers need to create high alkaline pH? Dissolved minerals like Calcium Carbonate! What naturally gives already high alkaline pH water its high pH? Dissolved minerals like the ever abundant Calcium Carbonate.

1M Biostone Plus Filter

What do I think? Well, depending on the topic, Wikipedia is not always the straightest source. Sometimes their information isn’t updated. There definitions, claims, observations and sources, depending on the topic, may be manipulated, “like uh.. almost everything dude”! I only use Wikipedia as a source for the most popular basic definition and explanation. I’m not going to make any claims on the claims made by water ionizer companies but if someone wants a water ionizer, I’m not going to argue them out of their decision and will gladly install a comparable water ionizer system and provide service thereof for however long that customer may want or need.

What do I do? I use deionization and then add back to the water high end liquid trace minerals that actually provide some form of nutrition and electrolyte quality and naturally bring the pH up to a higher alkaline state. Because I have city water and I pay for every gallon and I don't want to waste any water like Reverse Osmosis does.