What is water ionizer?

Mar 22, 2022

Water ionizers for home

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Water ionizers are household electrical appliances or accessories supposedly capable of turning ordinary tap water into mineral water. But unlike natural mineral water, which has a lot of dissolved salts, "ionized" water in its chemical composition is practically the same as tap water.

All ionizers are divided into two types according to the principle of operation: electrolytic and metal (or mineral) ionizers. In this article, we'll look at both and find out how they work and if they work at all.

Electrolytic ionizers

To understand how all electrolysis ionizers work, you'll have to remember your 11th grade chemistry course.

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Water is made up of H2O molecules. Some of them exist in the form of ions - the positively charged hydroxonium ion H3O+ and the negatively charged hydroxide ion OH-. Also, tap water always contains small amounts of salts, which also turn into ions in a water solution: for example, Na+, Mg2+, Ca2+, HSO4-, Cl-, HCO3-. The amount of positively and negatively charged ions in ordinary tap water is about the same. Therefore, it tastes and is neither acid nor alkaline and has a neutral pH of 7.

To give water alkaline or acidic properties, it can be subjected to electrolysis. To do this, we immerse electrodes in it and pass an electric current through them. The electric current causes one electrode to become positively charged, while the other electrode becomes negatively charged.

Near the positively charged electrode, molecular oxygen (O2) is formed and negatively charged ions (HSO4-, Cl-, HCO3-) accumulate; such water becomes sour, i.e. acquires pH 4-6. Close to the negatively charged electrode, molecular hydrogen (H2) and positively charged ions (Na+, Mg2+, Ca2+) are produced; such water becomes alkaline, i.e., it acquires pH 8-10.

Electrolysis water ionizers

Electrolysis water ionizers are of four kinds:

Connected to the water supply.
Table-top.
Producing only hydrogen water.
Water saturated with metal ions.
Is there a benefit to ionized water

Water from electrolyzed filters

In 90th Japanese researchers have tested the efficiency of alkaline water from the ionizer filter and found out: to make it have the same effect on the body as mineral water, you have to drink not less than 10 liters per day. One obviously should not suffer for a slight laxative effect: by comparison, one can drink a liter of alkaline mineral water a day for this purpose.

There are a lot of articles on the influence of alkaline water on the body. Nevertheless, the Japanese Ministry of Health found them unconvincing and forbade the manufacturers to call the alkaline water produced by such devices healthy.

Data on the effectiveness of treating skin diseases with acidic water are contradictory. Studies commissioned by pharmaceutical companies have written that weak chlorine solution has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects. However, studies commissioned by electrolysis filter manufacturers claim that the chlorine solution is ineffective.

The same studies commissioned by ionizer manufacturers say that acidic water from electrolysis filters promotes wound healing. But there are no serious independent studies confirming this.

The only use of filter ionizers in medicine is in hemodialysis. But there, these filters are not used for drinking water, but to purify dialysis solutions.

Hydrogenated water.

The effects of hydrogenated water on the human body are not fully understood.

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It is assumed that dissolved hydrogen in water is supposed to affect the body as an antioxidant - that is, a substance that neutralizes reactive oxygen species that damage cells. But studies of other popular antioxidants (vitamins C, E and beta-carotene) have shown that they are ineffective in the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular, lung and eye diseases, useless in cancer and have no effect on intelligence.

Water from ionizers that saturate water with metal ions. Nowhere in the world is water with metal ions used for treatment. The World Health Organization (WHO) believes: there is insufficient evidence that silver ionization of water effectively disinfects drinking water. Metal ions have no effect on pathogenic viruses in principle and kill harmful bacteria like Pseudomonas or hospital pneumonia too slowly - only after 6-72 hours.

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But even if ionization helped, the water that flows from under the taps, additional disinfection is not needed - disease-causing organisms, from which could help as silvering, it simply does not. As silvered water does not harm human health but is not good for you either. Apparently, water with silver ions is a harmless, though useless thing.

To make a long story short.

Of all the ionizers, which are sold on the Internet, somehow affect the water can only very expensive filters-ionizers, which are connected to the water supply. True, they work on hard water. All that these ionizers can do to ordinary tap water - to get rid of the smell of chlorine. You can achieve the same effect if you let the water stand for 24 hours in a jar.

But even if the statements of producers were absolutely true and the device would really work, there is no reason to assume that alkaline, acidic, hydrogen or silver-ionated water is really good for health or can cure diseases.

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