Ionizer or Kangen machine
Quality of Ionized Alkaline Water
Ionizer or Kangen machine makes “Ionized Water”, “Alkaline Water”, Electrolyzed Reduced Water (ERW), or “Kangen Water”.
The health effect of this water comes from increased ORP, not from increased pH (alkalinity), higher the ORP and closer to natural pH7, the better.
Long term consumption of alkaline water can negatively effect digestive system since it dilutes stomach acid used for digestion.
An ionizer works primarily on the mineral content in the water. Dissolved mineral content creates the pathway for the “ionization” (or more correctly electrolysis) to occur. Water without mineral content, like reverse osmosis or distilled water, will not conduct the current and therefore can not be “ionized”. Tap waters vary widely in the dissolved mineral content. The higher the mineral content (“hard water”) the higher the levels of pH and ORP alteration; the lower the mineral content (“soft water”) the lower levels of pH and ORP alteration.
Small amount of hydrogen will be produced as bi-product during electrical conduction, but not enough to be able to call as Hydrogen water as definition. “Hydrogen water” must contain more than 0.8ppm (800ppb) to have health benefit. If the manufacture of ionizer claims it makes Hydrogen water (which they often do for marketing), ask the manufacture the hydrogen concentration data in ppm or ppb the machine produces. Most likely they don’t have any data, and if they do, the concentration is very low.
Another concern of long term consumption of ionized water is the small trace of dissolved metals from electrodes which are directly touching the drinking water in the machine. The concern was raised by Medical society since no study has been done.
Ionizer comparisons
I found comparison charts below while googling. The data could be a bit old, in fact, Leveluk by Enagic is about $4500 instead of $3,980 in this chart as of 2016, but the charts will give you a brief idea.
*Silver State Laboratories, 2008 **Offered exclusively by Ionways
IonWays Melody | IonWays Athena | Tyent | KYK Harmony | Enagic® | Life Ionizer | Gold Fox | |
| Overall Rating | 4 STARS | 5 STARS | 2 STARS | 3 STARS | 4 STARS | 3 STARS | 2 STARS |
| Suggested Retail Price | $1,495 | $2,195 | $1,895 | $1,199 | $3,980 | $1,895 | $1,199 |
| When Wholesaler first in USA | 1986 | 2007 | 2007 | 2005 | 2004 | 2006 | 2003 |
| How Long Brand in USA | 14 years | 14 years | 1+ year | 3 years | 4 years | 1- year | 4 years |
| Independent Lab Result Best pH | 10.47 | 10.54 | N.A. | 9.48 | 9.46 | N.A. | N.A. |
| Independent Lab Result Best -ORP | -637.1 | -812.0 | N.A. | -482 | -578.7 | N.A, | N.A. |
| Independent Lab Result Flow Rate | 3 LPM | 3 LPM | 1.5 LPM | 3 LPM | 8.0 LPM | 1.5 LPM | N.A. |
| Manufacturer or Assembler | Manufacturer | Manufacturer | Assembler Only Import cell from ? | Assembler Only Import cell from Taiwan | Manufacturer | Assembler Only Import cell from China | Assembler Only Import cell from Taiwan |
| Water Expertise | Certified WQA staff | Certified WQA staff | None | Limited | Limited | Limited | Limited |
| Number of Electrode Plates | 5 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 5-7 | 5-7 |
| Manufacturing Process | Electroplating | Electroplating | Dipped | Dipped | Dipped | Dipped | Dipped |
| Plate Source | Japan | Japan | Korea? | Taiwan | Japan | China | Taiwan |
| Cleaning Frequency | Every time automatic post use | Every time used DARC | Every 24-48 hours for 20 secs | Every 12 hours for 30 secs | Every 15 gals for 30 secs | Every 6 gals for 30 secs | Every 12 hours for 30 secs |
| Wait while Cleaning? | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Stops Scaling on Plates | Largely | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Water Flow Control Onboard | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Mineral Port | Yes | Yes | No | No | Saline | No | No |
| Installation Options | 3 options | Designed as undersink | 2 options | 2 options | To tap with diverter only | 3 options | To tap only |
| Filtration (in Microns) | .1M or .01M | 01M | .1M | .1M or .01M | .1M | .1M or .01M | 1M |
| What is in filter? | Carbon, Calcium & Tourmaline | Carbon, Calcium & Tourmaline | Carbon & Ceramic | Carbon | Carbon and Calcium | Carbon and Calcium | Carbon |
| Price of Filter | $69 or $89 | $59 or $89 | $85 | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Electrical Supply | Transformer | Transformer | SMPS | SMPS | Transformer | SMPS | Transformer |
| Mineral Port | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | In filter | No |
| Power Usage | 110W | 80W | ? | 200W | 230W | 200W | 400w |
| Number of pH Levels | 9 settings plus control knob | 48 | ? | 64 | 7 | 9 | 4 |
| Color Changing Screen | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Filter Life Indicator | Yes, by actual liters. | Yes, by actual liters. | Yes | Yes, by actual liters. | Yes, by timer | Yes by actual liters | Yes, by actual liters. |
| Warranty | 5 year | 5 year | 5 year | 5 year | 5 year | 5 year | 1 year |
| pH/ ORP Measurement | No | No | No | Yes | No | NO | Yes |
| Hot Water Alarm | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Flow Rate Indicator | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | ? |
Use of Acidic Water
Some people likes acidic water created by ionizer for cleaning and disinfecting.
My better suggestion is using vinegar instead for all purpose cleaning. Vinegar is just about pH2.2, strong enough acid for cleaning but totally safe to use for everyday cleaning even around baby. I mix vinegar with water in 1:1 ratio in a spray bottle, but you can make it even stronger if you’d like. I’ve been using vinegar for cleaning over 15 years. It is economical, environmentaly safe, and it disinfects and cleans great! You can buy 2 gallons of vinegar for less than $4 at Costco. Two gallons could last for a few years 🙂
Things to consider before you purchase
The health benefit of ionized water comes from increased negative ORP, but you still may want to keep in mind the negative side of ionizing machine:
- It needs electricity to function
- After years of use, cleaning can be difficult
- Expensive
- Expensive to fix or replace after warranty expires
- Drinking water contains trace of metal dissolved from electrodes with unknown health effect
- Not enough concentration of Hydrogen to receive health benefit of Hydrogen
- Possible negative effect to digestive system from long term consumption of alkaline water
If you’d like to avoid the negative side all together, you may want to consider taking Hydrogen water rather than ionized water.
Hydrogen Water literally contains Hydrogen H2 (not hydrogen ion) in the water; Hydrogen gas is injected into water.
- No electricity needed unless you decided to purchase hydrogen machine.
- No cleaning needed
- Affordable
- No machine maintenance cost
- No dissolved metal
- Very high concentration of Hydrogen to receive health benefit of Hydrogen
- Neutral pH7, threfore, easy for stomach
Hydrogen makes high negative ORP with antioxidant property in itself.
There are enough studies proves Hydrogen works wonder in our body.
Since the first discovery by a group of scientist in 2007, there are more than 300 clinical studies and research papers have been published around the world, and many hospitals and clinical institutes have been using Hydrogen treating patients.
You may find several detailed research papers (studies) at www.whyhydrogen.info.
Some people start noticing health effect of Hydrogen in a few days, if not, normally within 10 weeks to 3 months.