Water Qualities
The various qualities of water
used for drinking differ greatly from both the source, water treatment
and other additional considerations. Well water can be as varied as
municipal water and both sources have the potential to be contaminated
to differing degrees. Our drinking water can have more or less life
giving qualities depending on the characteristic nature of what we are
drinking. Optimal qualities are considered living water and then there
is the opposite.
Even bottled water has had
recalls and in many brands at times are found to have unacceptable concentrations of a substance
or
microorganism. Some contaminants are not regulated or screened at all. Most people would not
dispute the overall importance of high quality or living drinking water but many would not really understand the quality
differences and how it pertains to the water they are drinking or
perhaps to their overall health in general. It really is that important!
Qualities:
- Clean: This is one of
the more considerate of the water qualities. Contaminants in your
drinking water just will not be acceptable for optimum health or in
the extreme to life itself.
- Total dissolved solids(TDS) Referring to the amount of small suspended
particles and can be found in many forms.
- Hardness commonly
measured in grains of hardness and a lesser or greater amount of
alkaline minerals present in the water.
- pH level is a
measure of potential hydrogen but commonly refers to acid pH or
alkaline pH on a logarithmic scale from 0 to 14 with 7pH being
considered neutral.
- Minerals:The amount
and type present in the source water. These minerals can be acid or
alkaline. Fluoride for example is a naturally occurring acidic mineral.
- Micro-clustering:
Water varies in the way the molecules are clumped together however
smaller groups are considered micro-clustered.
- Oxidation Reduction
Potential: Also known as Redox potential measured in millivolt of a
positive or negative charge of water.
- Dissolved oxygen: with
larger amounts favorable to helpful aerobic bacteria in the GI tract.
This extra oxygen may also be beneficial with the digestive process.
- Colloidal Aspect:
The amount of small suspended minerals in the water. It could be
viewed as similar to TDS but being very stable in nature.
Good Clean Water
Biostone Filter
This filter that comes standard with our water
ionizers is highly effective at cleaning contaminants but still leaving
beneficial alkaline minerals. A certified metal scan before and after
filtration through the biostone filter clearly shows highly effective
filtration of these substances. The
test
results can be viewed which is a pdf file.
Reverse osmosis
systems do a great job of cleaning or purifying
water however lack the overall qualities of live alkaline and ionized
water. When water becomes too contaminated then an RO system would be
the system of choice especially for larger home applications. An
alternative is an under sink installation of our RO
system that has a pre-filter for adding essential alkaline mineral back to
the pure water and has been specifically designed for use with our
Jupiter water ionizers. This allows for ionization and for giving back
live qualities to your drinking water.
We do have a
mineral
pre-filter designed for use with your existing RO system and with a
Jupiter Science machine. These are typically installed under the kitchen
sink and the
Athena
and
Melody
models are ideal for this situation. An
optional under sink kit with the new dual faucets would needed to be
installed as well. We have installed these systems and it really does a
great job of producing clean alkaline ionized live water and the
convenience of dedicated dual faucets at the sink. The dual faucets have
an alkaline and an acid spout.
Distilled water is also effective at cleaning up
drinking water however essentially does not have the
overall live
qualities such as the kind that come from our water ionizers.
Special arrangements would be needed to use distilled water with our
ionizers. It is possible to add
Alkalife
Drops to get the necessary alkaline minerals added to distilled
water to allow for ionization. This water could be stored in a
commercial 5 or 6 gal bottle under the sink and a FlowJet
pump used to pump water to the ionizer. Please call us with
any questions.
It would only be fair to mention other home drinking water systems such as carbon block filtration and
similar filtration systems. These systems do a good job of cleaning
drinking water in some cases however very hard water still remains a
problem in terms of scaling in the hot water heater, plumbing and
plumbing fixtures.
EOS Anti-scaling device However the
qualities of live water go beyond clean.
Also it would be good to state that this web page is not intended to go
into information about municipal water treatment plants etc. as this
would be beyond the scope of this web site. Suffice it to state that
water treatment technology is very good and the amount of water being
processed is astronomical.
Then again too, the addition of chlorine, chloramines and fluoride are
but just some of the current concerns of our mainstream health conscious
population. There are also seasonal changes in quality of
municipal water from runoff and sediment or from low water levels in the
heat of summer that may result in algae blooms. However rarely does city
water have live qualities such as those produced by our
water ionizers.
Total Dissolved Solids
TDS refers to the suspension of
all combined organic and inorganic compounds found in a liquid as a
colloidal, ionized or molecular form. These suspended particles are
generally less than 2 microns across. A vast array of solids, chemicals
and contaminants can be associated with TDS and can come from
agricultural runoff to heavy rains bringing TDS to reservoirs. Total
dissolved solids are not necessarily contaminants or chemicals and may
not have adverse health effects. The quality of our drinking water can
change greatly regionally due to TDS.
There is a vast amount of data not intended to be included here as this is only a brief description and how
it relates to water quality in general. Too much TDS can affect
ionization results with a water ionizer and the highest threshold would
be 300ppm to maintain warranty. Reverse
Osmosis can clean many of these high TDS waters up and allowing use
with a water ionizer.
Quality RO system with mineral cartridge
Hardness
Too many alkaline minerals is considered hard water and the
concentrations of these essential minerals change from one geographical
location to another. Hard water can cause scaling in home plumbing
including hot water heaters. Water softeners are used to neutralize
these excess minerals and a common softening treatment system is the
negative ion exchange water softener. These use salt in there systems
and in doing so add sodium. Another system that is less common is the
potassium water softener which removes alkaline minerals.
Water Ionizers need alkaline minerals for the conductively in
electrolysis. Too much can cause scaling and lower effectiveness. Water
softeners in general however, are not recommended for use with a water
ionizer. Instead if the source water permits, the softener can be
bypassed or pre-filtration is required to remove excess alkaline
minerals. The use of our reverse osmosis system with a re-mineral filter are the best
solution in certain situations. Please check with us first so that we
may help you find the best solution.
pH Levels:
Really this could be a lengthy subject but that is not the objective
here. Rather it is just a brief overview and please note it relates to a
particular water quality and not the sum total of water
qualities. The combination of highest qualities will be covered at
the bottom of the page.
pH means potential hydrogen and simply put, means the transfer of
hydrogen ions that would determine the pH of water in a given situation. The pH scale goes from 0 to14 and right in the middle is neutral at 7pH.
This is a logarithmic scale meaning that the difference for example
between 7 and 8pH is ten times as alkaline. Our blood for example is
ideal about 7.40pH.
Acidic water might be good for your skin but not desirable to drink.
Alkaline water helps to balance the body out incrementally by
providing beneficial anions and alkaline minerals such as calcium and magnesium
which need to be assimilated into our bodies. This assimilation in turn
gives the body the essential alkaline minerals necessary for releasing
appropriate amount of buffering bicarbonates to neutralize excess acid
and further benefits of absorbed anions.
pH is similar to redox potential because both represent the exchange of ions and an intensity factor .For
example the greater capacity for ionization occurs when the difference
between a negatively charged anion and a positively charged cation is
greater. It's sort of like the difference between a weak magnet and a
very strong magnet as the exchange of electrons happen when the
attraction is great enough. With pH this is the sort of process that is
characteristic of what occurs rather than characteristic of a buffering
effect.
Not only does our water ionizers produce a good range of alkaline water
but in conjunction with the other qualities gives the alkaline water a
synergistic effect. Alkaline minerals also are a buffer in the
duodenum and small intestine naturally produced as a bicarbonate by the body.
Although we have self regulating bodies diet, lifestyle and stress
often take there toll. Metabolic acidosis is a real condition and what
would happen say if you had a high acid diet or drank acid water day in
and day out? Or lack assimilation of beneficial alkaline minerals like
calcium? Or would it make sense that an intake of an alkaline diet and
water be conducive to better health?
Minerals
Minerals come in many forms and can be alkaline or acidic. For example fluoride
is an acidic mineral and can naturally be found in water as can
chloride. Most water naturally has minerals in it and sometimes there is
a healthy balance of them and other times more often than not, there are
too much of the wrong stuff. Nitrates can be an example of too much of
the wrong stuff especially considering they are prevalent in
agriculture, a by product of septic systems, and very often run off into
watersheds or leech into ground water. This can be a problem for many
water sources and adversely affect water quality.
Well water in particular
should be monitored for these sort of problems
and it is a good idea to have a comprehensive water test done to be sure
of what your using and to address any water quality problems. However
too much of a particular mineral can be a problem from municipal sources
as well, even though our current water technology is very good. For
example too many alkaline minerals or very hard ward water has given the
water softening business a firm hold.
Micro-clustering
Essentially micro-clustering refers
to smaller groups of water molecules rather than a typical arrangement
of 10 to 13 water molecules in a
water cluster. Electrolysis within the water ionizer reduces the
cluster to about half the size to 5 or 6 in a cluster.
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance analysis clearly demonstrates the reduced
cluster size by measuring the Hz frequency of both tap water and
micro clustered water.
This is significant because of better
and quicker absorption, and the fact that our cells take in one molecule
of water at a time. There are conduits into a cell that are known as
aquaporins
and there discovery led to a Nobel Peace prize in
chemistry. It has been scientifically shown that larger clumps of water
molecules tend to slow movement of nutrients through them. These
aquaporins or water channels allow nutrients with water to pass through
to nourish the individual cells.
However the significance of water
that has a smaller cluster size begins in the duodenum
and small intestine where most of water and nutrient absorption occur. A
smaller cluster size allows nutrients to better flow through and to
assimilate easier.(Ever notice a water droplet not going through a
hole?) Also at this juncture, paired with -ORP, excess acid
may be more effectively neutralized when a natural release
of bicarbonate occurs. It would stand to reason that a higher quality
water would be more effective in the process described.
Please more on this up
and coming...
Oxidation Reduction Potential
Also known as redox potential or ORP
and refers to the ability to acquire electrons and be reduced. For
example a positively charged cation or ion can be reduced by acquiring
electrons from a negatively charged anion. This reduction potential can
be measured in millivolt units and strong ionized water can have a
-815mV ORP and is a powerful antioxidant because of the action of
donating electrons to free radicals and thereby neutralizing them.
Please see a certified lab test on our media page!
Oxidation is a process in which a molecule or ion loses
electrons. Reduction is a process by which electrons are gained. This
former description is the process of antioxidants donating
the missing pair of electrons to a positively charged free radical and
reduce it in electrical value and the potential for cell damage.
Of course there is so much more to it all but it really not the
objective here to take it any further rather suffice it to state that a
negative oxidation reduction potential or -ORP and is a very
powerful antioxidant that reduces free radicals. It is significant to
note that ionized water with a negative ORP has a much lighter atomic
weight than more commonly known antioxidants like vitamin C. This
lighter more soluble source of -ORP is quickly absorbed and utilized.
Dissolved Oxygen
There can be no doubt that a great
deal of dissolved oxygen is in every freshly poured glass of ionized
water. At first the water is clouded with oxygen and if one lets a glass
set for an hour or so the entire sides and bottom will be coated with
tiny bubbles. Given that we have beneficial aerobic flora in our GI
tract then it stands to reason that ample amounts of oxygen in ionized
water would be very beneficial.
The concept of significant dissolved
oxygen in our drinking water and the benefits that this provides should
be examined more closely. There are other factors in the process of
digestion and elimination that should be considered... There are many
testimonials from improved GI health relating to the daily
consumption of alkaline and ionized water.
Colloidal
Small suspended particles in our drinking water can be very beneficial but not always. These small
particles are usually not filtered out because of there very small size.
Colloids are dispersed equally throughout the water when present and are
not dissolved but suspended.
Beneficial alkaline colloids are very
easily absorbed into the body and there has been much research on this
subject and most notably on this website reference to
Dr. Henri Coanda and Dr. Patrick Flanning.
Summary
The most desirable of all qualities of our drinking
water really should be considered living water because it is providing
the greatest amount of potential benefit to our health and well being! Water is vital to our health
and when we are drinking water with the combined best qualities it
stands to reason that our health and well being would be optimized.
It is not to say that drinking ordinary tap,
distilled, pure or bottled water is not indeed giving us water that we
do need. Instead a point is being made about the varying qualities of
drinking water and a point made that a higher quality of water with all
of the desirable living qualities should be the most effective in
hydrating and promoting optimum health.
Our
water ionizers under normal conditions produce clean healthy
living
water day after day. We think it is much better to take
ordinary tap water and run it through one of our ionizers and impart
better qualities than say buy
bottled water
for the rest of one's life!
There are circumstances when there are additional
filtration needs in addition to the stand alone ionizer. Please contact
us about your water issues and we will assist you to provide the best
solution.
Please visit our page on the benefits of alkaline and ionized water!
Well water page!
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