Alkaline Water Filter Comments
For more clarification on any of the water ionizer brands please contact:
Mark Kelly (Toll Free) 877-673-6571
Authorized and Secure Water Ionizer Dealer
1. The above details were gathered from data research in June, 2006.
2. Copy models from China/Taiwan are beginning to show up in the USA.
Be careful of products that have not been made for the USA market and have no track record here.
These models can disappear as quickly as they have appeared, leaving customers without any backup service, filters or parts. Jupiter Science produces 90% of all water ionizers in Korea with a production plant capable of over 100,000 units a month.
3. * Most ionizer units use only Titanium coated with pure Platinum. This is because Platinum is by far the most effective and stable element for water ionization.
Some models made in Taiwan are using Platinoiridium or Platinum mixed with Iridium. They don't use platinum titanium because platinum titanium is 7 times more expensive than iridium. The Japanese and Korean governments does not allow any company to sell iridium for drinking water applications because it is bad for your health. The EP units made for the US market do not use iridium while the same models in Taiwan/China do use iridium.
Also there are some models on the market using 'white gold' for their plating. This is very misleading as there is no such thing as "white gold." Pure gold is always yellow. "White gold", in fact, is actually an amalgam, containing at least 62% silver and other unknown minerals. Platinum is about $1250 an ounce while Silver is about $12 an ounce. Obviously all the Japanese manufacturers and Jupiter Science etc would use "white gold" if it was any good. However the "Gold Fox, EP400, EP600, EP800 and EP100 units use only pure titanium and platinum.
4. * Side by side comparisons of the Jupiter models and the Enagic SD501 offer proof of the SD501 large inefficient plate size which compensates by consuming more energy than other models costing less. The Enagic water ionizers are very expensive not because it is a better than an average ionizer, but because it is part of a multi-level marketing (MLM) company, requiring huge markups in order to be able to pay out all the levels of sales representatives. Every buyer of an Enagic's water ionizer, automatically becomes an Enagic, Kangen Water, representative.
5. A few manufactures make a lot of profit from replacement filters. While most brands have reasonable filter prices there are some that don't.
6. Some manufacturers are employing larger plating and claiming they are superior. They hope to fool the consumer into thinking "bigger, is better". With electronics quite the opposite is true (consider how the radio, camera, computer and TV have evolved). The larger electrodes draw 3-4 times more power decreasing the electrode life with no additional benefit to the water quality. The surface area of the newer mesh type plates is effectively doubling the surface area of the normal sized plate size.
7. The BionTech BT8000 is different from other water ionizers in that it is a batch system that uses 4 liters of water to produce 2 liters of alkaline water about every 15 minutes. The disadvantage is that it is slow to make alkaline water and needs to have the water added in manually. Advantages is that you can replace the electrodes and you control of mix and adding your input water. It is also capable of making super acid water of 2.5 pH. This unit is a great starter unit for businesses looking to test the larger scale commercial capabilities and applications.
8. When looking at what brand to buy look also at the level and quality of ongoing support you will be getting.
9. By US tested we mean that the company have been selling in the USA for at least one year. It takes a number of years to show that a water ionizer is reliable.
10. We do not recommend models that use UV lighting as a means for moving bacteria or viruses. UV light has to shine through a clear surface but in time these surfaces tend to become opaque or dirty (especially where there is hard water). Also the UV bulb may stop working and UV light may not work well with fast water flow. In comparison anti-bacterial filters will always work at optimum strength as long as they are replaced in time. All ionizers that use filters have a filter counter built in.
11. Some new companies from China, Taiwan and Korea have a built ORP meter. Although a good idea, it can be difficult to get an accurate ORP reading and an ORP meter needs to regularly recalibrated and cleaned (since its points quickly gets oxidized). In our tests using ionizers with inbuilt ORP we found that the readings could be inaccurate when compared to the results from a scientific ORP meter like the one we use made by Oakton which measures both ORP and pH costing $500.
12. The Jupiter line of water ionizers is manufactured by Emco Tech (Dong Yang) and is the largest maker of water ionizers sold in the United States.
