What is Alkaline/ Ionized Water and its Effects and Guidelines

Alkaline water has a pH of above 7. It can be naturally alkaline for example, spring water can contain minerals that make it more alkaline, with baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) added to it or it can be ionized to make it that way.

Photo: lifeionizers.com – Ionized Alkaline vs Plain Alkaline Water

Ionizer

In an Alkaline Ionizer, water goes through a process of electrolysis, the cations and anions are separated into acidic and alkaline streams. The alkaline water siphoned off the cathode side that carries the negative electric charge, contains increased levels of OH⁻ions and has a higher pH, also known as Electrolyzed Reduced Water (ERW) or Alkaline Electrolyzed Water (AEW).

Make informed decisions if you wish to consume alkaline water, what is the recommended pH range and the effects it has on health:

WHO Guidelines for pH in Drinking Water

Exposure of pH 10–12.5 have been reported to cause hair fibres to swell. In sensitive individuals, gastrointestinal irritation may also occur. The optimum pH will vary in different water supplies according to the composition of the water and the nature of the construction materials used in the distribution system, but is often in the range 6.5–9.5.

Studies on Alkaline/ Electrolyzed Water Effects on Health

Promotion of alkaline diet and alkaline water to the public for cancer prevention or treatment is not justified. There is no actual research to either support or disprove it. (bmj.com).
In the Study on nih.gov: Effects of long-term exposure to alkaline drinking water in rats – Animals exposed to alkaline water (drinking water supplemented with Ca(OH)₂ or NaOH) with pH 11.2 and 12 for a year had up to 29% lower body weights, dull and patchy fur.
A study on (nih.gov): Alkaline Water and Longevity – Rats that drank alkaline ionized water (pH 8.5 and 9.5) had signs of greater longevity.
The findings of a study on (nih.gov): Daily ingestion of AEW influences human health indicate that ingesting AEW (alkaline electrolyzed water pH 9.2 ± 0.2) on a daily basis improves health and exercise capacity as well as improvement in gastrointestinal symptoms.
The study on the Effect of ERW pH 9.47 on Cell Culture Redox (Reduction-Oxidation) Cellular State – The H2 dissolved in ERW acts as an antioxidant, neutralizing the free radical. This is very important if we consider that oxidative stress contributes to the development of many inflammatory diseases (nih.gov).

pH Levels in Municipal Drinking Water

pH levels in drinking water in Malaysia is between 5.81 to 7.41 (Institute for Medical Research & National Institutes of Health, Malaysia)
In Hong Kong, hydrated lime is added to water leaving the treatment works to regulate the pH value of the water to 8.2 to 8.8 (gov.hk).
In the US, tap water pH varies; typically about 7.5. EPA recommends that municipal drinking water is kept at a pH of 6.5 to 8.5 (healthline.com)

Continuous Ionized Electrolysis Water Generator Systems

Photo: fchwater.com

Enagic LeveLuk SD501

This Kangen Water® filtration machine generates a continuous stream of 5 types of water using innovative electrolysis technology with 7 platinum-coated 99.97% pure titanium electrode plates. Generates: Strong Kangen Water, Kangen Water®, Neutral Water, Beauty Water, and Strong Acidic Water. Kangen is a Japanese word which means ‘return to origin’.

Features

On a touch of a button, you can have access to any of the 5 waters with Machine Voice Confirmations and Screen Display.
Automatic Cleaning periodically controlled by microcomputer
Smart Filter Technology that tells you when it’s time to change filters

Certifications

ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 13485 for quality control and environmental management
The Water Quality Association (for Enagic) Gold Seal: NSF/ANSI 42 Aesthetic Chlorine, Taste and Odor Reduction

REVIEWS

lowyat forum: MLM product, over-priced. The science has not been proven yet. Promotion that Kangen water can cure various illness such as cancer can mislead people and result in offenders being charged. If you want high PH water just buy panasonic brand which has the same function, at much lower price.

Price

enagic-my.com: RM 13,980.00 | hkkangenwater.org: HKD29,800 | kangenwaternordic.com: USD3,980

Panasonic Alkaline Ionizer TK-AS45

First, residual chlorine and impurities are removed to create purified water. Then, the purified water is electrolyzed by a high-power electrolyzer featuring 3 electrodes to create alkaline ionized water and acidic ionized water – four different pH values. The baked platinum-coated titanium electrodes are durable and exceptionally resistant to deterioration.

Filtration

The filters are made of four kinds of materials with different sized holes that eliminate harmful substances and 99.999% of bacteria – (1) Non-woven fabric (2) Ceramic (3) Activated carbon (4) Hollow fiber membrane.

Cartridge: TK-AS45C1, TK-7815C1 (Lazada: RM480 | panasonic.hk: HKD998.00)

Usage Approx. 12 months

Certification/ Standards Conformity

NSF42 (for Panasonic) – TK-AS45C1 Cartridge is certified for Reduction of Chlorine, Taste and Odor, Nominal Particulate Class I. The Activated Carbon is certified for material requirements.
Japanese Industrial Standard JIS S3201: Elimination of Free residual chlorine/Turbidity/Total trihalomethane/ Bromodichloromethane/ Dibromochloromethane/ Chloroform/ Bromoform/ Tetrachloroethylene/
Trichloroethylene/ 1,1,1- Trichloroethane/ CAT (agricultural chemicals)/ 2-MIB (mold odor)/ Soluble lead
Japan Water Purifier Association (JWPAS B): Elimination of Iron (fine particles)/ Aluminum (neutral)/ Geosmin (musty odor)/Phenols