Alkaline Water Machines
If you’re interested in purchasing an alkaline water machine, they come in all shapes and sizes. The type of filtration they use runs the gamut from standard multi-stage carbon filtration, reverse osmosis filtration, ionization (electrolysis) and some even include additional components like UV light sterilization. To help you better understand the possible options, let’s take a closer look at each one in more depth below.
Standard Multi-Stage Machines
These work like a typical water filter, passing water through a multi-stage filter to remove as many impurities as possible. Activated carbon will be one of the stages, as it is essential for a water filter of this type to work effectively. It does so by having a huge amount of surface area in relation to the particle size, making it able to trap contaminants in a highly efficient way. This type of alkaline water machine will introduce alkalizing minerals to the drinking water, in order to raise its pH level.
Reverse Osmosis Machines
This is where you cross over into truly complex and sophisticated options, and some believe that reverse osmosis is the gold standard of water filtration. It works by forcing water through a semi-permeable membrane, and this specialized process is able to remove up to 99% of dissolved ions, colloids, organics, particles, pyrogens and bacteria from water (1). Keep in mind this does not remove all viruses or even all bacteria from water, and sometimes UV light sterilization is included to render nearly all viruses within your drinking water inert.
Again, this process is only for purifying the water and does not make it alkaline in nature. To do so, alkalizing minerals are introduced to the water, so that your newly purified drinking water is also higher on the pH scale.
Ionization Machines
Referred to as either ionization or electrolysis (the terms are interchangeable), this type of alkaline water machine uses electricity to alkalize your water. This is accomplished by passing the water over plates which are negatively or positively charged, and these are often platinum-coated titanium in construction. What happens during this process?
The water stream from your faucet is separated into acidic water that is pumped out as waste (or can be used to sterilize items like eating utensils or for general cleaning), and potent alkaline water that has a high Oxidation Reduction Potential. The actual filtration is accomplished using either reverse osmosis or by passing the water through a multistage filter.
See the premium alkaline water filter systems we recommend. Visit our store here.