Shopping Water Ionizers? Watch out for Deceptive Tactics.

If a company makes wild claims about how far-out better their water ionizer is than EVERY other water ionizer…beware. Many years and years of research have gone into the engineering of water ionizers. I would not completely believe that one company beats out ALL others, unless I tested their water ionizer against other exceptional water ionizers myself.

I used to believe these kinds of claims [at least partially believe them] until I started extensively testing water ionizers. Since then I’ve found out in every case where a water ionizer company has stated wild superiority, it was simply not true. Maybe it was an exceptional ionizer, but there were also other exceptional ionizers. Within the category of exceptional water ionizers, there are a few that are a little better than other exceptional ones in some aspects…but not in all aspects.

Is “a little bit better” worth it? I personally feel it’s worth spending an extra $500.00 or so for a little bit better ORP per unit of pH or for a continuous electrode cleaning system, however, I wouldn’t spend too much extra just to get a little bit better acid water. Each person has to decide for themselves on what’s worth it or not. It’s kind of like if you were buying a car and the salesperson claimed this car could go faster than any other car. That statement wouldn’t mean much to most people, but someone would want to pay extra for that if it were true. I don’t feel that “a little bit better ORP” or “a little bit lower acid pH” warrants wild statements of superiority though. I’ve tested all of the good water ionizers, and I haven’t found one that was wildly better than the rest. 

Are there bad water ionizers? Yes, some are just junk after a couple of years or even right away. If they aren’t using pure titanium coated with pure platinum, or worse, if they’re using titanium-platinum alloys they are selling an inferior product for three reasons:

1. The levels of electrolysis with alloys will not be able to ionize the water well. Pure platinum is required for full water ionization. Platinum is the best known catalyst for ionization known to man.
2. Alloys will not hold up as well as titanium and platinum in their pure forms, therefore no matter what they say, their water ionizer will not last. It won’t continue getting good ionization.
3. Alloys may contain nickel, copper, or other minerals that can leach into your drinking water eventually. This could bring the levels of those minerals up too high, so as to make your water unhealthy. 

Water Ionizer Warranties: If it’s a new company I wouldn’t trust their warranty, especially if it was one of those “too good to be true” warranties. The test of a good warranty is not only what the company says, but look at some other things, then add up the facts before making your decision based on water ionizer warranty. I suggest to ask yourself these questions:

1. What would happen if everyone started cashing in on that unbelievable warranty down the road? Would the company go out of business?
2. How old is the company?
3. What is, their BBB rating?
4. Does the company seem forthright? Do they supply you with sufficient information about themselves so you could find them if they jumped ship? If they don’t divulge their name, address and such on their websites, they could operate multiple companies that never get linked to each other. Therefore it’s no big deal if one company fails, their other companies will pick up the slack. It’s a little shifty to not divulge these kinds of normal things.

Are there false water ionizer comparisons? Yes. It is definitely not conclusive if a company tells you how they’ve tested all of them and theirs is the best. Where is the proof? I try to keep abreast of all the water ionizer comparisons being done [both the reliable ones and the obviously biased ones] and I’ll share a few things I’ve observed from some of the more shady water ionizer comparisons I’ve seen:.

• Most obviously unreliable: When a company tells you they have compared their brand with other brands, but offers no proof of their claim to be the best, or their proof has holes in it.
• A little less obvious: When a company claims to have had an independent lab analyze their water samples vs. several other popular water ionizer samples, but they don’t have proof that the samples were collected and submitted properly. This is particularly questionable if their test numbers fall out of the range of possibility. For example: I saw a supposed lab test result the other day that showed that the ionizer [all by itself] removed over 90% of the sodium from the water. This is ludicrous, because only reverse osmosis or nano-filtration can do that. It was particularly interesting in that instance that the company collected their own samples to send to the lab.
• Even less obvious: When a doctor or health professional claims that they have compared all of the water ionizers and theirs is the best. This is less obvious, because people tend to believe doctors and health professionals, and they’re used to taking their word for things. This category includes: when a doctor or health professional tells you how bad all of the “other” water ionizers are, but they supply questionable proof or no proof [just anecdotal references to their past experiences years ago]. They of course don’t mention specific names either, because that then would possibly open them up to a lawsuit if they couldn’t prove what they were saying was true [and therefore it probably isn’t true].
• Most un-obvious: Water ionizer review sites may not be anything more than a front for one of the companies they are reviewing. If the reviewer tells you nothing about himself, nothing about his interest in the business, and nothing about his company, yet pays money to advertise his website….beware. There is something fishy there. I’m pretty sure he’s not just being a philanthropist. Also, if the reviewer sells only one brand, that makes their reviews questionable as well.

Are there other false claims to watch out for? Yes.

• Here’s a good one: Company claims to be the only US manufacturer, then a year later divulges that their plant happens to be in Korea. When it comes to the purpose of water ionizers to be for improving one’s health, it makes no sense to buy from a company that hides or potentially skews their facts.
• Water ionizer companies who make deals with stars to sell their water ionizers: Does that mean their water ionizer is better? No. These endorsements don’t offer any proof that their ionizer is better. They only offer proof that they made a deal with that star. Using stars to sell a product is just another sales gimmick. It happens all the time with many products.
• Here’s another example: Company says they’re the first and only company that offers a lifetime warranty. This is just silly, because these things can be dated and proven otherwise. [In this case they were the third company to offer a lifetime warranty, and of course that means they aren’t the only ones either.] Always look for the proof of these kinds of claims…or better yet, just ignore them. This is just hot air coming out of a shallow hole.
• If a company tells you all of their certifications, without offering at least links to the PDF documents that prove that, it could be that there is something they are hiding. Otherwise why wouldn’t they show you the documents? Maybe they don’t want you to know the identity of their actual manufacturer, in which case they are probably hiding something.
• If a company has an “About us” page that tells all about their goals for you the customer, but nothing about themselves or their own background or history, they are probably hiding something about their own identity.
• Or if they have a “Contact Us” page and they don’t even give you an email address, address or phone number, that’s a red flag that they could be hiding something. They should be able to provide you with names, addresses, phone numbers, etc., which tell real information about them.
• Beware of “camera-shy” companies. If you don’t see their ionizers in broad numbers of video-comparisons, and you only see them tooting their own horn, or on only a couple of carefully selected sites, or if they seem to try to stay out of the internet arena [where they would be subject to scrutiny or actual real comparisons]  it could be intentional. Their product might not be that wonderful, and they may not want you to see that.
• Do not buy a water ionizer from a foreign country [including Canada]. You have no real idea where that water ionizer came from or who tampered with it. They will show you a picture of the product and it looks right, but you don’t know anything more than that.