While ionizers haven’t been used in the US for very long, in other countries, such as Japan, ionizers are present in the homes of nearly 25% of the population. With a number this high, this begs the question of what is a water ionizer and does it actually provide any benefits over normal tap or filtered water.

What is a Water Ionizer?

A water ionizer is a device that can be small enough to fit in your kitchen or large enough to attach to a building or facility to ionize the water for the entire building. Water ionizers originated in Japan in 1961 and have had a strong market there every since.

A very simple definition of a water ionizer is that it is a device that can transform your tap water into mineral water. The water then becomes a healthy nutritional drink with a myriad of different benefits, such as improving health, regulating the bowels, cleaning out toxins and slowing down the aging process; at least, that is what the creators of water ionizers claim.

The process to ionize the water is electrolysis. This process produces an electrical charge in the water you want to drink and iodizes the water. The process also separates oxidized water from the iodized water and there is a need to have a water line to expel the oxidized water because it does not produce the benefits that are claimed about iodized water.

Are there Real Benefits to Drinking Ionized Water?

This is the real question that you should be asking, does ionized water have an actual benefit. The answer isn’t a simple one. The reason for this is that there is no science to back any of the claims made about iodized water. Ironically, oxidized water has been shown in independent laboratory tests to be an excellent cleaner for the skin and clothing, however, no tests exists to prove the worth of ionized water.

Does this mean that there is no benefit? Of course not! What this means is that you may want to find a source, outside of buying an ionizer, to see if you feel any benefits from drinking ionized water. If so, then it may benefit you to purchase one. Just be aware, these devices are far from cheap, usually costing over $1000. If you find that you love iodized water, than this is an efficient and eventually an economical way to do it, you just have to think about it in the long term!