We all know that expression “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”. Is it true, or just an old axiom that doesn’t stand up to scrutiny?

As a person that is heading into the final third of my life, I would like to think this old dog still has a few tricks to learn. Learning is a wonderful part of the retirement years. While we are virtual “sponges” when we are young, it seems that most of us get caught up in “survival mode” for the middle third of our lives. We certainly live in a world where most of us feel compelled to get more “stuff”. That means we end up competing for resources that we believe are limited. As such, we focus our learning on things that help us compete more effectively. While this approach is practical, it often limits the amount of time we have to expand our awareness in other directions.

What the Old Dogs In the Water Ionizer Industry Learned

Up until last fall, the water ionization industry was completely focused on the process of electrolysis. That means the water ionizer machines ran water over electrically charged plates which would cause the minerals available in the source water to ionize and combine with the oxygen components of water molecules. The result of the process is that the ionized drinking water contains free hydrogen, which provides wonderful health benefits.

The water ionizer industry chose to focus on the ORP (oxidation reduction potential) readings generated by the machines during electrolysis because the readings were easy to measure. Unfortunately, ORP values are basically irrelevant to health, unless they are related to the electrical charge that is naturally created where the oxygen part of a water molecule bonds with a base alkali metal and therefore releases “free” hydrogen. ORP measures the overall electrical charge in the water as opposed to measuring free “unattached” hydrogen in the water.

Can the Old Dogs Learn New Tricks?

Natural ionization that produces free hydrogen by running water across base alkali metals has been around since the year 2000. We have seen it in the past from Hydrogen Sticks. The sticks work but they are not very practical. I use a hydrogen stick in a pinch when I don’t have access to a water ionizer, but I would not use one for day to day living.

Last fall, a couple of companies introduced antioxidant filters based upon creating free hydrogen by means of running tap water over magnesium or other base alkali metals. The machines are much more effective than hydrogen sticks and much more convenient. They are also good filters as they remove many contaminants from the source water.

I’m a big fan of the antioxidant filters. As a result of my support, the owners of the antioxidant filters talk to me and help me understand what they are doing and why.

I have asked Kirk Phinney of the Revolutionizer, and Gabe Hunninghake of Alkastream “the antioxidant filter guys” if they are making inroads in terms of gaining acceptance with electric water ionizer dealers. The Alkastream guys appear to be having some success with the dealers, but both companies are focused on “new thinking” as opposed to trying to teach the old dogs new tricks. They have both indicated that re-educating electric water ionizer dealers is a difficult process….not impossible…but difficult. It seems that the old dogs are having a hard time letting go of the old doctrines. I hope that the old dogs investigate the new tricks before they discover that the public passes them by. It would be a terrible shame if all of the passionate dealers just gave up.

If not the Old Dogs, Then Who is Going to Spread the Word

Both Kirk (Revolutionizer) and Gabe (Alkastream), have chosen to focus their attention on people who provide health care advice and products. The strategy of focusing on people who communicate with those who care about their health makes sense to me.

Gabe is focusing on retail health stores and also on health care providers such as Naturopathic Doctors. Both groups support natural alternatives and healthy lifestyles.

Kirk is focusing primarily on health care providers. That makes sense as his MLM system doesn’t work as well with retail outlets as they need to keep all of the profits to pay overheads instead of sharing the profits across a number of levels of participants.

Both guys are good people who are leading the way into the future of affordable water ionizers. I wish them well and will continue to support their efforts. I believe it is only a matter of time until more antioxidant filter competitors show up in the market place. I hope the electric water ionizer dealers are taking the time to learn about the new technology so that they will be better able to serve the large portion of the population that wants a low cost alternative to water ionization.