The Truth About Water Filters: Fluoride, Chorine/Chloramines, Micron Size, Remineralization, Testing

You are interested in drinking healthier water, or you wouldn’t be here. My guess is that you are a little confused by what you have been reading about water filters and ionizers. There are so many sites on the web and they all claim to be the best. You know that can’t possibly be true.

This article is my attempt to help you understand what is real and what is simply sales pitch when it comes to water filters. I’m not here to point fingers at offenders….even a millipede doesn’t have that many fingers….I just want you to be aware of the multitude of false claims on the internet. I will focus on a few of what I consider to be the most harmful decptions when it comes to water filters. I use the word harmful because consumers buy products that they believe are performing that is not in fact being performed.

The main thing to know about most filters is that their primary use is to take out chlorine, taste and odor. After all, that is what most people care about. Municipalities do a great job of removing the dangerous stuff from our tap water for the most part. It is the stuff that municipalities put into the water that we need to be concerned about. The two primary additions to the water supply are fluoride and chlorine/chloramines.

Fluoride

Fluoride is a poison that should not be added to drinking water. The propaganda supporting the addition of fluoride to 2/3 of the tap water in America is an insult to our intelligence. Canada is almost as bad as 40% of Canadians receive fluoride in their source water. Europe and Asia don’t fluoridate their water supplies and North America should pay attention.

All kinds of companies claim that their filters remove fluoride, but they rarely do. Until recently (June 2016), the only way to effectively remove fluoride was with a Reverse Osmosis “RO” system unless you were willing to deal with a cumbersome and expensive distillation system.  A company called Brilliantz (see www.brilliantz.com) offers a fluoride filter in its HIM2 Hydrogen Infusion Machine which consists of two types of activated carbon and Zeolite minerals bound with polymers to form a carbon block.  They also offer the filters only for under the counter installation.  The fluoride filter is capable of removing up to 85% of the fluoride from the source water when tested at a flow rate of 2 liters per minute. The fact that the HIM2 (above counter) and HIM3 (under counter) units run at approximately 1 liter per minute allows the filter to reduce fluoride at a higher rate due to greater contact time which may allow for fluoride removal capability equal to RO systems.  Brilliantz sells their molecular hydrogen water products directly to the public for 50% less than their competitors as they don’t pay any commissions or referral fees so you might want to check them out if you are interested in that type of product.

The upside to the HIM unit’s fluoride filter is that it is compact (fits inside their hydrogen water ionizer housing), low cost, doesn’t restrict flow rate, and the most important factor is that it actually works.

The downside to RO systems is that they take everything out of the water which is very unhealthy. Clean water doesn’t mean healthy water. The good news is that natural water ionizers or more specifically the remineralizing media in natural water ionizers allow you to put all the good stuff (primarily calcium and magnesium) back into the drinking water.

Stay away from companies that offer an Activated Alumina “AA” solution to removing fluoride from water. While the manufacturers of AA certified tests that prove they remove some fluoride, but what they don’t tell you is that they rarely work in most situations. You will read claims and see statistics verifying the fluoride absorption capabilities of AA. What you won’t read is that AA works well when water is very acidic (in the pH range of 5.0 to 6.0), but it rapidly decreases in effectiveness above those levels. In fact, AA has zero effectiveness in water with a pH of 8.0 or above.

The Safe Drinking Water Act mandates that municipalities provide water with a pH level that falls within a range of 6.5 and 8.5. That means that unless you are drinking water from a well that happens to be acidic, AA isn’t going to be very effective at all. It gets worse. Almost every municipality provides tap water that has a pH in the range of 7.4 and 8.0. The reason municipalities raise the pH of the water they supply to customers is to protect their systems from corrosion that is caused by the presence of acidic water. They create the elevated pH levels by adding lye to the water before it leaves the treatment plant.

The bottom line is that an AA filter can work under very specific commercial applications, but it almost certainly won’t work for residential applications. If you are concerned about fluoride, get an RO system with a proper remineralizinaton flter or check out the Xcell mentioned above.

Chlorine/Chloramines

Municipalities need to make the water they supply to constituents safe…or at least safe against things that can make you sick in a hurry such as bacteria. Chlorine has been used effectively for centuries to control bacteria and carbon has been used to remove the taste and smell of chlorine. DeIonizing resin will also remove the taste and odor of chlorine which is what Brita filters use. What Brita doesn’t tell you (for good reason because if they did tell you, they would never sell any filters) is that if you fill a pitcher of chlorinated tap water and let is sit on the counter for a few minutes, the chlorine will burn off.

One problem that municipalities face in using chlorine to kill off bacteria is that when chlorine interacts with organic matter (molecules containing carbon atoms) a nasty cancer causing result is the formation of Tri Halo Methanes (THM’s). Municipalites must use ozonation to kill of the THM’s which can be expensive to implement.

Larger municipalities are converting to the use of chloramines which are formed when ammonia gas is bubbled into chlorine. The chloramines are don’t form THM’s and chloramines last longer than chlorine. Chlorine is also cost effetive, so you can be assured that chloramines are coming your way in the future unless you live in a small community that doesn’t have the funds to upgrade their system.

Chloramines sound great but there always seems to be a catch. Chloramines are much more difficult to remove from water than chlorine, and simply airing out your tap water doesn’t work as well. When chloramines are present, Catalytic carbon is recommended as it has up to 8 times more surface area than basic activated carbon. While activated carbon is only slightly effective at removing chloramines, catalytic carbon is very effective.

If you are thinking about buying or replacing a carbon filter, make sure you find out if your tap water contains chlorine or chloramines by going online or calling the local municipality and asking. If you own a Reverse Osmosis “RO” system, it is very important to find out if your water has chloramine in it because the chloramine will dramatically shorten the life of the membrane in your system unless you have a catalytic carbon filter. At the current time, many companies charge a lot more for catalytic carbon filters “because they can”. Shop around because it doesn’t cost much more to produce a catalyic carbon filter.

One last tip about carbon filters. Carbon block filters are much mure reliable and effective than granulated carbon filters because they provide a consistent contact surface area whereas granulated carbon tends to developing channels (like a river) that water follows. Carbon block filters also last much longer than granulated carbon filters which makes them more cost effective.

Micron Size

False claims about the filtration capabilities of filters in terms of micron size are everywhere. In fact, you rarely see websites that reflect the truth.

You word MICRON is used by the industry to describe the size of particles that a filter will elimante from water. There are two words to describe the fitration capability of a filter…one is ABSOLUTE….the other is NOMINAL. Absolute is a definition that means a filter will remove absolutely every particle above the stated micron size. In other words, an Absolute filter does what you assume it will do. For example, a 1 micron filter will remove anything larger than 1 micron. A nominal designation means that a filter will nominally remove particulate down to the stated size. What that means is that a 1 micron filter can remove particulate as small as 1 micron, but it is just as likely to allow particles that are 2-3 microns or even 5 microns pass through.

Unless you read the word ABSOLUTE when it comes to micron capability, assume the filter is referring to NOMINAL.

Who cares? You should care. If your source water has bacteria in it, whether it be from a well or surface water that isn’t treated with chlorine, or even if your municipally treated water fails (which sometimes, but rarely happens), any filter that doesn’t provide a 0.5 micron ABSOLUTE filter will allow the bacteria through, which could have devastating health consequences.

The water ionizer companies are really bad when it comes to making false claims about the contaminant removal capabilities of their filters. I visited a factory where a prominant water ionizer company has its famous 0.1 micron filters made. The reality is that the filter has a 1.0 Nominal filter, which means that it won’t protect you from the “bad stuff” that could be present in your source water.

If a filter company makes a CLAIM about ANY capability of a filter that has not been certified and itemized on the NSF or the WQA websites, ignore the claim. Due to the high cost and time consuming aspect of getting claims certified, companies may say that all or certain aspects of the media and hardware that they use in their products have been certified by the WQA or NSF. If that is the case and you are concerned about the ingredients, you can press the company to list the ingredients to see if they are in fact listed on the NSF or WQA websites.

The bottom line is that if you are concerned about removing contaminants from your water, get a RO system (with a proper remineralization filter).

Remineralization Filters

Only a small percentage of the population is aware of the benefits of drinking ionized/energized water. An even smaller segment of the population knows that natural water ionizers are not only a lot cheaper but are also more effective than the more costly electric water ionizers. But all that is going to change. It is just a matter of time until the celebrities start endorsing ionized water. There are already rumors of Mark Wahlberg starting up a bottled water company which is based upon remineralized water.

In the meantime, the people who sell RO systems are starting to feel the heat from customers who are telling them that the acidic water that they are selling is bad for them. The RO guys should be thinking about the fact that their water depletes the human body of calcium and magnesium, but they don’t seem to care because consumers haven’t picked up on that yet. What the RO guys do care about is making money, so they are panicking about losing buisiness.

The RO dealers have found a cheap and easy solution to turn their acidic water into alkaline water. Their solution is to add Calcite or Corosex filters. The filters can be added to a RO system in about one minute and all you need is a pair of scissors. The filters turn acidic water into alkaline water and they only cost about $6 (the dealers sell them for $39 to $69). Perfect….right? Oops! The filters were never designed to be used with acidic water. The filters will raise the pH of alkaline water by about 0.5 to 1.0 pH and last about 6 months. However, when they are used with acidic water, the pH can rise as much as by 3 to 4 which is 1,000 to 10,000 times more alkaline. That may seem like good news, but the media gets ravaged by the acidic water and gets used up much faster than 6 months. The worst part is that too much calcium and or magnesium enters the water which can lead to the formation of kidney stones.

After conducting a lot of testing on different types of remineralizing filter prototypes, I have found that the various kinds of media within a remineralizing filter interact with each other. That means the one media that pasts certification testing on its own may react very differently when it is in the presence of other media. As you combine more types of media, the reactions can easily change.

Fortunately for RO users, there are bioceramic remineralization filters that effectively “time release” the rate of introduction of calcium and magnesium into the water. The filters cost about $250 which is expensive, but they last for 2 years, which makes the cost about $10 per month. The bioceramic filter that I have been testing has been in use for about 8 years and the company has sold tens of thousands of their remineralization filters without one complaint about the formation of kidney stones.

If you are interested in drinking clean and healthy water as opposed to simply clean water (what you get from a RO system or most brands of bottled water) make sure that you get water that has been remineralized in the proper way.

Test Results….Or….Figures Don’t Lie, But Liars Do Figure

I learned the hard way a couple of years ago that test results can be misleading. In reality, the test results themselves aren’t misleading because the results are the results. The problem is that it is fairly simple to get test results that will help the marketing guys if you set the tests up the right way.

I helped a company a few years ago based upon the fact that they had an affordable water ionizer that had awesome test results. As time went on, I was able to do my own independent testing and the results didn’t jive with the results the company provided. As I began to dig deeper, I learned that the great results from the company testing were a result of completely flawed test design. The company claimed ingnorance at the time, but I now see that they are up to their old tricks again. Live and learn

I only wrote about the above example begins it still stings. I have come across all kinds of test results that seemed great on the surface, but once I dug a little deeper, I came to realize that the tests were desinged to produce the results.

If you are “into” test results and comparison testing, be very careful about what you read. It takes a lot of work to dig through the methodology and to check all the scienctific facts to confirm for sure that what you think you know is actually true. Remember that a company isn’t going to publish anything that could make it look bad. Nobody gets punished for not telling the whole story, but in my mind, telling only part of the story can be just as bad as lying.

SUMMARY

Be careful about what you read or hear when it comes to claims made by filter companies. If the specific claim doesn’t show up on the NSF or WQA website, treat the claim with a grain of salt (maybe a boulder of salt). Even if a company shows the manufacturer’s NSF claim, make sure that it is applicable. This might be depressing news for you but don’t let it get you down as there are good solutions.

If you are concerned about what is in your source water, just get a RO system with a proper remineralization filter.

If you have great source water and want to add energy to your water, get a water ionizer. If you want to add calcium and magnesium (as recommended by the World Health Organization) to your energized water, get a natural water ionizer.

45 Responses to The Truth About Water Filters: Fluoride, Chorine/Chloramines, Micron Size, Remineralization, Testing

  1. Hi Rob,

    Great article. I enjoyed it. Clarify something for me: what do you use to test contaminants and whether it’s hard or soft?

    • Hi Natalia:

      Thanks for the nice comment :)

      Most people go to a water store or to their local town office to get their water tested for contaminants and for the hardness of the water. In addition, municipalities are obligated to tell their customers what is in the water that they supply and they publish the information.

  2. Hello Rob,

    I’m new to this site so I currently don’t have the oppurtunity to really go through it. My question for you is, what is your background concerning water and water quality? Also, have you ever seen an alkaline water demonstration? I am an Enagic distributer and I can understand that some people have their minds made up about things. A lot of people refuse to even see a demonstration but rather decide to “look it up” on the internet and beleive what they find there. Usually what they find are the opinions of others who either have never witnessed a demonstration, IN PERSON and not on the internet, or hae done exactly what they are doing, looking it up on the internet. So I’m just curious as to which one you were. The reason why I ask is because, if you look at Enagics website, you can find several certifications that they have acquired, including ISO and WQO gold standard certification for the SD501. What are your thoughts on their ability to acquire these certifications?

    • Hi David:

      Thanks for adding your comments.

      I was first introduced to ionized water by my wife after she attended an Enagic meeting about 4 years ago. Since then, I sold and then later referred people to buy several thousand water ionizers, visited manufacturing facilities in Asia and the USA, spent several thousand hours researching ionized water including talking to leading engineers and tech support people from all over the world, and I have interviewed and shared ideas with most of the leading players in the ionizer industry in the world. I have also researched and written over 200 articles about water on my blog. Does that count?

      ISO certification can mean different things. Obtaining WQA certification is a good thing in that the association makes sure the product does what it claims to do. However, you can obtain certification for one simple catagory such as using GAC to remove chlorine. Anyone that looks at a product with WQA approval should find out what the certificaton actually covers before assuming too much. Therefore, certificatons can be a good thing but they are not necessarily what people think they are.

      Lower is badly misinformed. If he took the time to do some research, he wouldn’t make claims that make him look old and foolish.

      • We bought the Enagic LeveLuk SD501 (www.waterkangenwater.com) 9 years ago for our home and cannot say enough good things about it. It produces 7 different pH leveled waters that can help you go green and eliminate the need for chemicals around the house. For example, it produces a water that disinfects countertops and everything – completely natural. Nothing added. We don’t use laundry detergent anymore and we make our own soap from it, too. You can find Enagic ionizers here: http://www.waterkangenwater.com

        • Hi Tash:

          I’m glad that you like your Kangen machine. I think $4,000 is a lot of money to pay for a machine that produces a very low quality disinfectant, but that is just me.

          • Do you know if the Kangen machines SD501 remove all of the fluoride and chlorine? has anyone gotten water tested for these after filtering through a kangen machine?

          • Hi Alan:

            The filter in the Kangen machine will do a pretty good job of removing chlorine just like any inexpensive ($10 – $20 carbon filter), but it won’t remove fluoride.

  3. Sorry, I meant WQA/Gold Standard certification. Also, I appreciate your articla about “Dr” Lower. His article was quite aggrevating to read and twist and turns all over the place. He also seems to be angry about something, or anything for that matter, that has to do with getting healthy with water in general but he seems to have a personal vendetta against alkaline water.

  4. I have been looking for the best remineralization + alkalining filter to put on my RO unit.

    Very confusing which filter will produce the greatest health result.

    Was looking at Aptera ….. Hydonix….. Watts Premier.

    What do you recommend?

    Thanks…
    JJ

    • Hi JJ:

      My choice would be to contact the guys at http://www.vitev.com as their remin product is state of the art imo. I have tested the product and was thoroughly impressed.

      I haven’t tested the other products that you mentioned so any comments would be off the top of my head and basically worthless.

  5. those were very interesting response’s
    Rob seems to know what the f*** he is talking about
    i would take his advice

    • Hi Greg:

      Thanks for the vote of confidence. I had to edit your comment a bit :)

  6. What water filter would you recommend? I’m looking at the Berkey with fluoride filters added.

    • Hi Fritzie:

      If you want the best and can afford $795, I would recommend the Vitev Maxx (see http://http://www.vitev.com/alkaline-water-ionizers/MAXX/

      I like the Maxx because the RO part takes the bad stuff (contaminants) out of the water and it’s Remin filter puts the good stuff (healthy minerals) back into the water. The Maxx includes a permeate pump which reduces waste water by up to 80% and fills the holding tank up to 4 times faster than conventional RO systems which are great features. I did the math on building my own system with the same features as a Maxx for my own kitchen and the tally ended up being about $850. I have been using the Maxx for about a year and my entire family likes it.

      If you can’t afford a Maxx, you can buy a Zero Water Pitcher for about $38 from Walmart which will take all the contaminants out of the water for about 6 weeks. The filters for the Zero Water pitcher end up costing about $135 per year which is a bit pricey. You can also buy a VYVwater pitcher for $60 (see http://www.vyvwater.com) which will put the minerals back into the water. The filters for the VYVwater pitcher cost about $80 per year. If you fill the Zero Water pitcher with tap water and then pour the water from that pitcher into the VYVwater pitcher, you will end up with clean and healthy water for the lowest price. The Maxx is wayyyy more convenient, but not everyone can afford $795.

  7. Hi Rob,
    would you recommend the Vitev Maxx RO filter? I’ve been researching for a while now, but had not heard or read about Vitev till I read one of the comments on your blog. I was very impressed by the claims on Vitev.com about their MAXX filter but cannot find any individual reviews about this product and therefore hesitant to buy this RO system. Any input?

    • Hi Leah:

      I have a Maxx in my kitchen and I love it.

      I assume the www.vitev.com/alkaline-water-ionizers/MAXX/ website covers anything I would say far better than I could say it. I got the system because it cleans and remineralizes making great water. The permeate pump reduces waste water which is a bonus. I think the company should play up the fact that the permeate pump fills up the holding tank 4x faster than the normal RO systems which was a really strong selling point for me. My previous RO system took forever to refill if I drew down a gallon of water at dinner time or at a party.

  8. I love it. Great article. Seriously.

    Do you have anything to say about whole-house filters? I am trying to decide between a whole-house filter or an under-the-sink filter for drinking water, plus shower and bath filters for skin contact. I would really appreciate your opinion and any recommendations of brands/models I could look at.

    • Hi Laura:

      Whole house filters are great for removing contaminants from the source water. The most important issues are:

      1) what do you need to remove from the water?
      2) how do you get the best value?

      It is important to remove chlorine from the water for showers because breathing in chlorine during a shower should be avoided. If removing chlorine from showers is your only requirement, all you need to do is purchase an inexpensive carbon based shower filter. If you want to remove chlorine from all of your household water, you can purchase a two stage Big Blue system that utilizes a sediment filter and a carbon filter.

      I don’t recommend expensive whole house systems as they are not really necessary. Most people get “SOLD” on purchasing expensive systems because of the problems with contaminated drinking water. The best way to handle drinking water is to dedicate one tap in a home to drining water, which is usually the kitchen sink. The ideal drinking water is clean and healthy. A reverse osmosis system handles the clean part. A remineralization filter will handle the healthy part. The world is just waking up to the fact that good drinking water requires minerals which make the water alkaline. My favourite system is the MAXX by Vitev (www.vitev.com) as it does a lot of important things well and it is reasonably affordable at $795 (which as of July includes and extra set of replacement filters which normally sell for $199). If your drinking water isn’t hard and is not filled with contaminants such as fluoride and other nasty stuff, you can buy a very inexpensive system such as the VYVwater pitcher for $59 which has very affordable annual replacement filter costs of about $60.

      The greatest need for water systems is when people have hard water which causes scaling in appliances and pipes. In that case, a water softener installed at the point of entry into the home for the source water will do the trick. You will need a reverse osmosis system (preferably with a remineralizing filter) under the kitchen sink for drinking water.

  9. in regards to the conversation on whole home systems, is it not true that many contaminants not able to be removed by a carbon filter can be just as easily absorbed through the skin as by breathing in?

  10. I know you are all for RO systems but what about berkey water filter with carbon block and fluoride filter elements that contains high-grade activated aluminum oxide, which currently is the most efficient media available for extracting fluoride from water

  11. Good article. One comment…. you brush past chloramines too quickly. I suggest most folks really need a 3 phase system, Carbon for chloramine, RO for fluoride, and then the Ionizer to make it healthy.

    However, that is not an excuse for not fighting like h* to get the fluoride and chloramine out of your water in the first place! You are still absorbing these poisons through your skin, as are the vegetables in your garden that you bring to the table. If you manage to get the F out, you might only need a high quality carbon filter.

    • Hi KSpencer:

      Thanks for your comments.

      Take a look at the Vitev Maxx (www.vitev.com) as it does exactly what you suggested as a 3 phase system. I think it is the best system on the market.

  12. HI!
    We live in the country and have a distiller in our basement. We’ve been drinking distilled water for about 3 years now since we moved in and I’m only now starting to hear about how that’s not so good. What I’m wondering is if you know of any remineralizing filter I can add to my faucet at my kitchen sink?

    My distiller has a pump attached to it in the basement, very much like the kind of pump you’d see in a holiday trailer.

    Any advice would be much appreciated.

    Corey

    • Hi Corey:

      When it comes to learning, better is late than never.

      My choice when it comes to Remin filters is the Remin by Vitev (wwww.vitev.com) which sells for $149. If you can hold off for a week or two, I’m hoping to be able to report on a very similar product for $99.

  13. Hi rob interesting read. i know you like the vitev but i already have a whole ro/di system setup. i despise proprietary cartridges also. so 2 questions:

    1- is there an in line or standard 2.5 x 10 inch remin filter you like?

    2- i see a lot of fuss over the UF, ultrafiltration, filters. WHat are your thoughts on these and is there a brand you like?

    much appreciated , very hard to find good info out there
    mz

    • Hi Mike:

      I understand your dislike of proprietary cartridges as they are essentially a means of charging the consumer more than they would have to pay in an open market. Vitev’s Remin is proprietary in the sense that they have their own “mix”, but the filter could easily be replaced with any other remineralization filter as long as the alternative filter has quick connect fittings. Vitev used to charge $249 for the Remin in the early days when they were recovering their startup costs. They dropped the price to $149 about a year ago (maybe longer as I can’t remember) when the volumes justified the lower price.

      Vitev informed me recently that they started an auto-ship program whereby repeat customers can opt-in which allows them to pay $119 for Remin filters which I think includes shipping (you will have to check their website to confirm). Most of the remineralization filters that I have checked out sell for around $99, but I would pay the extra $20 per year to get what I know is a great filter rather than take a chance on something that probably won’t work as well. I do know that Vitev uses high quality materials in their “mix” and they put a great deal of time and effort into getting their mix “right”, as I helped them with their testing of the product a few years ago.

  14. sorry i see that vivtev filter can work w my system in-line. how do you think this compares to the hydronix remin filter? do you know specifically what the media is in the vivtev?

    • Hi Mike:

      Vitev has a Remin filter than can be added to any RO system. I use the same filter as part of the Maxx system that I have in my kitchen. My family loves it fwiw.

      I know what is in the Vitev Remin filter but I think you should be contacting the company for that information. I also know that it provides drinking water that is rated in the “optimal” range for TDS, Ca, and Mg by the World Health Organization. I also know that their Remin filter provides very good molecular hydrogen results which is very exciting for me.

      I have never tested the hydronix filter so it would be unfair for me to offer a comparison.

  15. Hello, I am interested in a water filtering system that removes 100% all contaminates (especially fluoride)and adds all healthy constituents. Price is no issue.

    Thank you for your time.

    • Hi C:

      Price is no issue….geez…I never hear that.

      In order to remove all contaminants, you need to use a Reverse Osmosis or Distillation system. The Reverse Osmosis doesn’t remove 100% but it will remove fluoride and almost everything. A proper functioning Reverse Osmosis system should reduce the Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) down to single digits in terms of parts per million. A distillation system will remove everything, but they are cumbersome and expensive and in my opinion not worth the money unless one is using the system to produce pharmaceutical preparations. The pharmacists now days simply buy distilled water for their preparations instead of buying a system.

      Reverse Osmosis systems de-contaminize water, but they also remove the good stuff from water. The World Health Organization (WHO) stated in 2005 that the ideal drinking water is created whereby a range of 80 to 120 parts per million of TDS consisting of 2/3 Calcium and 1/3 Magnesium with everything else being removed.

      The Vitev Maxx which costs $795 (see http://www.vitev.com) provides water that falls in the “optimal” range as defined by the WHO. As such, the Maxx is my preferred choice and I have one under my kitchen sink.

  16. Hi there, Rob! It may be an old post but I’m sure a lot would still find this useful. I personally agree to your points and I think everyone should, at top, consider their cases first when it comes to water filtration systems, and not rant about stuff that doesn’t work. Thanks for setting facts straight. Thumbs up for this good and honest information!

  17. I STILL HAVE A QUESTION THAT I READ ON THE FILTERS THEY SAID ABSOLUTE BUT THE DONT SAY WHAT THE ABSOLUTE MICRONS THESE FILTERS ARE .

    • Hi Don:

      Sorry about the late reply. Somehow, I missed your comment.

      The false claims made about filtration run a close second to the false claims made by alkaline water companies when it comes to pissing me off.

      For a long time, the alkaline people just didn’t know what they were talking about, so they made stuff up to help them sell their machines. The alkaline folks don’t have that excuse anymore, so there should be zero tolerance to claims about microclustering and about how cancer can’t survive in an alkaline environment (and a host of other pseudoscientific nonsense).

      On the other hand, the facts about filtration have always been available, so there is really no excuse for false claims. The filter manufacturers have verifiable removal statistics (or they should have). If a seller can’t be bothered to learn the facts about the products they sell, then people should not buy from them.

  18. Dear All,
    I leave in Hong Kong and they say that tap water gets some lead in it. I have a Vitev Maxx but no idea on whether it is useful against lead. Do you know?
    Thanks. Xls

    • Hi Xavier:

      The Maxx is a RO system with a great built-in remineralization filter. As a RO system, it will definitely remove lead from the source water.

  19. hopefully you are still responding to these questions. does the vitev do the same thing that the kangen claims? that is converting h2o into ho and h3o? or is that just fancy marketing? also i see the price has gone down to $120 for the vitev but now the filters last 1 yr as opposed to the 3 originally written by you? was curious if you ever did test that other filter you mentioned june 22 2015?

    • Hi Steve:

      Maybe I lost my mind one day or had a typo, but I don’t think I have ever suggested that a filter last more than one year. I don’t know of any company that recommends that the life of their filter extends beyond one year.

      The Vitev products fall into a category that I refer to as nature water ionizers. In essence, the nature water ionizers produce molecular hydrogen (H2) by introducing water to elemental magnesium:

      Mg + 2H20 —> H2 + Mg(OH)2

      Electric water ionizers such as Kangen produce H2 at the anode during electrolysis. The H+ (a hydrogen missing an electron) picks up an electron at the anode (think about the anode like a cell tower sending out air waves but in the case of an anode, it beams out electrons). When the H+ picks up an electron, it becomes H which means it has one proton and one electron. The H is very unstable as it has an unpaired electron (one instead of two) and it will bond to another H that has also picked up an electron at the anode to form H2

      As you can see, both methods produce H2. Both systems have their proponents and detractors. The new HIM (Hydrogen Infusion Machines) are far superior to both the systems mentioned above as they produce high levels of H2 across a wide variety of source water conditions and you don’t have to clean them. To date, the HIM2 offered by H2FX is the best of the bunch imo.

  20. Some interesting information. Some, very simple and logical. Some quite complex. Some of it starts to get into borderline “religion”. My wife is a trained Micro-Biologist but I am only a lowly software engineer.
    So, here is my question: Aren’t you slightly overstating the effects of mineral removal from our drinking water? You seem to take the approach that we all just sit around drinking tap water all day. I do eat 3-4 meals per day which is supposed supply me with the vast majority of my MDR nutrients.

    • Hi David:

      Nobody is a lowly anything. We are all important.

      The best way by far to get proper nutrients into our bodies is through food. The bio-availability of nutrients obtained through food is at typically much higher than those found in supplements. People should be very choosy about supplements as they come in a very wide spectrum of usefulness. My hobby is water, so that is where I focus. I know, I should talk more about diet but there is plenty of info on the internet about diet.

  21. Rob,
    Thank you for the post and valuable information! Do you know about the Turapϋr pitcher? If so is it a good option for filtered water?

    Rebecca

    • Hi Rebecca:

      The Turapur pitcher is a very popular and inexpensive water filter that creates alkaline water. If the unit is cleaned every day, it can produce therapeutic levels of hydrogen gas.

      • Thank you for your response Rob. As a filter do you know if the Turapur would compare to the Zerowater combined with the Vyv pitcher that you mentioned in an earlier post? I cannot afford an RO system at this time so I am looking for the most cost effective way to get decent water. I drink city water so I know it contains floride and currently I use the Brita and I know that it doesn’t do much. Thank you again!

  22. I have read that you should not drink ionized water on a daily basis as your can become too akaline.Also that our blood is 7.4 alkaline.Should this be a guide to determine our alkaline levels.I would appreciate your input.

  23. I hate to play devil’s advocate, but do you think that perhaps the lack of fluoride in the drinking water in Europe might explain why they tend to have such bad teeth? I’m not even joking, because the “Europeans have bad teeth” thing really isn’t just a joke used in television shows, it’s actually based in reality. So that makes me wonder if perhaps fluoride in our water really does help our teeth after all.

    To be clear, even if it does, you could also argue that the benefits to our teeth aren’t worth the detriments caused by excessive fluoride consumption.

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