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Alkaline Water Ionizers Compared

We understand there are quite a few competitors in the marketplace and important differences between the various brands of water ionizers.
Unfortunately, tricky marketing and questionable sales tactics are often used to avoid answering important questions such as who is behind the ionizer you buy and how reliable and proven will your ionizer be under USA conditions.

The chart below shows technical and basic differences between multiple brands of ionizers in as unbiased a manner as possible. It may not be as "interesting" to read as on other sites, but hopefully will provide you with essential and accurate information.

	Jupiter Orion & Aquarius	Jupiter Melody	IonWays Athena	Tyent	KYK Harmony	Enagic®	Life Ionizer	Gold Fox
Overall Rating
Suggested Retail Price	$1,795	$1,395	$2,095	$1,895	$1,199	$3,980	$1,895	$1,199
When Wholesaler first in USA	1986	1986	2007	2007	2005	2004	2006	2003
How Long Brand in USA	14 years	14 years	14 years	1+ year	3 years	4 years	1- year	4 years
Independent Lab Result Best pH	N.A.	10.47	10.54	N.A.	9.48	9.46	N.A.	N.A.
Independent Lab Result Best -ORP	N.A.	-637.1	-812.0	N.A.	-482	-578.7	N.A,	N.A.
Independent Lab Result Flow Rate	3 LPM	3 LPM	3 LPM	1.5 LPM	3 LPM	8.0 LPM	1.5 LPM	N.A.
Manufacturer or Assembler	Manufacturer	Manufacturer	Manufacturer	Assembler Only Import cell from ?	Assembler Only Import cell from Taiwan	Manufacturer	Assembler Only Import cell from China	Assembler Only Import cell from Taiwan
Water Expertise	Certified WQA staff	Certified WQA staff	Certified WQA staff	None	Limited	Limited	Limited	Limited
Number of Electrode Plates	5	5	5	7	5	7	5-7	5-7
Manufacturing Process	Electroplating	Electroplating	Electroplating	Dipped	Dipped	Dipped	Dipped	Dipped
Plate Source	Japan	Japan	Japan	Korea?	Taiwan	Japan	China	Taiwan
Cleaning Frequency	Cleans while you use it DARC	Every time automatic post use	Every time used DARC	Every 24-48 hours for 20 secs	Every 12 hours for 30 secs	Every 15 gals for 30 secs	Every 6 gals for 30 secs	Every 12 hours for 30 secs
Wait while Cleaning?	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Stops Scaling on Plates	Yes	Largely	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Water Flow Control Onboard	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
Mineral Port	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Saline	No	No
Installation Options	2 options	3 options	Designed as undersink	2 options	2 options	To tap with diverter only	3 options	To tap only
Filtration (in Microns)	.01M	.1M or .01M	01M	.1M	.1M or .01M	.1M	.1M or .01M	1M
What is in filter?	Carbon, Calcium & Tourmaline	Carbon, Calcium & Tourmaline	Carbon, Calcium & Tourmaline	Carbon & Ceramic	Carbon	Carbon and Calcium	Carbon and Calcium	Carbon
Price of Filter	$59 or $89	$59 or $89	$59 or $89	$85	?	?	?	?
Electrical Supply	Transformer	Transformer	Transformer	SMPS	SMPS	Transformer	SMPS	Transformer
Mineral Port	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	In filter	No
Power Usage	80W	110W	80W	?	200W	230W	200W	400w
Number of pH Levels	48	9 settings plus control knob	48	?	64	7	9	4
Color Changing Screen	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Filter Life Indicator	Yes, by actual liters.	Yes, by actual liters.	Yes, by actual liters.	Yes	Yes, by actual liters.	Yes, by timer	Yes by actual liters	Yes, by actual liters.
Warranty	5 year	5 year	5 year	5 year	5 year	5 year	5 year	1 year
pH/ ORP Measurement	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	NO	Yes
Hot Water Alarm	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
Flow Rate Indicator	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes	?
Price	$1795	$1395	$2645	$1395+	$1199+	$2390+	$1497+	$649+

Comments/ Helpful Advice

4. Jupiter Melody, Orion, Aquarius and Delphi ionizers are still the only ionizers to always give alkaline water (even when cleaning). This patented system means that there is no waiting, no risk of drinking acid water by mistake and also means that scale build up on the plates is minimized.

5. * Most ionizer units use only genuine Platinum Titanium. This is because Platinum is by far the most effective and stable element for water ionization.
Some models made in Taiwan are using Platinoiridium or Platinum mixed with Iridium. They don't use platinum titanium because platinum titanium is 7 times more expensive than iridium. The Japanese and Korean governments does not allow any company to sell iridium for drinking water applications because it is bad for your health. The EP units made for the US market do not use iridium while the same models in Taiwan/China do use iridium.
Also there are new models on the market using 'white gold' for their plating. This is very misleading as there is no such thing as "white gold" since gold is always yellow. "White gold", in fact, is actually an amalgam and contains at least 62% silver and other minerals. Platinum is about $1250 an ounce while Silver is about $12 an ounce. Obviously all the Japanese manufacturers and Jupiter Science etc would use "white gold" if it was any good.
Some companies use cheap plates that are dipped in iridium instead of been baked which is a more expensive and effective method.
Jupiter Science is the only company in Korea that manufactures their own plates (in Japan). All other companies are just assemblers importing their plates from Taiwan or China.

6. ** Enagic® models are so expensive not because they are better than some other brands at a lower price, but because Enagic® needs to markup prices in order to be able to pay out 8 levels of sales representatives. Ask why their filter replacement is well over $100 and ask to see their compensation plan.