Understanding Your Options
When shopping for water treatment systems, you will encounter both water ionizers and water purifiers. While they may seem similar, they serve different purposes.
Water Purifiers
Water purifiers focus on removing contaminants from water. They use various filtration technologies:
- Activated Carbon: Removes chlorine, sediment, and some chemicals
- Reverse Osmosis: Removes most contaminants but also beneficial minerals
- UV Sterilization: Kills bacteria and viruses
- Ceramic Filters: Removes sediment and bacteria
Water Ionizers
Water ionizers do both filtration AND ionization:
- Filtration: Removes chlorine, sediment, and impurities
- Electrolysis: Separates water into alkaline and acidic streams
- pH Adjustment: Creates water at different pH levels for various uses
- ORP Enhancement: Creates water with antioxidant properties
Key Differences
- Purpose: Purifiers clean water; ionizers clean AND transform water
- pH: Purifiers do not change pH; ionizers create adjustable pH levels
- ORP: Purifiers do not affect ORP; ionizers create negative ORP
- Multiple Uses: Purifiers produce one type of water; ionizers produce 5 types
- Cost: Purifiers are generally cheaper upfront but provide fewer benefits
Which Should You Choose?
If you only need to remove contaminants, a quality water purifier may suffice. But if you want the additional benefits of alkaline drinking water, antioxidant properties, and multiple water types for different purposes, a water ionizer is the better investment.
