The two most important ways to compare water ionizers are:

• Compare the pH and ORP [Oxygen Reduction Potential...or antioxidant potential] that the water ionizers can produce. Plate size and number of plates is not the best way to compare. It is the whole design of the water ionizer that ultimately one should look at. As a matter of fact plate size can hurt a water ionizer's performance if the design isn't right. The ionizer with the best overall design will allow that water ionizer to do better pH and ORP in comparison tests.

• A good cleaning system is the only way your water will be able to continue to produce the best ionized water in years to come. It's very important to keep the electrodes clean. The electrodes are the "heart" of the water ionizer. If the electrodes can be kept squeaky clean, then your water ionizer will continue to be able to produce the best, high pH, low ORP, water as if it was brand new out of the box.

Other Things to Consider When Deciding on the Best Water Ionizer for You:

• Convenience: Does the water ionizer have to wait for acid washes, and also waist your filtered water? [Enagic, Tyent, KYK, Venus] Or, does the water ionizer have the acid washes happen after you're done pouring, with no waiting by you but still wasting your filtered water?

• What techniques were used for the electroplating [coating the electrodes with platinum] and the design of the plates? The Chanson and Jupiter Venus and Melody manufacturers use computerized techniques to coat the plates with an irregular surface [peaks and valleys]. This allows for a greater surface area for better electrolysis without needing to increase the wattage. The mesh plate design [used by the Athena, Orion, Delphi, Life and Tyent] also provides a greater surface area and better electrolysis. Provided the plating and cleaning of the mesh plates is done correctly, the using of mesh plates and electroplating is a great innovation in water ionizer design. It allows for greater electrolysis without having to use too high of a wattage. High wattage will wear the ionizer out more quickly than lower wattage. If the design does not use electroplating or mesh, and the company dips their plates, then the surface area for electrolysis will be very small unless the company uses large plates. Using large plates is necessary in this case, but the design is not superior to the water ionizers that use the newer techniques for increasing the surface area of electroplating and/or mesh and requires the use of extra wattage.

• Filtration: The better filters for you if you live in a municipality where your water is treated...will state that they filter out Chloramine and Fluoride, which the municipalities all put into your treated water. A better filter for a well owner would be a .01 filter, which would filter out many of the thiings that water treatment companies do for municipalities. The Jupiter Biostone filters out Chloramine and Fluoride. The Chanson, Jupiter, Life, Tyent, Enagic and KYK all will filter out chlorine!

• Also, see if that water ionizer has a filter counter [which is better than not having one]. With a filter counter you can more accurately see when it's time to change your filter.

• Company User-Friendliness!

• Warranty: The Jupiter, Chanson, and Life companies all offer lifetime warranties. The Tyent offers a lifetime warranty for its Turbo model and 10 years for its MMP 7070 water ionizer. The KYK and Enagic companies offer 5 year warranties.

• Power: More amperage & watts going through the plates is not necessarily better. Most manufacturers keep the wattage down to about 150w or less, but some water ionizers are capable of up over 250 watts.