Drinking ionized water has been my favorite way to stay healthy and young. I'm passionate about them and sharing accurate information about water ionizers. I give comprehensive and honest information. Customers need actual and tested facts when choosing the best alkaline water machine.

This post is designed to provide you with practical insights into the best water ionizers available this year, helping you make an informed decision.

Only you can decide the "best water ionizer" for you, but these comparisons should help you.

The water ionizer brands are in order of what is best, with my reasons. However, all the water ionizers listed are in the overall category of BEST, and the customer reviews prove they are loved.

For those who prefer listening, see this video rendition of this post.

AlkaViva Water Ionizers

AlkaViva H2 makes 9-plate, 7-plate, and 5-plate water ionizers to suit your budget. They are all great selections. They not only produce the best alkaline drinking water, but their proprietary UltraWater filters will remove 99.99 percent of all contaminants. These are the best water filters in the world.

Alka Viva also makes the only under-sink water ionizer I recommend because the machines never leak. The internal construction is super strong, and the valves are made of ceramic instead of metal (which won't scale up like metal valves).

Another reason AlkaViva is best is the strength of its water cell. A water cell is the heart of a water ionizer. Machines that leak over time often do so through the water cell, but not with Alka Viva water ionizers. This is why AlkaViva water ionizers are the only ones I recommend to be directly plumbed to water pressure.

Depending on your water source, I advise the 9-plate AlkaViva Vesta H2. But, all the AlkaViva water ionizers are superior among their competitors. The softer your water, the more plates and strength you will need for ionization. Tests show minerals in the water assist in ionization.

In addition to all of the above, but very high in importance, Alkaviva water ionizers are constructed with expert technology. The alkaline drinking water produced has the highest levels of H2 compared with most other machines.

Also (super-important), the ionization chamber inside AlkaViva water machines continuously cleans. So, an AlkaViva water ionizer will perform like new forever. You never have to wait for alkaline ionized water, either. It's a superior design that most manufacturers (with their less-than-perfect engineers) have never entirely caught on to. This one feature saves you time, saves filter life, and increases the life and function of the water ionizer.

The AlkaViva H2 water ionizers test better than the Enagic K8 and the other competition.

Ionia Huge Water Ionizer Manufacturer in Korea

The Ionia factory (the oldest water ionizer manufacturer in South Korea) produces many brands of water ionizers. Some are Jupiter, Nexus, Smart, and Emco.

Ionia manufactures the Super S12 water ionizer under its brand name. The Super S12 was made in response to the pandemic. It gets levels of H2 similar to the AlkaViva H2 ionizers. It also has two water cells, rather than just one (which combined hold 12 plates total). It is excellent for strength, efficiency, power, and versatility in getting any water you want.

The water cell is not as strong as the H2 water ionizers but is close. You can't install Ionia water ionizers under the sink. Still, you can get a decade of life or more from these machines if you hook them up to your sink with a diverter or use an external shut-off valve to relieve the water pressure on the line periodically (especially at night and when you're away for extended periods).

The Super S12 has a saline port and can make super strong (hospital strength), low-acidic sanitizing water.

The Super S12 is similar to the Enagic SD501 or Enagic K8, except it's far better. You don't have to buy a particular solution to put in the port. The strong-ionization function is better than that of any of the Enagic machines. It also disengages the filter during the strong-ionization process to prevent it from wasting its life.

The filtration in the Super S12 is so advanced that the only better filters on the planet are the AlkaViva UltraWater filters.

The S12 uses continuous cleaning but also periodically performs an extra acid wash. This design ensures perfect performance.

The Super S12 is the largest of the water ionizers I sell. I give the dimensions on the product page; you should ensure it will fit on your counter before buying.

Smart Water Ionizers

The Smart Water Ionizer is relatively small but very powerful in producing H2. It probably gets the best level of H2 of any water ionizer on the planet.

The Smart 9P can't use UltraWater filters, but the single-filter options are good. If you only want one filter, this may save you money.

Smart Water Ionizers have continuous cleaning, which is a big deal because the water cell will always perform at peak levels.

The Smart Water Ionizer uses a diverter at the faucet and should not be installed under the sink. If you hook it up directly to the water pressure, you should install an external shut-off valve to relieve the water pressure during long periods of no use (such as nighttime and when you're away at work).

Nexus Water Ionizers

Nexus is one of Ionia's oldest brands. We also have it priced very low, because of our special agreement with the manufacturer. The manufacturer (Ionia) long ago wanted me to never sell the Nexus X-Blue for less than $1400. I convinced him to allow me to sell it for less because I wanted a more affordable machine to sell to people who otherwise couldn't afford a good water ionizer. He let it, and ever since then, I have kept the price low.

The X-Blue has most of the features of the much more expensive water ionizers.

It has only one filter and uses a decent style of acid-wash self-cleaning, which is less advanced than continuous cleaning.

The X-Blue also gets good ORP, although not nearly as good as the water ionizers listed above.

The X-Blue Water Ionizer uses a diverter at the faucet. It is not wise to install it under the sink or hook it up directly to the water pressure for long periods of no use. If you do this, a leak may develop over time.

Jupiter Water Ionizers

Jupiter is about the oldest water ionizer. The Jupiter Classic Athena water ionizer used to be the most innovative of all water ionizers for a very long time.

The Classic Athena can use various filters, including AlkaViva's advanced UltraWater filters.

It also has a very effective form of continuous cleaning that gives the machine a very long life expectancy.

It's hard to find a Jupiter water ionizer anymore because it's been replaced by the AlkaViva brands.

AlkaMedi

The AlkaMedi water ionizer performance equals the Nexus X-Blue water ionizer.

The water cell is constructed with the best medical-grade materials. This means the platinum used is medical-grade (a very important feature).

The AlkaMedi 3000S sits next to the sink in a slightly different direction than most water ionizers. The knob and spout are closer to the front for ease of use and less counter-space used. It's a cute little water ionizer, and it's very effective.

Enagic

The most expensive water ionizers on the market are the Enagic K8 and SD501.

The K8 is newer, but not much of an upgrade from the SD501. The only difference, other than color, is the fact it has one extra electrode.

The K8 doesn't perform very much better than the SD501. Its performance is lower than the AlkaViva and Ionia water ionizers.

Enagic filters are basic carbon filters. They remove sediment and heavy metals, but not all chemicals and toxins.

Enagic uses a saline solution port to make a stronger acidic water (for cleaning purposes). It is a unique and handy feature. The machine gets a very low acidic water.

A danger with using saline is that it can corrode the ionizer's plates. I explain more about this on my Water Ionizer Comparisons page.

The only water ionizer I sell that has a saline port is the Ionia Super S12. 

Though expensive, the Enagic water ionizer has a fairly simple design, which is easy and relatively cheap to copy.

• Simple dipped plates
• No flow-control knob
• No under-sink installation or direct plumbing connection possibility
• Simple reverse-polarity water-cell cleaning system
• Requires using a citric acid cleaning filter regularly to maintain the water cell
• And if you use the sodium port, you need to manually clean effectively after each use. You have to remember to do this yourself - you're not prompted.
• Simple carbon filter

The S12 that I sell has a far better design than this.

Copying the Enagic Design

Almost all water ionizer manufacturers, have copied the Enagic design in one way or another. After all, except for the sodium port, it's an easy and inexpensive design to copy. Examples are: Tyent and Life in Korea; Chanson in Taiwan; and Bawell and Airwaterlife (or Aqua Ionizer Deluxe) in China.

Note: Forget about the Chinese and Taiwanese brands, they aren't good quality in parts, results or filtration. The Korean brands in this category use good parts.

Comparing Water Ionizers

This  water ionizer comparisons video will help you learn about and compare water ionizers. It's a supplement to my water ionizer comparisons page and my water ionizer reviews page.

H2 Testing vs ORP Testing

H2 testing:

• Trustlex H2 Meter (specially designed to determine the H2 content of the water tested)
• H2 Testing Drops: The drops can be unreliable, so I use them sometimes but never really fully rely on their results.
• ORP Meter: ORP is not identical to the H2 level in the water. One needs to use a formula in conjunction with this meter.

H2 is related to the pH and ORP of the water, in that when you raise the pH you will also raise the H2 and ORP of the water. When you raise of ORP per unit of the raise in pH it raises the H2 concentration (relative hydrogen). Without a meter or drops you can use the formula for relative hydrogen: rH = (ORP / 30) + (2 * pH). The drops themselves are not very accurate.