If you add the H-Stick to reverse osmosis water, you will see a more dramatic change with it. That’s because RO water is so void of minerals that it will suck the magnesium right out of the H-Stick. Magnesium’s bond with water produces a free electron in the process. In doing this [bonding with the water molecules] it actually donates an electron to the water molecules. This accounts for the water, which was stripped of all its free electrons, now having a significant number of extra electrons. Keep in mind, though, that a body needs more calcium than magnesium and it needs other electrolytes, and RO water has been stripped of all calcium, magnesium, potassium, and all other electrolytes [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolyte ] which are vital to health. Adding the H-Stick to RO water is just adding magnesium back into the water, basically, and so you will be missing quite a lot of the other electrolytes [and will not have a balance]. If you drink this kind of water, you will need to add in lots of suppliments in order to maintain good health in the long run. People on sports teams are warned about losing electrolytes if they sweat a whole lot and then don’t re-hydrate with the right kind of water [containing a sufficient electrolyte balance]. Some have even died from overconsumption of water [i.e. after a race or some other strenuous exercise] which was void of a proper electrolyte balance.

How is a Hydrogen Stick different than a water ionizer in all this? First of all, a water ionizer is a lot faster than an H-Stick [it's instant, vs. 20-60 min.] Also, a good water ionizer will filter out most of the contaminants before ionizing, but leave in the good minerals [basically a good electrolyte balance]. Then in the electrolysis chamber it forces the large molecule clusters to split. The minerals that are dissolved in the water are still bonded with their respective H20 molecules, but they will be drawn magnetically to either the alkaline pole or the acidic pole. The acidic minerals go out as waste [or can be collected and used for a variety of useful purposes], while out of the alkaline spout you will get water that has a greater concentration of alkaline minerals [healthy electrolytes: such as calcium, magnesium and potassium]. Keep in mind that the amounts of alkaline minerals are insignificant in the sense of “they do not replace your vitamin requirements for the day or give you an overabundance of one mineral or another, but they are significant in that they will give you plenty of pH buffers as that water makes its way through your body. This helps your body, by giving you the ingredients you need for a proper acid/alkaline balance to be constantly maintained throughout the day. The water, after it’s been ionized, will also contain a much greater abundance of free electrons [to ward-off free-radical damage as the water makes it way through your body].

One final thing, the actual expense of using a water ionizer verses a H-Stick is far less. Let’s just take my family for example. I raised 5 children. I also gave water every week to my mother-in-law. We used the same water ionizer for 15 years [1993-2008], which cost us $1100 back in ‘93. If we all drank an average of 1/2 gallon per day, each [which I know we drank more], we consumed 1460 gallons of water in one year. At $1.00 per gallon we would have more than paid for our water ionizer in the first year, then the other 14 years were free. Compare this to the H-Stick, which must be replaced every 6 months [and is for a single person's consumption vs. a whole family]. If my family members were given H-sticks that would be 16 sticks in the first year. At the rate of $79 per stick, we would have paid enough in one year to have purchased our ionizer. At that rate we would have paid for 15 water ionizers after 15 years. Even if we only paid $20. per stick, we still would have paid for 4 water ionizers in that time…plus we would have been getting lesser quality for all those years.