What Is Alkaline Water and How Is It Different?

If you were to walk into the grocery store right now, you may notice that there is an entire aisle dedicated to different types of water. Not only are there several different brand names, but there is also a variety of water that promotes itself as different than the typical bottle. One of the most common types of water falling into this category is alkaline water. However, what is alkaline water?

If you find yourself asking this question, don’t worry: you’re not alone. Although it has become popular in recent years, there is still much mystery surrounding this type of water. As a result, we’ve created this guide to walk you through everything you need to know to answer the question, “What is alkaline water?” Ready to learn more? Let’s dive in!

About Alkaline Water

Alkaline water is a type of water with a higher pH than typical clean water. You see, pH is a scale ranging from 0 to 14. Lower numbers represent acidic substances, while higher numbers represent alkaline or basic substances. Pure water is completely neutral, which is why it sits at around 7. Sometimes, this may vary by a few degrees, but this is the average.

In order for water to be alkaline, it has to have a higher pH. Safe alkaline water usually falls around 8 or 9 on the pH scale. 

What Causes Water to Be Alkaline?

Alkaline water can actually occur naturally. Typically, this is because moving water is passing over rocks, which allows for the water to pick up some of the nutrients. This then raises the pH of the water in order to create what is alkaline water. 

However, when you buy it at the grocery store, it’s rarely made naturally. This is because mass-producing natural alkaline water can be difficult, if not impossible, for many people. Instead, this type of water is produced through a process known as electrolysis. This process splits the atoms of water at a molecular level to change specific characteristics of the water, including pH. 

Is Alkaline Water Better for You?

There is a lot of mystery surrounding whether or not alkaline water is better for you, even as of today. However, researchers are steadily working to help us better understand what exactly our bodies need, including when it comes to studies about alkaline water. As of now, it doesn’t appear to be much better than neutral water when it comes to hydration and its effects overall. However, this isn’t to say that there aren’t some benefits to it. 

Is It Clean?

One of the biggest concerns for those not familiar with alkaline water is based on whether or not this is clean water that is safe to drink. After all, if you’ve learned about different types of water filtration methods, then you may know that water has many types of contaminants and minerals filtered out. This can lead to questioning about whether the contaminants are being filtered out if the minerals aren’t.

However, you’ll be glad to learn that this type of water is considered clean and safe to drink. Those focusing on this water have learned how to safely filter it for anything that could be harmful or make you sick, all while not needing to remove those pH-raising minerals that give the water its flavor. 

Benefits

There are two main benefits of alkaline water compared to neutral tap water.

First, although the minerals often occur in trace amounts, alkaline water can help contribute to daily mineral intake. This includes important minerals like calcium. This also lends itself to another benefit: flavor. The main source of flavor in water is its minerals. As a result, this type of water may have a better flavor than regular water, making staying hydrated easier. 

Where to Find It Naturally

As mentioned above, alkaline water can be created and found in nature without the help of humans. However, because of the exact environment needed to create this type of water, it can be rare.

Typically, if you’re wondering where to find alkaline water naturally, you’ll need to look to the mountains. Here, streams run down the mountainside, eroding away the porous rock that makes up the mountain itself. As this happens, the water picks up some of the minerals found here. Then, as water collects into mountain springs, the total number of minerals in the water increases, elevating pH. 

Some of the main naturally occurring minerals are the following ones:

• Calcium
• Potassium
• Magnesium
• Bicarbonate.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © iStock.com/Yury Karamanenko