"Did you know that most of the water you're drinking every day may actually be damaging your health?"
This is the bold claim made by Nevada-based Affinity Lifestyles. Fortunately, they have the solution: Real WaterTM with E2 technology.
The Real Water website describes how the water we drink – from the water I have in my glass right now, to the water you made your cup of tea with this morning – has been "damaged".
In an attempt to blind the reader with science, there are reams of misplaced claims and pseudo-facts. Take the claim that "many food and beverages ... are devoid of electrons" – which would make them an entirely new state of matter.
Real Water doesn't appear to be a hoax or the work of Chris Morris and co. I've had confirmation from a US store that they stock the product and I have got as close to buying a 24-pack of Real Water ($36 + p&p) as is possible without committing my credit card details.
There are too many dubious scientific claims to cover in one post, but here are the best (or worst) bits.
Acidic, unhealthy water
According to the company "most of the water we drink is very acidic ... many nutritionists believe that most diseases flourish and grow rapidly in an acidic environment."
Acidity is measured on the pH scale, with 7 classed as neutral and anything lower being acidic (caused by hydrogen ions, H+); anything higher being alkaline (caused by hydroxide ions, OH-).
In fact, tap water is very slightly acidic because small amounts of carbon dioxide in the air dissolve in it.
"The lowest possible pH of carbonated water is around 5," says Professor Stephen Fletcher, a researcher in the department of chemistry at Loughborough University. "There is a thousand times more acidity in the vinegar you put on your chips. So the pH (acidity) of tap water is not dangerous at all."
Nutritionist Sue Baic agrees: "Normal tap water is perfectly healthy. In the UK the Drinking Water Inspectorate carefully monitors the chemical and microbiological safety of our water."
Clumpy free radicals
The makers of Real Water claim that during its journey through various pipes, filters and other treatment systems normal water is "stripped of its electrons", causing the molecules to "clump", which prevents them from hydrating our cells. Even worse, the molecules are now "basically free radicals ... [which] literally zap or pull away life force from the cell."
Professor Fletcher says: "Water molecules do not act as free radicals, do not form permanent 'clumps', and are not damaged by pipes. Free radicals are very nasty and short-lived chemicals that contain what chemists call an 'unpaired electron'. The acid component of water (called a hydrogen ion) emphatically does not have an unpaired electron. In fact, it has no electrons at all."
Electron Energized technology
The E2, or Electron Energized, technology supposedly "adds hundreds of millions of free electrons" to "unclump" the water and give it an alkaline pH.
Professor Fletcher takes issue with the claim that the water was positively charged in the first place: "Water is always charge-balanced due to a scientific principle called 'electroneutrality'. It follows that the E2 technology cannot add 'hundreds of millions of free electrons' to anything, no matter how it works."
I asked Real Water about the treatment, but public information officer Xzavia Ross said: "Our process is proprietary so there really is no way we can disclose the process by which we add electrons to the water."
Scientific evidence
Upon clicking the tantalisingly labeled Science Articles tab you're directed to a page with the message: "Coming Soon". What a disappointment. Nevertheless, I asked the company for more information.
Ross said: "Since you have familiarised yourself with our website you should know that ... the pH test is a wonderful indicator with scientific evidence of alkalinity."
There's no arguing with that – it is indeed a very common and reliable indicator of acidity and alkalinity. What it isn't is an indicator of whether this acidity damages our health.
Ross suggests I refer to five "articles and books [that] are all evidence to back up the claims about the detrimental effects of normal water on humans versus alkaline".
While I didn't have time to read them all, one of their recommended reads, the You are Not Sick, You Are Thirsty! series of books seems to be extolling the virtues of ordinary water. Author Dr F Batmanghelidj's website even has a link to an old New York Times article documenting his discovery that stomach ulcers could be treated with water alone.
This doesn't sound like a damning indictment of water to me.
On the one hand this is an amusing read, leaving you astonished at the amount of tripe you can find online. On the other, this is a real company, making real sales at the expense of those who believe their outlandish claims. In an age when people are increasingly worried about their health, perhaps the most beneficial thing to take in large doses is scepticism.
