Introduction

If you have ended up on this page, you have probably been reading the other pages on this site on the H-minus ion, and particularly, are well-aware of the four most common means of "getting it" as a nutritional supplement (or to play with in the laboratory), the latter two of which offer it in powerful concentrations:

• fresh, raw, unprocessed plant and animal foods (fruits, vegetables, eggs, fish, meat)
• some unprocessed and unfiltered "wild" natural sources of water, including some wells, springs, glacial streams and lakes
• electrolyzed reduced water (ERW), usually from commercially-available kitchen countertop water ionizers
• MegaH™ (aka MegaH-, aka Megahydrin™) capsules, caplets and powder

As noted above, the term ERW stands for "electrolyzed reduced water", or water which has been electrochemically modified by electrolysis to enrich it with the h-minus ion (in a caged, protected form, of course, given it's incredibly short mean free lifetime in many environments!)  Next, and more importantly,  the term "RW" stands for the broader category of "reduced water", which includes water which has had it's ORP shifted into the reducing region by any of a number means, only a small percentage of which might involve electricity or electrolysis.  Therefore, while the category of RW includes ERW, it (RW) also includes water which exhibits a high concentration of H-minus ions, but which was not produced by any electrical means (such as electrolysis).

However, there are actually a number ways of creating H-minus ions in water without electricity/electrolysis, and often without the artificial corollary of high alkalinity as well.  However, many of these methods really cannot get the H-minus concentration to a place where the resultant ORP is much stronger than -200 mv.  There are a few that can go much further.  The primary purpose of this page is to offer a little information on some of those means, and yet without revealing any proprietary information from my laboratories.
 

First, a Review of Electrolyzed Reduced Water

Electrolysis of water is only one of several ways to create reduced water high in H-minus ions and their associated water cages or clusters, and with extremely negative ORP, and it is about the only method which might involve significant shift of pH to the alkaline region due to concentration of alkaline mineral ions.  Nonetheless, when performing electrolysis to produce "ionized" electrolyzed reduced water (ERW), the shift to alkaline pH of the reduced water is essentially an accidental corollary, and not inextricably linked to concentration of H-minus ions.  Having said that, in general it is true that pH continues to increase as we drive the ORP of the reduced water more and more into the negative region when reducing water via electrolysis.  For example, I have here several devices which produce electrolyzed reduced water (ERW) with an ORP of about -830 mv. (some even ranging to -920 mv.), and at an ORP of -830, the pH usually measures in the range of 11.2 to 12.2.  However, see notes below for further information on this!

Unfortunately, if you read my description (on other pages on this website) of what I did to the Jupiter Technos closely, you will see that the total cost is about $2,000, which is well more than the purchase price for a Super Oxide Labo commercial batch water ionizer (about $1,600).  Further, it takes up a good part of my kitchen and kitchen wall, and looks like a Rube Goldberg invention!

Increased pH (alkalinity) is totally an artifact of the particular process used to create the atomic H and negative H in the water in the "alkaline" electrolytic cell.  There are at least 8 other ways which I know of to enrich water significantly with atomic and negative hydrogen, and thus lower the ORP significantly, most of which do not change the pH much or at all.  None of these methods use direct electrolysis of water by an electrical current.  Some of these methods may change the water a bit toward alkaline, due to greater ionic dissociation and precipitation, but none so much as electrolysis with mineral salts in the water. 
 

Shifting the ORP of Water Without Electrolysis: Non-electrolytic ORP Shift Methods

Introduction
This section will examine a number of known means other than electrolysis in separated chambers, for producing changes in ORP in water.  Some means are well-known, and others are less well-known. A few are proprietary.  The methods which will be covered in greatest detail will be those which are of interest because of their potential for producing RW for consumption as a nutritional supplement, and the  methods which will be covered in least depth are those which are and have been quite well-known in mainstream scientific circles, and well documented and studied in that literature.

This survey will include both methods which increase ORP as well as those which decrease ORP. 
 

Basics
As recounted above, there are at least eight ways other than electrolysis to create reduced water (RW), and most of them will shift the ORP of tap water (which usually starts at an ORP of about +360 to +400 mv) only to about -70 mv to perhaps -290 mv, or roughly the same range where almost all countertop flow-thru water ionizers create ERW -- as they usually produce "alkaline" water with an ORP of about -140 to -190.  However, some of the methods I have at hand will bring water to an ORP of perhaps -600, and perhaps even more strongly reduced than that, particularly if I combine methods. 

Some of the methods are largely proprietary, and I can reveal little further information about them. Other methods are more in the public domain, and I can share them freely (below.)   

Notes on MegaH™ and ORP of Water
Of course, adding MegaH™ (aka MegaH- or Megahydrin™) to water in a mug or bottle will also lower the ORP considerably (one capsule of MegaH™ will lower the ORP of 8 ounces of tap water to about -800 mv in a few hours), but they are both moderately expensive, and also, my research has shown that MegaH® and ERW/RW each have slightly different effects upon the body, and so I prefer to ingest both rather either one alone. Incidentally, when MegaH™ is added to water, it shifts the ORP to about -700 to -820, and shift the pH only modestly, to perhaps 8.0 or 8.8. 
 

Bubbling H-minus Enriched Gas Through Water
One means to enrich water with the H-minus ion is to create hydrogen gas rich in the H-minus ion (and immediately stabilize the H-minus ion, due to it's incredibly short lifetime under most conditions!) and also in atomic hydrogen, and then pass this gas, in the form of minute bubbles, through a bottle or vat of water.  I am not currently able to reveal precise details of how to produce the H-minus enriched hydrogen gas, although some physicists among my readers will be able to figure it out easily.  In any case, this method can and will produce strongly enriched RW, with ORPs as low as -950 mv, with strong reducing power.

Indeed, more than one geologist and geophysicist have postulated that atomic H and H-minus ion gas seeping up from the core of the earth through small crevices have been a major factor in geophysics, helping to create hydrocarbons, petroleum deposits, various hydride deposits, and also reducing the ORP of some deep well water in stable aquifers.  This is now known as the Hydridic Theory of Geology.
 

A Note on Breathing H-minus Enriched Gas
I am apparently one of two people alive whom I know of who has breathed H-minus-ion rich gas (ion stabilized via a proprietary method), for up to 30 minutes at a time.  The ORP of my urine at 2 hours and 10 hours post-session was in the -350 mv range.  I recommend that you do not try this at home: you could blow yourself up!
 

Exposing Water to Calcium Hydride
Before you even read the following, let me warn you that calcium hydride is extremely reactive and can be both poisonous and explosive.  It can be particularly explosive if mixed with water.  It's cousin, lithium hydride, is even more poisonous, and far more explosive.  Nonetheless, calcium hydride, and certain other chemical hydrides, when properly reacted with water, will produce a water rich in the H-minus ion, thus producing RW.  The water may also be toxic, due to the presence of the too-strong and too-unmanageable metal hydride.
 

Adding Various Oxidizing or Reducing Chemicals to Water
There are a number of chemical compounds, all well-known to chemists, which exhibit strong oxidizing or reducing properties.  Each of these, when added to water (much like the case covered above) will shift the ORP of the water either upward or downward, and some will do so drastically.   Some substances, such as lithium hydride, a reducing agent, and sodium metal, also a reducing agent, will react so violently with water that an explosion occurs.  A number of oxidizing agents, including chlorine (think here of chlorine bleach, a powerful oxidizer) will also react explosively with water.  We have all seen news stories of chlorine compounds in dry form which were suddenly wetted, causing fire or explosion.
 

Absorption of Atmospheric or Other Gases
It is a well-known phenomenon in chemistry that perfectly pure distilled water exhibits a pH of about 7.0, or neutral.  However, once that water is left exposed to air for a while, it uptakes both oxygen and carbon dioxide, and this, in short order, produces some weak acids in the water, resulting in a lowered pH, perhaps in the 6.0 range.  Likewise, the uptake or release of dissolved gases can produce shifts as well in the ORP of water.  Generally, the uptake of oxygen or it's more volatile compounds (ozone, for example), will result in a modest increase of ORP, driving it into the oxidizing range.  However, the exact results here depend largely upon what minerals, acids, colloidal particles and other substances are present in the water.

A classical case in physical chemistry is the bubbling of common hydrogen gas (H2) through water.  Almost instantly, the ORP of the water may be shifted to the -600 mv. range.   Interestingly, because the hydrogen is almost entirely in the H2 diatomic form, the water will not exhibit the chemical or biochemical reducing properties (ready donation of an electron) commonly expected at such an ORP, and indeed, will not act as a reducing agent.
 

Off-Gassing of Dissolved Gases
Water may absorb gases from the environment when in the form of surface water (lakes, streams, oceans) or in the form of standing water (e.g., an open mug, glass, or bottle.)  As gases which have been already dissolved in water, perhaps from human-made environmental sources (factories, auto exhaust, smoke, etc.) or from nature (volcanoes, underground seepage of natural gases such as hydrogen) off-gas to the atmosphere, the ORP of the water may change.  Direction of ORP change will depend upon the gas and upon other substances present in the water.
 

Bacterial Activity
Bacterial action, by both anaerobic and aerobic bacteria, can significantly change the ORP of a mass of water (underground aquifer, lake, stream, bay) over time, due to biochemical action. Generally, this shift is in the negative direction, toward a lower ORP, but the direction and amount of shift in ORP will depend entirely upon the bacteria present, bacterial foods, other substances present in the water, as well as temperature and other factors.

Mixed Microbial Cultures Containing Phototrophic Organisms
I have been able to take tap water, add a bit of molasses and a bit of a powerful microbial culture, mix them all in a cheap flimsy plastic gallon jug (the type in which spring water is sold), and within 26 hours the water will show an ORP of about -440, and, better yet (if you understand the implications of Nernst's Equation), at a pH of 4.3!  Indeed, the same jugs can yield water with an ORP stronger than -470 at a pH of 4.3 within 48 hours of filling and mixing.  Now, the reality is that this extremely powerful relative hydrogen score does not last for long -- the brew quickly evolves as the microbes convert most of the lighter-weight hydride antioxidants to more complex, higher molecular weight biochemical antioxidants, all of which are in raw live-food form.  This microbial inoculant culture I have been using has been proven by researchers to also produce a wide range of other powerful nutrients (for humans and animals) and antioxidants as well. 

Effects of Ionizing Radiation
Exposure of water in any of it's three phases (vapor, water or ice) to ionizing radiation will result in dissociation of water molecules and a shift in ORP.  Ionizing radiation, albeit at relatively low levels, impinges our planet's surface all the time, largely in the form of cosmic (gamma and charged particles) radiation, and beta and gamma rays from natural substances present in building material, rocks and the air (and even foods).  Ionizing radiation from human-made sources (concentrated radioisotopes, X-rays, charged particles) will also have the same effect.  The direction of shift in ORP will depend largely upon the phase of water (ice, water, etc.), radiation type and intensity, temperatures, other substances present in the water, whether the water is exposed to air, and time.  It has been postulated by some researchers that glacial ice which has been stored in glaciers for millennia contains a large amount of the negative hydrogen ion (in stabilized form) and atomic hydrogen (again, stabilized) due to irradiation by cosmic rays over thousands or millions of years.
 

Water (Usually Vapor) Exposed to Plasma Discharge
Water, when exposed to powerful electrical discharges which produce any kind of plasma discharge (such as corona or arc), either underwater or via exposure of water vapor in a high-voltage discharge tube (or the atmosphere, due to lightning), will undergo rather rapid and dramatic shifts in ORP, due to violent dissociation of some water molecules and H2 molecules, and the re-forming of new ions and chemical compounds.
 

Water (Usually Vapor)  Exposed to High Temperatures
It has been well-known in physical chemistry for a long time that water (usually vapor), when exposed to high temperatures (such as a brilliantly heated tungsten filament, or a hot piece of metal) will undergo rapid dissociation, and the ORP of any recovered water may be rather different than that observed at the start (before exposure).
 

The Effect of Various "Fields"
Magnetic fields , some electric fields, and some so-called "longitudinal" or "scalar" fields can change the ORP and pH of water, some rather rapidly.  Both shifts are usually in an upward direction.  However, the shift in ORP and pH is often not dramatic or strong.  Sometimes, the effect may be increased by moving the water through a gradient electric or magnetic field, or through a field of "longitudinal" or "scalar" energy.

It has been rather well-known is certain circles that a pyramid with the same ratios as used in the great Pyramid at Giza (so-called "Cheops" or "Khufu" Pyramid), if oriented so that one wall is perpendicular to magnetic north, will change the ORP and pH of water moderately and rather quickly.  The same effect may be obtained with any of a number of other geometric shapes and patterns.   Such a "field effect can also affect water clustering, resulting in reduced surface tension of water.
 

Water Moving in a Spiral
In a phenomenon similar to that claimed with "Grander Water" and a number of other "special waters" coming out of Germany and European lore of healing waters, forcing water to move rapidly (and usually vertically) through a spiral tube can influence ORP and pH, usually in the upward direction.  Such a movement can also affect water clustering, resulting in reduced surface tension of water.
 

Water Exposed Directly to Quartz Crystals
Water exposed to quartz crystals (no, they do not need to be "cleaned" or "blessed"!) and certain other crystals will often show a rather abrupt and sudden shift in clustering properties, surface tension (decrease) and in ORP and pH (usually upward.)  This is not some kind of "mystical effect" (although they may exist as well), but, rather, due to certain electrical properties (largely electrostatic) of quartz crystals at a microscopic level.
 

Water Exposed to the Non-Contact Influence of a "Healer"
Aha!  You just knew, when you saw me start to babble about quartz crystals in the section above, that you had finally proven that the author of this piece was a spacey New Age loonie!  Then, as you read further, and discovered that I was not talking about any so-called "mystical" properties of quartz, you were probably disappointed that there was no proof after all of my craziness.  Well, never fear, for the paragraph to follow may again give you definitive proof of my lunacy!  Only problem is that the effects mentioned below have been rather well-documented in a number of studies.  Here goes... . . 

A number of studies have shown that water which has been intentionally "treated" at a distance of a foot to as much as 3,000 miles, by a "healer", usually a psychic healer, spiritual healer, or energy healer (such as a Chi Kung [aka Qigong] healer), can exhibit rather strong shifts in conductivity, pH and ORP ( as well as in certain other physical properties.)  This "treated water" has never been touched by the healer, and indeed, often the healer's hands (and the healer's person) have intentionally been kept several feet or more from the bottle of water under treatment.  Some studies have involved a bottle or beaker of water in a separate room from the healer, or even at a distance of thousands of miles.  Usually the changes in water clustering, surface tension, dielectric constant, conductivity and pH are greater than any change in ORP, but this was worth mentioning.  A number of studies have also documented the "creation" of small amounts of hydrogen peroxide in water treated by certain healers.
 

Some Comments on the Rumors About Ozone and Reduced Water (Lowering of ORP)
I have heard three assertions about ozone bubbling reducing the ORP of water, two of which were anecdotes which were repeated to me verbally, with no evidence offered, and the third a vague reference in an e-mail, again with no proof, evidence, or test results offered.   Whenever I have conducted controlled tests in my laboratory, using relatively low-hardness mountain well water (unfiltered, from the tap, conductivity of about 10 micromhos) or commercially-vended distilled water from plastic jugs, the ORP of water has indeed been modulated by ozone bubbling, but only slightly, and in the upward direction, as compared to control bottles.  Additionally, the pH of the experimental bottles seems also to have changed slightly, in an upward direction of about 0.1 pH unit to 0.2 units.

All tests have been conducted with mountain well water (or distilled water from commercially-vended jugs), with all control and experimental batches stored (and/or tested) in 1/2 gallon amber glass jugs.  All ozone has been produced by a relatively strong UV-light ozone generator, which delivers ozone as an air/ozone gas mixture at low pressure.  This ozone/air mixture (far lower in nitrogen oxides than ozone from an electrical discharge generator) is then fed thru aquarium-type plastic tubing to a commercially-vended "air stone", sold for aquarium use, resulting in a strong stream of fine bubbles.  The bubble stone has always been placed on the bottom of the test jug.
Except during treatment, all jugs were kept sealed at all times, and stored in a 68 degree F place away from strong light sources.  Ozone exposure times for experimental jugs have ranged from 20 minutes to 60 minutes, and both pH and ORP of water were tested at the following times: 

• immediately after treatment 
• 30 minutes after treatment 
• 1 hour after treatment 
• periods up to 20 hours after treatment 

These results make perfect sense, since ozone is a reactive oxygen species, and therefore, an oxidizer. Further, as a highly reactive oxidizer, it gradually spawns other types of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the aqueous solution as well, all of which will gradually raise the oxidative index of the water, and, hence, the ORP.

While I do know many ways to modify the ORP of water, both in an upward (oxidizing) and downward (reducing) direction, and only a few of those methods involve electricity or electrolysis, I have never been able to prove that bubbling ozone thru water results in a reduced ORP.  The results which have been reported to me anecdotally did not, in any case, reveal whether untreated bottles were used (and tested) as controls (since the ORP of freshly decanted water does shift over time, and in response to environmental influences) , or what type of water was used, nor the source. 

However, I can definitely think of several instances in which the ORP of water would be reduced significantly by ozonation, particularly if one waited about 3 to 5 days after treatment before testing ORP.  In each case, the "original" water would need to have present either: 

• certain acids 
• certain organic compounds 
• salts of certain elements 
• certain metallic substances 
• certain particulate (usually colloidal) contaminants 

For a brief tutorial on the Relative Hydrogen Score, or rH score, please see the on-site page devoted to that topic! rH score is an absolute measure of hydrogen reducing power (and of oxidizing power) which is independent of changes in pH, and which is calculated from measures of ORP and pH.