Other makes like Essentia ionize their water to emulate a house water ionizer. Contrarily, System Armor skips the ionization method and provides an alkaline mineral Mix to boose the pH, which clarifies why the pH is decreased than Essentia and various competing makes such as AQUAhydrate that ionize their water. http://alkaline-anytime29493.uzblog.net/amazon-ph-meter-water-options-19408021