The Enagic Company History and Background

The Enagic Company grew out of a specialty trade company (branch of Sony) and began making water ionizers in 1988. They used to go by the name Ange water ionizers. 

[Just as a side-note: The Ange is the first water ionizer I ever owned.] I would say the Enagic company's longevity is definitely a plus point.

The first use of the "Enagic" trademark was in June of 2003. Concurrent to rebranding with the Enagic trademark, the Enagic company developed its water ionizer to have seven plates, instead of 5, and have 235 watts of power instead of 110. They called their new water ionizer the Enagic SD501. Enagic's US branch was established as a multi-level marketing company. 

The Enagic Leveluk SD501 water ionizer is actually a fine water ionizer. I’ve tested it many times. It has its problems, outlined below, but for the most part I would rate it only as an "above-average" water ionizer. Details about Enagic's water ionizers are fairly accurately represented on their main website.

So, what’s wrong with Enagic?

Enagic uses a MLM (multi-level marketing) approach to sales. Theoretically MLMs aren't "bad", however as it turns out I have observed many issues with Enagic's MLM approach to sales. The issue is basically one of greed, leading to blinding oneself to the truth, which further leads to false representation. 

The Enagic's MLM representatives I have come into contact with (dozens of people from all walks of life) tend to spread unfounded claims [unsubstantiated statements; things they heard from their “upline”]. In every case these people have been ordinary, God-fearing people who think they have been given true facts. Some of them were even friends of mine. The problem was not that they were greedy people. The problem was that they weren't given proper and true facts. In other words, they were fed disinformation in closed-door meetings. So, many threads of rumor came out of these meetings, and it was very difficult for even them to remember what they were told. They just "knew" that Enagic was good and all other brands should be avoided. It's pretty tricky how this all happens with MLMs like this. This rumor-mongering, or mud-slinging", isn't particularly sanctioned by the Enagic company itself, although it's not forbidden..  

Multi-Levels of Greed and Mud-Slinging...

I call unfounded criticisms "mud", and when you pass it around, I call it "mud-slinging". The people who are doing this mud-slinging, False statements tend to originate at the top of a multi-level line, by someone with authority, such as someone with a medical degree, and are passed on verbally in meetings. People really want to believe the authority, because it means more sales for them. So, this is a case of not knowing any better, but truly I say it is irresponsible to just repeat the word of an authority. To be truly honest, one needs to do one's own homework, especially if you are saying bad things about other brands or products.

Examples of Lies

• Unsafety of other brands. One of the main lies was an accusation about the “unsafe” way of their competitor’s electrode-making processes. Just general fear-tactics, such as "Watch out! You could be poisoned!" This kind of basic nonsense. General warnings to dissuade potential customers from searching out their competition.
• Lack of certification of other brands. They were referring to KFDA approved machines
• Claiming their water is a one-of-a-kind, with health benefits and magical healing powers that the other water ionizers can't live up to. This false claim was also not backed by anything more than general authoritative statements and no proof. Even 40 years ago with the crudest of water ionizers, there were fantastic benefits being had by people drinking ionized water. Michael Moon, who started the Jupiter manufacturing, got his start in water ionizers with a no-name water ionizer that gave him miraculous healing benefits. Having been healed with ionized water, the very rich manufacturer (Michael Moon) spent millions developing a newer and better line of water ionizers [Jupiter Water Ionizers] in his highly-certified factory in S. Korea.  

Price...

It goes without saying that the price of the Enagic SD501 or any of the Enagic water ionizers are inflated to accommodate for the MLM commission distributions all the way up the line.

Plates...

The Enagic company itself claims that because it has the largest plate size it is the best water ionizer. This sounds like it should be true — they probably do have to use more Platinum…which could account for some of that extra charge, but the testing and comparing of all of the water ionizers does not show the Enagic to be making better water…so something must be wrong with the design. Electrolysis requires electricity to go through the plates, perhaps if they’re too large it defeats the purpose and actually gives worse electrolysis. Enagic reps tend to stay away from technical questions and comparison testing with other water ionizers. Whenever I do water ionizer comparisons, Enagic doesn’t usually get the best results, but they do fine.

One problem with the Enagic plates, that the company warns about, is that the platinum can erode off of the plates over time if you don't properly wash the plates after each use of the sodium port. With many people, they frequently use this feature, but rarely clean the plates manually after any use of it. Once the platinum has eroded off, the ionization results will diminish. 

Certifications…

Enagic representatives often state that Enagic is the only water ionizer manufacturer certified to make and sell their water ionizers as medical devices. The truth is that many other water ionizer manufacturers have authorization and certification from their respective countries to manufacture and sell medical devices. The US FDA has not recognized water ionizers yet as a medical device. The certifications are based more on the practices of the country of origin than anything else, for instance in Korea the certification would come from the KFDA.

Bubbles...

Enagic representatives claim that it has more dissolved Hydrogen [making it healthier water] in their ionized water and they “prove” this by showing you tiny bubbles in their water that make the water look cloudy. I’ve seen some water ionizers that have produced this cloudy-bubbly-looking water and they haven’t all been Enagic. Actually the calcium sulfite in the water ionizer filter could be partially the reason for the bubbles being more visible. Without an actual test, you don't know what gas is in the bubbles (it could be oxygen, hydrogen or a mixture, such as OH). I’ve also seen Enagic ionizers sometimes not producing this cloudy-bubbly-looking water. This is not unique to Enagic. You cannot measure hydrogen antioxidants with your eyes or with bubbles. You can measure it with a meter or with drops. See my Water Ionizer Comparisons page for more about this.

What’s the Good about Enagic?

The good about Enagic is the exact same thing that is good about all the water ionizers I sell. Here’s some of it.

• They have many certificates and awards.
• Those who use their water ionizer have claimed to get good benefits for their health.
• The manufacture is good and trustworthy.
• The Enagic SD501 usually gets pretty good test results in comparison testing (above average)

Read more about my water ionizer comparisons and water ionizer reviews.