Another testament to the point you made about alkalinity and the water's source is that the fancy ionizers, though some are nice in their own right, still have difficulty raising the alkalinity to desired levels with some water. Some of them "cheat" by using chemicals and minerals in their process, which not only need to be replenished (hence the "improved" lab scenario) and may be questionable as far as health impacts. Most of all, it's NOT a cheap venture. Best I could find, price to desired output, was about $800 to $1000. They go way up from there.