Claims:We Claim
1. A mineralizer media for producing alkaline water and hydrogen water comprising alkaline earth metal and binder, wherein the alkaline earth metal and the binder are sintered together.

2. The mineralizer media as claimed in claim 1, wherein mineral from the mineralizer media is released in a controlled, slow or sustained manner.

3. The mineralizer media as claimed in claim 1, wherein the alkaline earth metal and the binder is in a ratio of 30-70:70-30.

4. The mineralizer media as claimed in claim 1, wherein the alkaline earth metal is selected from chloride, sulphate, phosphate salts of calcium, magnesium, sodium and/or potassium.

5. The mineralizer media as claimed in claim 1, wherein the binder is selected from silicon dioxide, powdered sugar such as sucrose, synthetic polymers, polyvinylpyrroldone, polyethylene glycol and high molecular weight polyethylene.

6. A process for preparing the mineralizer media as claimed in claim 1 comprising the steps of

a. mixing alkaline earth metal with binder;
b. loading the mixture onto a mould; and
c. heating the mixture loaded mould.

7. The process as claimed in claim 6, wherein the alkaline earth metal and binder is mixed in a ratio of 30-70:70-30.

8. An alkaline water maker system with the mineralizer media as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system comprises:
a water filter for filtering potable source water;
a water purification unit;
the mineralizer media as claimed in claim 1 for adding selected alkaline minerals to the purified water so that the resulting mineralized water has a predetermined mineral concentration up to 100 ppm and
an electrolytic cell assembly operable for electrolyzing the mineralized water to produce alkaline water with a pH in the range of 8.5-10.0 and hydrogen water above pH 10.0.

9. The alkaline water maker system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the filter is selected from activated carbon, filter bag and/or sediment filter.

10. The alkaline water maker system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the water purification system is a reverse osmosis purification system.

11. A process for producing alkaline water using the alkaline water maker as claimed in claim 8, comprising the steps of:
filtering potable source water through a water filter to remove particles greater than a preselected size;
passing the filtered source water through a water purification unit to produce purified water;
passing the purified water through mineralizer media to add alkaline minerals to the purified water so that the resulting mineralized water has a selected mineral concentration of at least 100 parts per million; and
electrolyzing the mineralized water to produce alkaline water with a pH in the range of 8.5-10.0 and hydrogen water with a pH above 10.0.
, Description:FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[001] The invention relates to an alkaline water maker and to a process for production of alkaline water and hydrogen water, more particularly it relates to a mineralizer media for use in the alkaline water maker.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[002] Commercially, alkaline drinking water is water having a pH above 9.0, although water with a pH above 7.0 is by general definition is alkaline. Alkaline drinking water is usually produced by electrolysis of potable source water, which results in separate alkaline and acidic (pH below 7.0) streams of water. Hydrogen water is water having pH above 10.0 and negative Oxidation Reduction potential is value up to -600 to -800mV. Alkaline drinking water can be produced, alternatively, by adding alkaline minerals to potable source water, such as tap water.
[003] Alkaline drinking water is known to have certain health benefits, including antioxidant properties. Studies have confirmed such findings of antioxidant properties and other health benefits of alkaline water.
[004] Alkaline water makers perform efficiently, when the total dissolved solids (TDS) of water is 100 ppm or above. When TDS is lower than 50 ppm, the unit is unable to make alkaline water. To overcome this there was a need to develop a process which will allow alkaline water maker to make alkaline water even at low TDS.
[005] If Reverse osmosis (RO) purification is used along with Alkaline water maker/H2 water maker
a) In high salinity area (inlet water 1500 ppm TDS ), the RO product water TDS is typically around 150 ppm, the alkalizer will perform efficiently since the TDS of water is above 100 ppm
b) In area where water salinity is 50-500 ppm, since RO product water TDS is the range of 5- 50 ppm, alkaline water purifier will not be able to produce alkaline water and Hydrogen water with the negative Oxidation Reduction potential (ORP) value up to -600 to -800mV.
c) In areas where municipal water with low salinity is below 50 ppm TDS, the RO product water will be lacking sufficient salts and hence the alkalizer will not function.

[006] There are many mineralizers or mineralizing agents used conventionally in existing alkaline water makers. However, these mineralizers or mineralizing agents tend to alter or increase the pH of the alkaline water. Simple addition of powdered alkali metal results in the alkali metals being dissolved in the water and getting exhausted. Moreover, the resultant water would have exceptionally high level of minerals and thus greatly increased pH making it unsuitable for alkaline water maker.

[007] In view of the above, there is a need for solutions that overcome the aforementioned disadvantages. The present inventors have arrived at a solution to address the problem of non-functioning of the RO in an alkaline water maker where the source water has very low or high TDS.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[008] In one aspect, the invention provides a mineralizer media for producing alkaline water and hydrogen water comprising alkaline earth metal and binder, wherein the alkaline earth metal and the binder are sintered together.
[009] In another aspect, the invention relates to a process for preparing a mineralizer media comprising the steps of
a. mixing alkaline earth metal with binder;
b. loading the mixture onto a mould; and
c. heating the mixture loaded mould.
[010] In yet another aspect, the invention relates to an alkaline water maker with a mineralizer media comprising alkaline earth metal and binder sintered together, wherein the system comprises:
a water filter for filtering potable source water;
a water purification unit;
a mineralizer media for adding selected alkaline minerals to the purified water so that the resulting mineralized water has a predetermined mineral concentration up to 100 ppm and
an alkalizer or an electrolytic cell assembly operable for electrolyzing the mineralized water to produce alkaline water with a pH in the range of 8.5-10.0 and hydrogen water with a pH above 10.0.
[011] In yet another aspect, the invention relates to a process for producing alkaline water and hydrogen water comprising the steps of:
filtering potable source water through a water filter to remove particles greater than a preselected size;
passing the filtered source water through a water purification unit to produce purified water;
passing the purified water through mineralizer media comprising alkaline earth metals and binder sintered together to add alkaline minerals to the purified water so that the resulting mineralized water has a selected mineral concentration of between upto 100 parts per million; and
electrolyzing the mineralized water to produce alkaline water with a pH in the range of 8.5-10.5 and hydrogen water with a pH above 10.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Reference will be made to embodiments of the invention, examples of which may be illustrated in accompanying figures. These figures are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Although the invention is generally described in context of these embodiments, it should be understood that it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to these particular embodiments.
Figure 1 is schematic illustration showing the process of preparing the alkaline/hydrogen water using the mineralizer media in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[007] The present invention is directed towards a mineralizer media for producing alkaline water and hydrogen water, where the use of the mineralizer media increases the dissolved mineral content of water without altering or increasing the pH of water. Moreover, the construction of the mineralizer media is such that it releases the minerals/alkali in a slow, sustained or controlled manner.
[008] In one aspect, the invention relates to a mineralizer media for use in alkaline water maker comprising alkaline earth metal and binder, wherein the alkaline earth metal and the binder are sintered together.
[009] In an embodiment of the invention, the mineralizer media releases the minerals in a controlled, slow or sustained manner.
[010] In another embodiment, the alkaline earth metal and the binder is in a ratio of 30-70 : 70-30. The alkaline earth metal is selected from chloride, sulphate, phosphate salts of calcium, magnesium, sodium and/or potassium and the binder is selected from silicon dioxide, powdered sugar such as sucrose, synthetic polymers, polyvinylpyrroldone, polyethylene glycol and high molecular weight polyethylene .

[011] The sintering of the alkaline earth metal with the binder ensures that the minerals are released in controlled or sustained manner for efficient working of alkaline water maker to deliver alkaline water. The size and the ratio of alkali earth metal salts and binder plays a key role in the controlled or sustained release of the minerals.
[012] In another aspect, the invention relates to process for preparing the mineralizer media comprising the steps of
a. mixing alkaline earth metal with binder;
b. loading the mixture onto a mould; and
c. heating the mixture loaded mould .

[013] In an embodiment, the alkaline earth metal and the binder is mixed in a ratio of 30:70 – 70:30. The mixture loaded mould is heated to a temperature of 200-250° C and continuing the heating at 200° C for two hours.

[014] Figure 1 shows an alkaline water maker 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The alkaline water maker comprises of a water filter (110) for filtering potable source water; a sediment filter (120); a water purification unit comprising a reverse osmosis unit (130) and a storage unit for storing pure/permeate water (140); a mineralizer media (150) and an electrolytic cell assembly (160). The water filter is selected from activated carbon, filter bag and/or sediment filter. The water purification system is preferably a reverse osmosis purification system. The mineralizer media adds select alkaline minerals to the purified water so that the resulting mineralized water has a predetermined mineral concentration up to 100 ppm. The electrolysis is carried out using conventional electrolytic cell assembly for electrolyzing the mineralized water to produce alkaline water with a pH in the range of 8.5-10 and hydrogen water with a pH above 10. The mineralizer media releases the minerals in a controlled or sustained manner ensuring that only sufficient amount of mineral is released each time and thus enabling the minerals to be released over a prolonged period.
In an embodiment, the invention relates to a process for producing alkaline water and hydrogen water comprising the steps of:
filtering potable source water through a water filter to remove particles greater than a preselected size;
passing the filtered source water through a water purification unit to produce purified water;
passing the purified water through mineralizer media to add alkaline minerals to the purified water so that the resulting mineralized water has a selected mineral concentration of at least 100 parts per million; and
electrolyzing the mineralized water to produce alkaline water and hydrogen water with a pH in the range of 8.5-10 and 10 or more respectively.

EXAMPLES
The following experimental examples are illustrative of the invention but not limitative of the scope thereof:
Example 1
Tap Water was passed through a combo filter i.e. activated carbon and filter bag which removed the colour, odour, organics, chlorine and particles from the tap water.
Next, the filtered water was passed through a sediment filter where the smaller particles were removed. This was a pre-treatment for reverse osmosis purification.
Water was then forced into a RO membrane via a booster pump to obtain Permeate (Pure) water which was collected in the RO storage tank then pumped via dispenser pump into the Mineralizer media where essential mineral were added. The Mineralizer media was prepared by mixing Calcium sulphate and ultra high molecular weight polyethylene binder in a ratio of 50:50, loading the same onto a mold and heating the mould to 200-250°C. The size of the calcium sulphate used was in the range of 10 – 15 mm.
The mineralized water obtained was then passed through an alkaline water maker/electrolyzer to obtain alkaline water and hydrogen water.
Table 1 defines the characteristics of the water obtained after passing through the alkalizer of the present invention and after passing through an alkalizer without using the mineralizer media.

TAP WATER
TDS
(PPM) TDS AFTER PASSING THROUGH RO
PH AFTER PASSING THROUGH MINERALIZER
PH WITHOUT MINERALIZER

Alkaline water pH
H2 water
pH Alkaline water pH H2 water
pH
50 5-10 8.9 10.6 7.5 9.0
100 10-20 9.0 10.5 7.7 9.2
150 15-25 9.2 10.8 7.6 9.0
1200 120-130 9.2 10.7 9.2 10.8

[019] Advantageously, the present invention provides an alkaline water maker, wherein the mineralizer media ensures controlled or sustained release of the minerals in such a manner that the pH of the water to be passed through Electrolyzer cell is not altered or increased beyond control.
[022] The foregoing description of the invention has been set merely to illustrate the invention and is not intended to be limiting. Since the modifications of the disclosed embodiments incorporating the spirit and substance of the invention may occur to the person skilled in the art, the invention should be construed to include everything within the scope of the disclosure.