hey, sprawling
thanks for your experience.
do you think that the pH index of rainwater would affect the ionto effectiveness?
I find some information about acidity of rainwater from wiki, it seems that the pH index of rainwater is less than 7.0 in America. Maybe it can be explain why many people find adding baking soda into the water have no effect on their ionto treatment.(the pH of baking soda solution is larger than 7.0)
Rain - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Acidity
See also: Acid rain
The pH of rain varies, especially due to its origin. On Americas East Coast, rain that is derived from the Atlantic Ocean typically has a pH of 5.0-5.6; rain that comes across the continental from the west has a pH of 3.8-4.8; and local thunderstorms can have a pH as low as 2.0.[69] Rain becomes acidic primarily due to the presence of two strong acids, sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and nitric acid (HNO3). Sulfuric acid is derived from natural sources such as volcanoes, and wetlands (sulfate reducing bacteria); and anthropogenic sources such as the combustion of fossil fuels, and mining where H2S is present. Nitric acid is produced by natural sources such as lightning, soil bacteria, and natural fires; while also produced anthropogenically by the combustion of fossil fuels and from power plants. In the past 20 years the concentrations of nitric and sulfuric acid has decreased in presence of rainwater, which may be due to the significant increase in ammonium (most likely as ammonia from livestock production), which acts as a buffer in acid rain and raising the pH.[70]