From: sbharris@ix.netcom.com(Steven B. Harris)
Newsgroups: sci.med.nutrition
Subject: Re: comments on drinking distilled water?
Date: 9 May 1998 05:06:13 GMT

In <3553BAAC.FDA8CB17@dnai.com> Michael Sierchio <kudzu@dnai.com>
writes:

>Rainwater is and always has been acid.  Normal rain
>pH is 5.5,  same as your skin.  There's coevolution for ya.


   Nah, it's just the pH of pure water exposed to the CO2 in air.
Water in your skin also.

From: sbharris@ix.netcom.com(Steven B. Harris)
Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative
Subject: Re: Magnet Fallacies, PART II
Date: 30 Aug 1999 19:57:27 GMT

In <19990829102122.05978.00001438@ng-fs1.aol.com> numag@aol.com (NuMag)
writes:

>John Bains wrote:
>
>>The Prague theory, and I've lent out my copy of the book so this comes
>>from memory, is that it slightly increases the proportion of hydroxyl
>>and hydronium ions found naturally in water.  This would not change the
>>pH, but would enable the water to buffer any acidic or alkaline solution
>>that the water is added to.


   I've got bad news for you from the field of chemistry.   First of
all, pH is not defined by any balance of hydronium and hydroxyl ions.
If you increase both ions in concert (which happens when you raise the
temperature of pure water) the ions remain in equal concentration as
they increase, but pH decreases, because the concentration of hydronium
gets larger and pH by definition is -log [H3O+].  If magnets did as you
claim, this would happen with them also.

    Second of all, hydroniums and hydroxyls combine with astonishing
speed in liquid water, and this has been measured.  The idea that there
is water out of equilibrium without something continually hold it that
way, is shearest nonsense.  If you want to buffer something, put in a
buffer.