The goal of adding calcium to water is to improve the concentration of minerals in the glass. We should not be consuming soft water or water that has been stripped of its natural minerals. Doing so can impair how we ingest food, it can cause an unnecessary depletion of minerals in the body, and it often tastes terrible.
The goal of adding calcium is NOT to replace what we should be getting via food and supplements.
You simply want the calcium to balance the water so it more effectively hydrates the body and you want to do so in a safe manner. The water equivalent of “first, do no harm”. With that said, let’s look at some options. First the bad.
Calcite
The majority of calcium media you’ll find in remineralizers, alkaline filters and other water treatment systems is a 50/50 blend of calcite and corosex.Calcite is technically known as CaCo3, or calcium carbonate. It is extremely common and found in nearly all types of rocks. If this was the only thing used, it wouldn’t be so bad, because this is essentially what you’d find naturally occurring in groundwater.
The majority of calcite is calcium and it is fairly insoluble in water, especially cold water, so it’s very slow reacting. The lower the pH, the faster it will dissolve, but it still needs a very slow flow rate through. Soaking is best. The other problem is that if too much calcite is used (and because of its insolubility you need a lot) it can harden up, like concrete. Therefore, it has to be mixed with a faster reacting media.
Corosex
That balance comes in the form of Corosex. It is mostly Magnesium Oxide and has been manufactured to react 5x faster than calcite. It will work better in fast flowing water, depleting very quickly. The challenge with Corosex is that too much can drive the pH up way too high, especially if soaks in the water for a while.The blend of Calcite and Corosex will raise the pH and it will provide mineral concentrations in the water for alkalinity. A pH test or a TDS meter will show improvements in the final water, which if all you cared about were the pipes between your home and the water plant, would be great.
But you probably care about more than your internal pipes.
The Good
Coral calcium is the best choice for an additive calcium additive for water. It reacts slowly and consistently, it won’t elevate the pH too much, it’s a more robust blend of minerals (typically 70+ of them) and it’s all natural. Nothing made in the lab.The only thing to be careful of is where the coral is harvested from. Traditionally, coral has been dredged up from the ocean floors of harbors and other semi-shallow locations. Which means whatever has been happening above that coral can have major impacts on its purity and safety. How much has it been polluted and is that now being ingested?
In recent years, this process has been improved upon and new methods developed. You want to look for eco-safe coral. It will typically be harvested above the sea, think of places like caves and other areas that have tidal fluctuations, where pollution is not occurring and have regular samples tested for purity, with those results available for you to see.
Our favorite, and what we use is from Coral LLC in Nevada. A small company that has revolutionized the industry. It’s wonderful stuff and has performed remarkably for us since we found them in early 2012. They make a special rough cut for us that we include in all of our reverse osmosis systems and remineralizers.
