What is the difference between Mineralizer and Aqua Taste Booster (ATB) in water purifiers?

There are many water purifiers in the market and they claim variety of things including bringing taste back to the water which is generally lost in multiple filtering process.

The basic purpose of water purifier is to remove the unwanted chemicals and minerals from the water and also the bacteria and viruses. Many good water purifier are able to achieve these objectives by special filters and use of ultraviolet light etc.

The water purifier will remove impurities such as chlorine, lead, mercury, magnesium, chromium, copper, nickel, iron, hydrogen sulfide and more like these even in traces. It will also kill bacteria and viruses in the water and remove them.

During this process a lot of constituents, minerals and impurities from the water, are removed and it affects the taste of the water. To bring the taste back the companies use a technique of taste enhancer which is nothing but adding a mineraliser cartridge or activated carbon filter after the processing of water is done by the water purifier. So it is same thing under different nomenclature.

This to some extent adds the required minerals in the hygienic ways and bring the taste back near to normal. Different companies market these products under different nomenclature and description only to create confusion and as to showcase their product differently.

The purpose is to add essential minerals to the purified water to make the water tasty and maintain the pH.
Calcite media will be used in Aqua Taste Booster (ATB) which enhances the taste and helps maintain optimum pH level of water. In this process, some purified minerals will be added to RO water to make the water tasty.

In the mineralizer process variable low voltage Direct Current will be passed into the ionization chamber. This will enable the process of electrolysis. Positively charged ions of copper and silver will be released and these ions will have anti-toxic properties. Silver is a natural toxin for bacteria and copper to algae. These ions will purify the water without any side effects.

There may not be much difference in both the water. But mineralizer may be a better option.

Water we use may contain many impurities depending on the source from where it is obtained. The impurities can be suspended or dissolved. Suspended impurities like sand dirt etc are removed by proper sedimentation filters or other suitable filters. There can be some micro organisms which are harmful to us and various dissolved salts and minerals which may be in very high quantities which make the water not potable(Example bore well, brackish water near sea etc). These are eliminated by micro filters and by the Ultraviolet rays towards the end output. These are reduced and regulated to the level of tasty potable water by suitable micro filters and by controlling the total dissolved salts by using the electrical conductivity principle. When the filtering makes the TDS(total Dissolved Salts) very low, the water will taste bitter. Generally the municipal water TDS is in the range of 35 to 50. Sp the mineraliser facilitates adding back a certain amount of the minerals salts to the required level.
The Carbon filters remove elements like Chlorine and others which make water smell and /or taste bad.

Chemically saying water is Ph neutral or Ph is 7. Low Ph than 7 tends to be acidic taste and higher number than 7 makes taste alkaline. Acidic water can be corrosive apart from bad taste. So the water has to be made Ph neutral by using some chemical agents that suitably neutralises the excess acidity in water. The manufacturers of water purifiers name them effectively as Aqua(water)Taste Boosters. These mineralisers contain the natural slats like calcium carbonate or Calcite. The absorption and use of the Calcite is depending on the acidity of water and so in tolerable levels only. The out put water after calcite treatment filter will be neutral or non-acidic and thus tasty and non-corrosive.

In many modern RO purifiers the TDS control facility and ATB and Mineralisers are available. But one should know about the input water and then only accordingly use the suitable purifier or keep the proper TDS level.

Generally there is no necessity of using such ultra filters for treated municipal water supply and just a candle filter or one with a UV is enough. However if the inlet water is brackish and hard water then one may need a RO filter with TDS control.