Figure 1. Diagrammatic representation of EZ water, negatively charged, and the positively charged bulk water beyond. Hydrophilic surface at left.
Figure 2. Practically incessant flow occurs through hydrophilic tubes immersed in water.
Of particular significance is the fourth phase’s charge: commonly negative (Figure 1). Absorbed radiant energy splits water molecules; the negative component forms the building block of the EZ, while the positive component binds with water molecules to form free hydronium ions, which diffuse throughout the ordinary liquid water. Adding additional light stimulates more charge separation.
This light-driven process resembles the first step of photosynthesis. In that first step, energy from the sun splits water molecules. Hydrophilic chromophores catalyze the splitting. The process considered here is similar but more generic: many hydrophilic surfaces can catalyze the splitting. Some surfaces work more effectively than others. The resemblance to the initial step of photosynthesis implies that the current process should not be considered “exotic.” Rather, it would appear to be a member of a set of related phenomena, of which this is merely the latest to be discovered.
The separated charges of Figure 1 resemble a battery. That battery can deliver energy in a manner similar to the way the separated charges in plants deliver energy. Plants, of course, comprise mostly water, and it is therefore no surprise that similar energy conversion might take place in water itself.
The stored electrical energy in water can drive various kinds of work. One of those kinds of work is flow, and I’d like to focus much of my attention here on the intratubular flow we observed in the laboratory, and the surprising implications it holds for health.
We found that immersing tubes made of hydrophilic materials into water produces flow through those tubes (Figure 2). The driving energy comes from the radiant energy absorbed and stored in the water. That energy builds an annular EZ within the tube. As the EZ builds, it releases protons into the tubular core.
Those protons repel one another, creating pressure. The pressure gives way at one end or the other, pushing water out, and thereby drawing more water in from the opposite end of the tube to replace what has been lost. That keeps the process going. Flow may persist undiminished for many hours, even days. Additional incident energy brings faster flow. This is not a “perpetual motion” machine: incident radiant energy drives the flow — in much the same way that it drives vascular flow in plants.
That water-based energy-conversion framework is rich with implication for many systems involving water. These systems range from biology and chemistry all the way to atmospheric science and engineering. The fourth phase appears nearly everywhere: all that’s needed for its presence is water, radiant energy, and a hydrophilic surface. The latter can be as large as a slab of polymer or as small as a dissolved molecule. The liquid crystalline, EZ phase inevitably builds — and its presence plays some integral role in the system’s behavior.