True Source Waters: Why We Built Santa Cruz's Only Free Hydrogen Water Store

This isn't a typical water company story. It started with curiosity, a lot of questions, and water that made a noticeable difference.

My name is Alayna Nathe, and I opened True Source Waters because I wanted my community to know what I knew, to feel what I felt. 

We are not a store that sells things ‘at you’. Not a place that relies on fear to move product. Just somewhere a person can walk in, learn what's actually true about water, taste something genuinely different, and decide for themselves.

That's what True Source Waters is. And this page is the story of why.

— OUR STORY —

Section 1: How True Source Waters Started

Like a lot of people, I came to hydrogen water through personal experience before I came to it through science. I noticed a difference in how I felt drinking it — more hydrated, more energized, more settled — and that difference made me want to understand why.

I had been an athlete my entire life. Surfing professionally, racing and weight training at the gym. Hydration was key to my performance, yet I had never experienced something quite like this water.

So I started learning. I read the research on molecular hydrogen. I studied ionization technology. I got hands-on with the equipment. The more I understood, the more convinced I became that this wasn't a wellness trend — it was something real, grounded in legitimate science, and largely unknown to most people.

What I couldn't find was a place that bridged that gap. A way for someone who'd never heard of hydrogen water to walk in off the street, ask any question they wanted, taste the water for free, and get honest answers without being sold to. A place where trust, education and empowerment led to sales, not pressure.

So I built one.

True Source Waters opened as:  Santa Cruz's first and only free water store — and the only Enagic showroom in the area. The water is always free. The door is always open.

— WHY HYDROGEN WATER —

Section 2: Why Hydrogen Water Specifically

There's no shortage of water products in the wellness space, and most of them are long on marketing and short on substance. I was skeptical too, at first.

What changed my mind was the research. Molecular hydrogen — H₂ — is the subject of over 1,800 peer-reviewed scientific studies. Researchers across Japan, South Korea, the United States, and Europe have been studying its antioxidant properties, its behavior inside cells, and its interaction with oxidative stress for decades. This isn't fringe science. It's a serious and growing field.

The core reason hydrogen water is interesting comes down to one remarkable physical property: H₂ is the smallest molecule in existence. At just 0.2 nanometers, it can cross biological barriers that no other antioxidant molecule can reach — including the blood-brain barrier and the inner membrane of individual cells.

That's not a marketing claim. That's chemistry. And it's why people who drink properly produced hydrogen water consistently report noticing a difference.

What we believe:  People deserve access to the real science — not a simplified sales pitch and not exaggerated promises. Our job is to explain what the research actually says and let you decide what to do with it.

→  Read the full science: Beginner's Guide to Molecular Hydrogen (/education/beginners-guide-to-molecular-hydrogen)

— THE STORE EXPERIENCE —

Section 3: What It's Like to Visit True Source Waters

We're on Portola Drive in Santa Cruz, and we're open six days a week. Walk in any time.

When you come in, you're welcome to fill your bottle with hydrogen-rich water from our Enagic system — at no charge, no strings attached. A lot of people come in after a surf, a hike, a long day at work. They fill up, we talk, they ask questions.

Some people want to understand the science. Some people just want to taste it and see what they notice. Both are completely fine. We don't have a script and we don't have a quota.

We also run regular water education classes — open to anyone — where we go deeper into what's actually in your tap water, how ionization works, what the research says, and how to think about hydration as a long-term practice rather than an afterthought.

The one thing we ask:  Come curious. Ask real questions. Drink the water. See what you notice. That's the whole invitation.

— HOME SYSTEMS —

Section 4: Bringing Hydrogen Water Home

For people who decide they want consistent access to hydrogen-rich water beyond what a store visit provides, we help set up home systems.

We work exclusively with Enagic ionizers — the systems we use in our store, that we've tested, that we understand deeply, and that we stand behind. Enagic has been producing water ionizers since 1974 and their machines are built for years of daily household use.

Every installation is different. The right setup depends on your kitchen, your water supply, and how many people are in your household. Some people go with a countertop unit. Others prefer an under-counter installation that keeps the counter clear. The machine and its performance are identical either way — it's purely a question of how it fits into your space.

Where your local water quality calls for it, we'll recommend adding a pre-filter upstream of the ionizer or a whole home filtration system to address water quality at every tap — particularly for households on municipal water with chloramines or other contaminants the machine's built-in filter doesn't address on its own.

We don't do high-pressure sales. 

We explain the options, answer every question, and let you make the call on your timeline.

→  Explore home water systems (/water-systems)

→  Read our Hydrogen Water Machine Guide (/water-systems/hydrogen-water-machine-guide)

— COME FIND US —

Visit Us

We're in Santa Cruz, and we'd love to meet you.

Fill your bottle. Ask your questions. Take your time. That's what we're here for.

True Source Waters  3617b Portola Dr, Santa Cruz, CA 95062 · (831) 201-4935 · Mon–Sat 10am–6pm · truesourcewaters.co

As featured on Bloomberg and The Blox — airing Spring and Summer 2026.