How Do You Make a Hydrogen Bath and What Does It Do?

You make a hydrogen bath by infusing bath water with molecular hydrogen gas, and on an Ella walk-in tub that takes one press of a button. A hydrogen generator and pump under the molded seat, fed from a tank of distilled water, inject hydrogen into the bath as micro and nano bubbles through a single jet below seat level, and the water reaches 1500 PPB of hydrogen by the time the tub fills to the drain overflow. What Is H2 Hydrogen Therapy on a Walk-In Tub? explains the equipment, and this page walks through the bath itself: what goes in the tank, when to press the button, how much hydrogen you end up with and what it is meant to do.

What a Hydrogen Bath Is and What It Does

Ella's hydrogen therapy video describes hydrogen water bathing as an innovative approach that involves infusing bath water with molecular hydrogen gas. The detail that matters is the bubble size. By carrying the hydrogen in nano bubbles, the system lets the hydrogen remain in the water longer, and with one touch of a button billions of hydrogen nanobubbles are generated in the tub. Owners also call it a hydrogen bath, hydrogen water therapy or the H2 system, and all of those names mean the same thing.

Nothing is poured into the bath water to make it. The blue tank feeds distilled water to the generator, the generator produces the hydrogen, and the single jet below seat level delivers it into the bath. Ella's published material covers this built-in method only, so this page does not describe other ways of making a hydrogen bath at home.

As for what it does, the same video explains that hydrogen molecules are tiny and highly permeable, which allows them to penetrate cells easily, and that once absorbed, hydrogen neutralizes harmful free radicals. It then lists other potential benefits of hydrogen therapy that have been studied:

• Increased muscle performance and faster muscle injury recovery.
• Anti-aging and fat cell reduction.
• Improved skin health.
• A boosted immune system.
• Reduced stress and overall mood improvement.

The video presents these as potential benefits that have been studied. The part Ella puts a number on, tests and guarantees is the hydrogen level in your water, which is covered further down this page.

How to Make a Hydrogen Bath in an Ella Tub, Step by Step

The first step below happens once, when the tub is new. The rest is the routine for every bath.

1. Set up the tank before first use. Cut the shipping ties, remove the container from under the tub, connect the hose to the front of the tub, then fill the tank with distilled water.
2. Check the blue tank. Top it up with distilled water only. Tap water carries minerals the system is not designed for, and topping up with anything else can lead to weak output or a dirty tank over time.
3. Start filling the tub. Let the water rise until it is above the hydrogen inlet jet and, on a tub with the combined system, above the microbubble port as well.
4. Press the H2 button once. Once the water covers the hydrogen inlet jet, one press starts the generator. Never press the H2 button before the water is above the jet and the port, because the pump must not run dry.
5. Keep filling to your normal level. By the time the tub fills to the drain overflow, the concentration reaches 1500 PPB.
6. Settle in and soak. During an extended bath of 15 to 20 minutes, the level may rise to about 2000 PPB.
7. Switch off before you drain. If your tub also has the microbubble system, switch the microbubble pump off before you open the drain so the pump is not left running as the water level falls.

One point that surprises owners of the combined H2 and Microbubbles System: the microbubble pump has no timer and no automatic shutoff. As our article on how long the microbubble pump runs explains, it keeps going until you press the control to turn it off, so an extended soak is never cut short by the control.

How Much Hydrogen Ends Up in the Water

Ella publishes the figures, and they are easier to read once you know that 1000 PPB equals 1 ppm.

• 1500 PPB, which is 1.5 ppm. The concentration by the time the tub fills to the drain overflow. The Standard60 spec sheet states the same 1500 ppb figure after 5 minutes of operation.
• About 2000 PPB, which is 2.0 ppm. The level the water may rise to during an extended 15 to 20 minute bath.
• Up to 2.2 ppm. The level Ella guarantees, up to, per the verifiable test results that ship with each tub.

Every hydrogen tub is individually tested for hydrogen production before it ships. The sheet that arrives with your tub is the authoritative number for your unit, and the 2.2 ppm figure is an up-to guarantee verified per unit, not a promise for every bath.

Ella's test video shows how that number is measured. A 6 mL water sample is dosed with drops of a blue reagent that turns clear in the presence of dissolved hydrogen. With regular tap water, the very first drop stays blue, which indicates 0.1 parts per million of hydrogen or less. With water from an Ella walk-in tub outfitted with a hydrogen generator, the drops keep turning clear until the 22nd drop, meaning 2.2 parts per million. The video calls the moment when added drops stay blue the titration end point, because the dissolved hydrogen has been totally depleted. Common questions about Ella hydrogen therapy sets PPB and PPM side by side if you would like the conversions in one place.

A Hydrogen Bath Is Not the Same as a Microbubble Bath

The two therapies are often paired, and both arrive at the touch of a button, so they are easy to mix up. Infusion Microbubble Therapy fills the bath with billions of tiny oxygen rich bubbles, each smaller than 50 microns, that soften and exfoliate the skin and turn the water a cloudy white. Ella describes it as a skin therapy rather than a massage, producing water with up to 70 percent more oxygen than regular tap water. That milky look is the microbubble system working, not a water quality problem.

Hydrogen therapy is a separate system with its own generator, its own distilled water tank and its own single jet below seat level. On the Standard60 the two are packaged together as the H2 and Microbubbles System, which pairs the hydrogen generator with infusion microbubble therapy on a 1 HP, 10A pump with a pressure vessel and agitator valve. With that package, one bath can give you both.

Which Tubs Can Make a Hydrogen Bath, and the Habits That Keep It Working

The Standard60, the 30 by 60 model, is the catalog tub offered with the H2 and Microbubbles System. Ella's videos say any Ella walk-in tub can be outfitted with a hydrogen generator, on its own or combined with other jetting packages, and describe Ella as the only tub manufacturer with a built-in integrated hydrogen delivery system. In practice, special-order installation in other Ella tubs depends on the space available under the deck, so please ask your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 about your specific tub before assuming either way.

A few habits keep the system producing well:

• Fill the blue tank with distilled water only, every time.
• Wait for the water to cover the hydrogen inlet jet and the microbubble port before pressing anything.
• Keep the test results that shipped with your tub with your other paperwork. They are the reference for your unit.
• If you ever need help, have your model and serial number ready and reach the team at ellasbubbles.com/support or (800) 480-6850.

Watch: Do Hydrogen Therapy Walk-In Tubs Really Work? Ella's Bubbles Puts It to the Test | Ellas Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• H2 microbubble therapy on the Standard60: setup, distilled water, and what to expect
• Why Isn't My Microbubble System Making Bubbles?
• MicroBubble Pump Will Not Run: Dedicated 20-Amp Circuit, Air Hose, Fan Screw and Breather Cap

Common Questions