The Sweetwater Solution™ (SS™) acidifies water, which lowers its pH, neutralizes the carbonates and bicarbonates, thereby improving otherwise alkaline water to be used for irrigation purposes. The SS™ machine consists primarily of a burn chamber, where elemental sulfur is burned to generate sulfur dioxide gas (SO₂), and piping that delivers the gas directly into a stream of water passing through it. As the gas (SO₂) combines with the water (H₂O), it creates a diluted and mild sulfurous acid (H₂SO₃). In some designs, and depending on the volume of water being treated, the pH of the water can be dropped as low as 2.0. H₂SO₃ is an unstable compound and immediately seeks out one additional oxygen atom from the dissolved oxygen in the water to form sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄). So as the treated water is blended with the rest of the irrigation water it continues to neutralize bicarbonates and carbonates and reduce the overall pH and alkalinity of the water to improve infiltration in the soil profile and free up bound salts so that they can be effectively leached out of the root zone.

In some designs the entire irrigation stream is treated at once, while in others only a portion of the water is treated, which is later mixed with the rest of the irrigation stream. Regardless of the model of SS™ machine, the water discharge is absolutely safe to the touch.