You're right to point out that water does produce both hydrogen ions (H+) and hydroxide ions (OH-). This happens through a process called autoionization where water molecules react with each other:

```

2 H₂O ⇌ H₃O+ + OH-

```

The double arrow indicates that the reaction is reversible, meaning it goes in both directions. At equilibrium, the rate of the forward reaction (formation of H₃O+ and OH-) is equal to the rate of the reverse reaction (formation of two water molecules).

So why is pure water neutral? It's because the concentrations of H+ and OH- ions are equal.

In pure water, the concentration of both H+ and OH- is 1 x 10^-7 moles per liter, which corresponds to a pH of 7.

Here's why equal concentrations lead to neutrality:

* pH scale: The pH scale measures the acidity or alkalinity of a solution. A pH of 7 is considered neutral, below 7 is acidic, and above 7 is alkaline (basic).

* H+ and OH- balance: Acidity is determined by the concentration of H+ ions, while alkalinity is determined by the concentration of OH- ions.

* Neutralization: When the concentrations of H+ and OH- are equal, they effectively neutralize each other, resulting in a neutral pH.

In summary:

While pure water undergoes autoionization, the equal concentrations of H+ and OH- ions produced lead to a neutral pH. It's a balance between the formation and recombination of these ions that keeps pure water neutral.