^^ For borewell water:
1) You need to get your water tested thoroughly before you could invest in an efficient system. There are lots of impurities, minerals etc in borewell water and you need to tackle each one of them separately. Cost isn't prohibitive but procurement of parts will be an issue.
2) One of the two filters that you can buy without testing your water is a sediment filter, which will take care of your muddy water problem. You'll need to get a couple of them. (1) A washable mesh filter to pick up sand and other big impurities. (2) A 10 micron one to catch the dissolved sediments. (3) A 5 micron or even finer one right before your drinking water filter. (4) you can go even further to catch harmful stuff but it's no use without testing your water first.
I got a 20 inch long 5 micron filter + housing for under Rs 2000. I tried hard to find a washable or back-flush-able version but couldn't. Even though they are huge, these 5 micron filters will get choke pretty soon on your borewell water. Hence you need to put bigger ones before it to ease the job of the 5 micron one. Bigger meshes can be washed and reused - and save money.
If possible, get a transparent housing for sediment filters so you know when to replace them. Keep them covered from sunlight to avoid algae growth.
20 inch Filter housing: one time investment, good one costs upwards of Rs 1500. Big Blue is a renowned name.
20 inch Individual Filters: costs upwards of Rs 250. Replace after visual inspection.
Bigger micron versions with in-built back-flush option can be imported for Rs 10000. Or you can try clever plumbing to accommodate back-flush. Filters with fine micron sizes can't be effectively cleaned for reuse.
3) Second filter that you can buy without any professional consultation is an Activated Charcoal filter. I couldn't find bigger one locally. If you can get a bigger version, install it for the whole house, else use the smaller one before drinking water filter. But your existing filter might already have one.
Some people call it as Carbon filter but it's usually a combination of sediment filter + activated charcoal. If you could get a "carbon block" then nothing like it. It's all black. Smaller ones cost around Rs 500, including housing.
4) Sometimes I don't get the time to replace my sediment filters and the muddy water wreaks havoc. Just like you, I used to let water sit for a while. I used to add alum to fasten the process and kill germs too. You should try manual alum treatment.
Then I took out my old ceramic-candle filter and now I don't have to worry about muddy/cloudy water. It takes time but works pretty well throughput the year. Filter cartridges cost Rs 50 each and lasts a long time. It needs visual inspection, which is good. Water from ceramic filter gets transferred to Pureit Classic, which is something similar to Tata Swach non-electric.
5) Then I've got a whole house water softener, even though there wasn't much need of it. It's fully automatic from Kent and was quite costly back then at Rs 60000. Company guys promptly blew up the electronics while installing the system. It's lying idle now but I'll put it to use very soon. Borewell water needs softening but you first need to find out the kind of salts in your water. If there's a need for water softener then first scrounge your local market for recharging salts (called resin). I couldn't find them in
GawaarGaon and that was one of the reasons I had to shut it down.
6) Check your pH level as well. Mine is pretty good at 7.5 but that's probably because the municipality guys add a lot of stuff. These days I am getting stinky water and I am doing everything to make sure that it's not sewage. I hope it's sulfates which are nasty but not a health hazard. I've put a makeshift UV system to tackle probable sewage issue but it's not going to cut it. I am not able to get a bigger UV at a reasonable price.
One time cost so far:
- handheld TDS meter: Rs 150
- handheld pH meter: Rs 650
- 20in sediment filter housing: 2 x Rs 1800
- carbon filter cum housing: Rs 650
- inline UV filter: Rs 6500
- water softener: Rs 60000 (smaller versions available for lesser capacity)
- whole house pressure booster pump: Rs 19000 (smaller versions available for lesser capacity)
- plumbing fixtures such as non-return valves, pipes etc: didn't keep record
Yearly maintenance charges:
- sediment filters: 5 x Rs 300
- carbon filter: 2 x Rs 650
- UV bulb: Rs 700
- 1 liter resin for water softener: Rs 150 (unit needs a lot more than 1 liter; never ran it for a year)
At this moment I am getting crystal clear water throughout the house. I'll need to invest in more filters once I find out the source of stink in water. And then there'll be some automation also, as I am spending way too much time on stocking clean water everyday. While in US, I could drink straight from the bathroom faucet... want to do the same here
. Once upon a time we used to drink directly from mountain springs.