Review Ultimate WATER PURIFIER Buying Guide.!

Hey guys...! I wanted to buy a Water Purifier recently... and call it a habit.. But I NEED to EXTENSIVLY research something before Buying. So.. I thought Let's share my research.

Most of us just drink RO Water without even knowing what we are drinking. In Most cases.. The RO Water we drink is just a tasteless liquid which has no health benefits at all but just a medium to quench our thirst.

This is a comprehensive Guide covering most of the aspects one should look at before Buying a Water Purifier. I Focused upon HEALTH instead of fancy Features.

First Confusion is always about.. What to Choose...eh..? I mean.. there are SEVERAL VARIANTS..! RO.. UV... UF... NF... Alkaline... Copper... and even their SEVERAL Combinations..!!!! :eek:o_O.

FIRST AND MOST IMPROTANT STEP :

If your TAP Water TDS is Below or around 200 mg/l --> UV + UF Combination.
If your TAP Water TDS is above 300 mg/l --> RO+UV+UF+ TDS Controller Combination. ( Set Water Output TDS above 150mg/l ).
If your TAP Water TDS is above 800 mg/l --> RO+UV+UF Combination.

Explanation.


1. Before Buying.. Always.. and I mean Always Check the TDS of you Tap Water. You can use any TDS metre available on Amazon ( around INR 250 ).

Now.. If your TDS is around or below 200 mg/l... YOU DO NOT NEED RO.. I REPEAT.. YOU DO NOT RO. Why.. ?? .... cause RO is a process that removes most of the ( Around 90% ) TOTAL DISSOLVED SOLIDS / SALTS ( TDS ) from your water and makes it slightly ACIDIC in nature. And as you know.. Human Blood is slightly Basic in nature and thus drinking acidic water on a regular basis increases acidic content in your body.. making your immunity slightly weaker. If you use RO in this case. Your Output Water will have a TDS around 20 to 50 AND PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY... PLEASE DO NOT DRINK ANY WATER WITH TDS BELOW 150 mg/l on a regular basis ( EXCEPT COCONUT WATER which has a surprisingly high TDS OF MORE THAN 1000 mg/l ) If you really care about your health. :). You can see this article. Also. do note that TDS around 300 mg/l is excellent for you health ( WHO Report ).

RO-water-chart.jpg


www.business-standard.com

SC stays NGT ban on water purifiers where TDS below 500 mg per litre

The top court was hearing an appeal filed by the Water Quality India Association challenging the December 1, 2021 order of the NGT
www.business-standard.com www.business-standard.com

Now.. it's clear You DO NOT need RO if your water TDS is around 200 mg/l. Still.. It may contain some impurities as well as harmful bacteria. So.. You will need a UV ( for organic impurities ) + UF ( For inorganic impurities ) Combination in this case.

2. If your TDS is above 300 mg/l --> Go for a RO+ UV +UF + TDS Control Combination. Because.. even in this case.. RO will decrease your TDS to around 50 to 70 mg/l... BUT here.. You also HAVE A TDS CONTROLLER.
Now remember... A Water Purifier works on several steps. First Water passes through Several Filters.. then through RO Membrane.. Then through UF Membrane.. then UV.. and other membranes if any and finally in the Storage tank.


Here.. the TDS Controller bypass some of the water directly to UF Membrane instead of passing it through RO and then add that water into the output of RO Membrane... thus increasing TDS by adding original Salts present in the Tap Water. So.. your Output TDS will be whatever you desire below your Tap Water TDS. I recommend above 150 mg/l.

3. If your TDS is Way above 300 mg/l.. I mean like 800mg/l or above.. you DO NOT NEED TDS Controller... as After RO Process.. your Output will be around 150 mg/l or above. So.. Go for a RO+UV+UF Combination.


NEXT STEP :

Electrical Type.. / Mechanical Type / Or a Combination of Both.

Answer is simple.. A combination of both BUT Please do note that some Electrical Water Purifier DO NOT allow Water Output when there is a power cut even if Water is present in the storage tank. So.. check before buying.

NEXT STEP :

Mounting Type... / Table Type / Undersink Type.

product-500x500.jpeg Undersink Type.

It really depends on your preference. Mounting Types are Wall Mounted.. Table Types are put on the table... and Undersink types are used in households having smaller kitchen or no space for wall mounting and table.

NEXT STEP :

Storage Tank Material:
More than 95% of the Water Purifiers use FOOD GRADE PLASTIC as a Water Storage Tank. But a few also use Stainless Steel. Some Water Purifiers that offer Hot Water Output have a combination of both Food Grade Plastic ( For Normal Water Tank ) and Stainless Steel ( For Hot Water tank ).... I would suggest to go for Stainless Steel. Still.. it's my personal opinion.. rest is your choice.

bepure-100-stainless-steel-tank-original-imafwc5npzqrmktq.jpeg
Stainless Steel Storage Tank Water Purifier.

NEXT STEP :

Alkaline Membrane or Copper Membrane or Both.

This is also the most confusing part. Alkaline Membrane can be used if you are using RO... as it adds some basic salts in your RO Output Water increasing it's basicity as RO Water is slightly acidic in nature.
The Problem is there is no hard evidence that such water is really good for health. Some studies have shown that such water really helped many people to gain better health.. even removing joint pain... while other studies have shown no conclusive results. So.. it's your preference.

www.healthline.com

Alkaline Water: Benefits, Side Effects, and Dangers

What's alkaline water, and why is it raved about in the health industry? We explain if it’s safe to drink, what the research says about alleged benefits and more.
www.healthline.com www.healthline.com

Now Copper Membrane is just a marketing gimmick. Don't go for it. Rest is your choice.

CRUCIAL STEP:

Sales After Service and Yearly Charge.
Many Companies like Kent or Pureit.. provide better service in some areas only. IN MY AREA.. KENT SERVICE is ABSOLUTLY pathetic. So.. please consult your neighbours or even online about the service of the company.
Also.. some Water Purifiers have an annual charge as high as 5K ( For Filters and Membranes ) while some has around ( 2K .. The minimum I Saw ). So.. check this beforehand.

That's it... follow these steps and gift yourself and your family a healthy Water Purifier. Again.. it's not a comprehensive guide.. as there are several features.. like Hot Water or Cold Water Output or fruit washer or Digital Display...and many more ... that today's Water Purifiers offer. And it's very important not to favour such fancy features over health. Please Prioritize You health.. and then your environment.

Finally.. Keeping all of the above in consideration.. I have decided to Go with BePure.
Now.. you must be thinking.. what's BePure..? Never heard of it...!???

Bepure is actually an Indian Startup providing Water Solutions. It has even won Silicon India Award and has many favourable reviews online.
So.. I am buying it's Bepure Alken Stainless Steel 12L ( RO + UV +UF + TDS + Alkaline ( Let's try it ) ) Model with an annual charge of around 2K. If anyone has used it.. Please write your experience. Thanks.

I will edit the Guide with Pictures later as I have been writing for over an hour now.:oops:.
 
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Click to expand...
anmolbhard004 said:
what about purifiers having alkaline water option? seems gimmick.

was checking eureka forbes and not a single model is without copper, alkaline, zinc.
Click to expand...

Supplementing with Cu+Zn at the same time is not a smart idea. One should remove such cartridges or replace them with a charcoal one.

Someone with RO needs to do this experiment:

- Capture some water in a wide-mouthed steel/glass container right after the RO cartridge output. Record its pH.​
- Keep this water exposed to air for a couple of hours. Measure the pH again.​

If the pH reduces below an acceptable level, then perhaps some kind of alkalizer is needed. It can be in the form of TDS-adjuster/booster or a re-mineralizer/alkaline cartridge.

A decade ago, people used to complain about the odd taste of RO water. Manufacturers then introduced TDS adjusters to retain the customer base. Since this was a one-time cost to the end user, manufacturers had to bring in these mineral/alkaline cartridges to milk us repeatedly.
 
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Most of those cartridges should be removed imho. Weirdly, no Indian govt lab has done any lab tests to verify these claims nor done any tests to see if they are safe for humans. I don't know whether it is lethargy or lack of money or just ignorance on their part. If they have done tests, do they keep it to themselves or publish it openly somewhere? Go to YT and see the teardown of these copper and mineral cartridges. Copper ones have copper wires cut in bits in them. Some have copper balls. There is no uniformity. All these products are manufactured in China and they take human safety as optional advice. Factories must be stuffing these products with any recycled stuff and we are passing RO water through junk and drinking it. Even silver takes hours to purify water. If you really need benefits, store the water in copper vessels for hours. Mineraals can be taken from vegetables and food too.No need for these extra minerals in water. For taste of water just the coconut charcoal post filter is sufficient.
 
6pack said:
Most of those cartridges should be removed imho. Weirdly, no Indian govt lab has done any lab tests to verify these claims nor done any tests to see if they are safe for humans. I don't know whether it is lethargy or lack of money or just ignorance on their part. If they have done tests, do they keep it to themselves or publish it openly somewhere? Go to YT and see the teardown of these copper and mineral cartridges. Copper ones have copper wires cut in bits in them. Some have copper balls. There is no uniformity. All these products are manufactured in China and they take human safety as optional advice. Factories must be stuffing these products with any recycled stuff and we are passing RO water through junk and drinking it. Even silver takes hours to purify water. If you really need benefits, store the water in copper vessels for hours. Mineraals can be taken from vegetables and food too.No need for these extra minerals in water. For taste of water just the coconut charcoal post filter is sufficient.
Click to expand...
its just ignorance from govt side. see the Patanjali case for example.
 
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variablevector said:

Bought that thing for ~ 8500. I have borewell water but the TDS is only about 200.
Click to expand...
What is the life of the filter? After how many litres does it have to be changed? Does it have a chip to stop flow once the limit is reached?

I am looking for a UF purifier. Unfortunately it appears that all the major manufacturers have stopped it. They only have UV+UF. I am open to that too. My requirement is for Goa and the water TDS is around 100. I checked the specs of a few. Aquaguard spec is 6000 litres life. At that point, the water flow stops by virtue of a chip inside and you have to get their service to come and replace the filter. This is regardless of the actual condition of the filter. This seems similar to the revenue model of printer manufacturers. I hate this scheming model. Does anyone know if that is the same with Kent, Havell, AO smith and others?
 
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Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) on July 15 announced that it will sell its Pureit business in India to AO Smith, a leading global water technology company, for Rs 601 crore ($72 million)

www.businesstoday.in

HUL announces sale of water purification business, Pureit, to AO Smith for Rs 601 crore

The FY24 turnover of the water purification business -- part of its overall home care arm -- was recorded at Rs 293 crore, which is less than one percent of HUL’s turnover. The company announced the sale through a disclosure to the stock exchanges today.
www.businesstoday.in www.businesstoday.in
 
Emil said:
What is the life of the filter? After how many litres does it have to be changed? Does it have a chip to stop flow once the limit is reached?

I am looking for a UF purifier. Unfortunately it appears that all the major manufacturers have stopped it. They only have UV+UF. I am open to that too. My requirement is for Goa and the water TDS is around 100. I checked the specs of a few. Aquaguard spec is 6000 litres life. At that point, the water flow stops by virtue of a chip inside and you have to get their service to come and replace the filter. This is regardless of the actual condition of the filter. This seems similar to the revenue model of printer manufacturers. I hate this scheming model. Does anyone know if that is the same with Kent, Havell, AO smith and others?
Click to expand...
I haven't used it for long enough to give you any perspective on maintenance. But it works fine so far. I've heard the filters are supposed to cost around 2k.

There's also a filter+lamp kit being sold for that amount.
filterkart.com

Aquadyne's RO Filter Service Kit suitable for AO Smith X2 Water Purifiers

This kit contains the following items: Pre Filter Spun Cartridge 10 Inch (1 Nos): This is 5 Micron Spun Cartridge for Pre Filter Bowl fitted outside the RO Water Purifier System. Carbon Filter 8.5 Inch (1 Nos): These filters contain premium grade coconut based granular activated carbon, 1200 -...
filterkart.com filterkart.com

This does have a filter change led on the front that turns on when it needs changed. The easiest way to implement that would be based on X litres of water filtered, so I'm sure that is how AO Smith does it too. But looking at YT, there should a reset button inside that you can use to reset the led. So maybe that'll work for your purpose?
 
Hi all,
After a long time I am looking at water purifiers again.
In Chennai, Water supply provided by Corporation, stored in building sump and then to tank and then to home. Earlier Aquaguard persons suggested to go with RO model and folks got it installed. Never knew about this until I visited home after 4 months. I didn't question their choice and years later this one is failing and the after their usual AMC tactics ( Folks had purchased AMC for 4 years) and failure to service their product.

For now, I think UV+UF is okay for this water. They wanted all other addons like with their old water purifier - Mineraliser, Copper, Alkaline. Are they needed, I get Mineraliser & Copper but Alkalinity in water is needed only because RO turns to acidic water. Correct me if I am wrong. Earlier the Aquaguard rep said to my folks that all impurities collected by filters and washed down through RO and drained out. This is why RO is needed even for Corporation water and not because of TDS. I was simply stunned by this. Selling Power of reps.

Based on similar suggestion by post above, I like Bepure Alken Pro Stainless Steel Tank 9L UV+UF+Alkaline Water Purifier

Please do suggest me other good models.
 
?dOuBtFiRe? said:
Hi all,
After a long time I am looking at water purifiers again.
In Chennai, Water supply provided by Corporation, stored in building sump and then to tank and then to home. Earlier Aquaguard persons suggested to go with RO model and folks got it installed. Never knew about this until I visited home after 4 months. I didn't question their choice and years later this one is failing and the after their usual AMC tactics ( Folks had purchased AMC for 4 years) and failure to service their product.

For now, I think UV+UF is okay for this water. They wanted all other addons like with their old water purifier - Mineraliser, Copper, Alkaline. Are they needed, I get Mineraliser & Copper but Alkalinity in water is needed only because RO turns to acidic water. Correct me if I am wrong. Earlier the Aquaguard rep said to my folks that all impurities collected by filters and washed down through RO and drained out. This is why RO is needed even for Corporation water and not because of TDS. I was simply stunned by this. Selling Power of reps.

Based on similar suggestion by post above, I like Bepure Alken Pro Stainless Steel Tank 9L UV+UF+Alkaline Water Purifier

Please do suggest me other good models.
Click to expand...
For corporation water, just boiling it will suffice to kill any infections in it. RO and purifier would be overkill for it. They add enough chlorine to it anyways.
 
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?dOuBtFiRe? said:
Hi all,
After a long time I am looking at water purifiers again.
In Chennai, Water supply provided by Corporation, stored in building sump and then to tank and then to home. Earlier Aquaguard persons suggested to go with RO model and folks got it installed. Never knew about this until I visited home after 4 months. I didn't question their choice and years later this one is failing and the after their usual AMC tactics ( Folks had purchased AMC for 4 years) and failure to service their product.
Click to expand...
Aquaguard guys seem to be committing some kind of fraud these days. We had an old model that lasted for more than a decade without issues other than some periodic servicing covered by AMC.
Last year, we got it replaced by a new model. mfkers have logic in it that stops water after ~6k liters even if filter is ok ( disclosed by service guy who we know for more than a decade). This was never disclosed at time of purchase.
Apparently this is widely known looking at reddit posts. Kent is maybe same. Cant understand how this kind of practice is not caught by regulators.

Supposedly he will replace its internals before AMC renewal. If not, will stop using them. Even tata swatch type stuff is enough for mumbai water, we used it without issue during covid.
 
Tracer_Bullet said:
mfkers have logic in it that stops water after ~6k liters even if filter is ok.
Click to expand...

Even I was furious when I found out about this practice a few years ago. But now I feel that time or usage based expiration is an overall much better option as people may not look after their water purifiers due to lack of time or expertise. Plastics degrade with time whether you use the filter or not. RO cartridges start to foul as they process more and more water. To ensure safe drinking water all the time, it's better to err on the side of caution and stop the water flow altogether.


DigitalDude said:
Which water purifier can filter out micro plastics? or is water distiller+electrolytes the only option?
Click to expand...
RO is the second best option. But filters can reintroduce microplastics during storage. So choose the storage vessel appropriately.

A distiller is very simple and low maintenance device. Only issues are that it's not time and energy efficient.
 
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