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Can somebody please suggest a device to test quality of drinking water? The apartment I now live in switched to ground water, and I'm having a sore throat for almost 3 weeks. In spite of having an aqua guard RO + UV filter. This was installed by the landlord,so not aware of details or capabilities.

Amazon lists pen type devices starting from a couple of hundreds. What I'm not sure is what all parameters require testing.

Why not get yourself checked for a throat infection? It may just be a coincidence.

:-D the apartment WhatsApp group is on fire.

I'm looking for a long term solution that is reliable. And getting an infection is not a safe way of checking water quality. The owners' society says they will mix tanker water with ground water. So moving to RO is only feasible way for me.

The 15 or 20 litre can is ruled out for a. Lugging it to the 10th floor from ground; b. Putting them upside down on top of dispenser. Both are back breaking.

The units on Amazon will only check the TDS levels. Higher than normal TDS levels will probably give you an indication that maybe a lab test might be required.

Prior to RO, a UV/UF should eliminate all possible virus and bacteria. Isnt it?

I would probably move out of the place.

We have the same problem; mostly use corporation water but need tankers at times (during summers especially). Since there is common storage, we need a RO. Have the Eureka Forbes for 4.5 years, no major complaints. My parents have a Kent machine in Gurgaon; it's a white elephant.

More so, I doubt how safe that water really is. Even when branded Bisleri.

[quote=Red Liner;4734312Prior to RO, a UV/UF should eliminate all possible virus and bacteria. Isnt it?[/QUOTE]

Most RO (maybe all) units do have other stages of purification alongside (UV + UF, TDS, sediment etc.)

Those pen type devices cannot tell you much. Only TDS - Total Dissolved Solids. The other readings are just based on this one reading and computed. I have one of these. It is good for checking if distilled water is free of conductive ions. You cannot conclude anything from the TDS reading about the potability of water. Beware.

In Chennai, you can give your water to Chennai Metro Water department and they'll check the water in their lab and give results. It would take up-to 15 days and cost around 200 rupees. Only trouble is you need to give them the sample water in a can as advertised by them. They won't accept the water in any other container.

You can try this if it's available in your locality.

Anything similar available in Bengaluru? I would like to test the ground water at our place and as such am looking for a reliable test lab for the same.

please:

Friends,

I'm planning to buy a serviceable vacuum cleaner within Rs. 10k for home use. I'd greatly appreciate any recommendations / tips in this reagard from people familiar with the Indian market. My primary requirements are:

1. Good performance on hard floors (haven't ever used one on such floors).

2. Needs to have a blower. However, this seems to restrict me to the wet & dry models, although I don't think I need a wet cleaner.

3. The brand must have good after sales service with extended parts availability beyond warranty.

This last point is where I'm quite lost. My research suggests that most (if not all) models within my budget are chinese imports, and there is no guarantee of availability of spares even during warranty (although there is no dearth of pre-sale promises). This seems to hold good across brands! In addition, some big names like Karcher seem to market shoddy products in my price range to start with! Some online-only brands promise the sky, but seem not to live up to those promises! Some such brands are downright shady, apparently trying to capitalize on typical-Indian-customer fascination with American/European sounding names (of dubious origin), and the "imported" tag!

So, any real life experiences of satisfaction with vacs available in the Indian market within 10K? Thanks for any help / tips.
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Look for a vacuum machine which looks like a dabba / bucket / kitchen waste bin. These typically have a washable filter at top with dust accumulating at the bottom part. These are wet / dry types, since moisture ingress wont harm electrical, which are at the top. These wont have consumables like dust bags.



Higher the power rating, better the performance. And for powers above 1200W, you may need 16A power sockets. So make sure you have the sockets. And also, see if the power cords are long enough. 5 meters is minimum, 10 or longer is better. Else, you'll need to use extension cords. I had to custom build a 15m one. Because entire house had just one 16A socket available.

A retractable power cord is an essential. Else you'll spend time disentangling it.

Look for something with atleast 3 attachments - floor, crevice / carpets and third for ceiling fans. You'll get reasonably priced models at around ₹ 8k.

Mine is a Chinese made one with the brand of a local super market, coated below 5k and is used once 3 months or so. It is wet/dry type. There is no switch or mode to use it wet. If you run it over spilled liquids, it will be sucked in. That's all.
That is different from some machines which pump out a jet of water which is sucked back in. Hope you are not confusing the two.

Looking for a robot mopping machine. Which one of the many available now is the best for Indian conditions? The "intelligence" part is not too important, I would just like to make it easy on our maid physically. I've seen janitors use scrubbing and polishing machines, but those require a lot of human attention.

Thanks for your response. Well, basics are not of any concern, since vacs are not exactly new to me, having used them for years, but exclusively on carpets and upholstery and such -- 'wet' ones too, in the form of carpet shampooer machines (not the spill-sucker kinds so prevalent in India)
-- but never on hard floors, so I don't know how well they really work on typical Indian bare floors.

My main worry actually is the quality of after sales service available here. It appears that, in India, if a vac does act up, one may well have to just junk it, since even in-warranty service can't be relied upon! And this seems to be the situation irrespective of the brand! Oh well!
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I bought Panasonic MC-CG304 6 years ago and it's still going strong sans any issues.
Soon after seeing this at our home, two of my relatives started looking for a vaccum cleaner but ended up buying the same due to low noise and best suction power compared to other brands in the market that time.

Using it quite extensively and never required any replacement or service.

I see many updated models in their website and you can go for it after some study.

You can check for Axiom labs in Kochi. I have heard about them from an industrialist. Don't know whether they do for domestic/individual customers. May be the association can do the testing commonly and absorb the cost which might not be very high(couple of thousands at the most).

RO+UV should remove most contaminants in visibly normal looking and smelling water. If there are solid biological contaminants like plant materials, soil etc the effectiveness of these methods in domestic purifiers are questionable. And except boiling nothing will remove the viruses and spores of some bacteria(rare).

In my experience what I have seen is that these things slightly common in crowded country like ours and common sources much easier to identify with cases/illness occuring with few hours to days. Most of them are self limiting. Do a methodical search. Clean the water sumps and tanks. Chlorinate the water in prescribed quantities(very effective).

OT: Our society also had a similar situation few months back with lots of fire on the Office bearers for not cleaning the swimming pool properly. And quietly I did an individual testing and found that the problem was increased chlorine(cause of irritation of nose and throat) in the water due to obsessive disinfection practice of our RWA. The water tested had almost next to none organisms.

Thanks for your response. I was interested in some Panasonic models too, including the one you have. But they are not available locally. The Panasonic exclusive showroom in my town shut shop for some reason. I'd much rather source something locally (in the hope that the seller might prove helpful in case of need).



That's the thing, -- if it runs without any issues, fine. If not, what happens? Most such machines are not made in india, but imported. There is the question of availability of spares if there is any problem. I was interested in a highly rated Philips model. There were reports that users were unable to get even required warranty service since parts were not available for repair! Even Philips service centres didn't know when, or if, the necessary parts would be available!

In such situations customers are helpless, and if that isn't enough, many companies have a policy that the warranty runs down even as the item sits at the service centre waiting for parts for repair to be available! Sorry state of affairs, I must say!
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