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RO is a necessary evil for Hard water sources,

- It wastes a lot of water while purifying it, upto 1:10(pure:wasted) is wasted.
- It requires heavy maintenance
- It a wasteful machine, hard water -> filtered to neutral (even good qualities are also filtered) -> add the good qualities of water back artificially (your consumables).

How much does it cost per year for the RO Machine? I have a UV Filter. The Carbon & Candle needs to be changed once a year & it costs Rs. 800 bucks including the service charge. The AMC costs 1100 or so (I don't have it) & other than the carbon/candle change once a year, they also come once in between & clean the filter.

I think it costs ten times that much (yes, guilty to being not much good at figures, especially remembering them). That includes spare parts, and a new motor and membrane would cost more than that. I think we started on labour only AMC and then when we needed to replace something expensive, negotiated to go to parts included. I didn't think the company would let us do that, but Mrs G (apart from the one who remembers how much things cost) is good at that sort of thing.

There is absolutely no economic sense in this machine compared to canned water. I did realise that even when we bought it. It represents convenience and also knowing what you are drinking. When you buy a can of water, you can't tell how long ago their machine was serviced.

Sorry for the delay. Didn't wanna post unless I had some concrete data.

So here's the story.

We called both Kent and Eureka Forbes for a demo. Kent has yet to come.

So the Eureka Forbes dealer came at 12. He had the TDS meter along with him.:Cheering:

TDS : 335 mg/L

As if all the earlier confusion wasn't enough, this places us in a funny situation. The TDS isn't low enough to be considered acceptable, nor is it high enough to be considered unacceptable. Various places on the internet recommend a RO filter only for TDS levels of 500 mg/L or more. And I'm banking on UV filters to remove some of the TDS.

So what's your take ? UV or RO ?

And yes, be prepared to suggest me some models once you do that.:D

Thanks a lot.

Its not just the TDS. Its the quality of TDS too. For example, some areas have heavy metals in ground water. So RO may be required for even less TDS.
Looking at the way water sources are getting progressively polluted, a RO makes more sense looking forwards.

Very strongly agreed; even if the water is good today, 2-3 years from now, it WILL be contaminated for sure, unless one is 100+ Kms away from the city.

I told you; EF rocks including their service.

Hmm...quite good amount; but again, I would say, get this tested through some other means. My criminal part of my brain says, those morons would've tweaked something in the TDS meter to show boosted up values. Get it double checked.

Did the guys from EF say that? If you're in border level, then its good because no way the pollution can decrease, so go for better one which will be cheaper than tomorrow.

Pls show me the sources; AFAIK, its 50 mg/L

My choice is always for RO; the sparkling clear mineral water from RO puts all other machines to shame.

Calculate your consumption & convenience of family members.

What are the regular maintenance cost for RO units? For UV units Eureka Forbes charges around 1000 bucks for one year of AMC - which also includes 2 free service and filter and carbon changes.

RO service is more involved that a UV system. The price stated by you does not include the most expensive part - the RO membrane. I hear in normal domestic usage this may need to be replaced every three years or so.

Our maintenance is around 2.7K per year that includes 4 free service & compulsory change of all filters every year (that costs 3.3K) & has all the parts within the machine to be replaced under repair with AMC.

Shock Horror! No wonder my mind automatically forgets the price of my gadgets...

Wife here now, and she says that our Zero-B 25Ltr machine costs about Rs.28,000, and that the AMC, including parts, is about 8,000.

Have to admit that that shocks me now, although it is just part of the extravagance that I was suffering from when we moved here. <Blush>

@Thad - I guessed from your last post that your RO is pricey stuff, but not this high for an AMC. But you need to look at the other side. Ours pumps about 8 lts an hour compared to your 25 lts per hour.

There're cheaper alternatives, but, how long have you been using the ZeroB? IMO, like Aquaguard, ZeroB is also pioneers in water purification systems.

@Thad - But I'm still wondering why would it cost so much. BTW, when did you buy? ages ago? Could you list down its features?

It's roughly three years ago. We saw a similar spec machine for considerably less in a local shop, but felt that Zero-B was a safer name to go with. Also there was quite a difference between the 15ltr and the 25ltr machines: at the time, I would have gone for the 15, but it would have meant waiting a couple of weeks and we were already up to our neck in an over-running house renovation (actually it continued to overrun for some time: we could easily have bought the 15).

Features I could not quote now, but I guess they may on the Zero-B site*. We did ask Zero-B about water softening and their machine was a mind-blowing fifty thousand!

OK... maybe it wasn't the right company to go to for equipment for a small house. Their service, though, is good. They are always prompt and there is never any argument about replacing anything.

*Actually, I think it is the "Ultimate" RO machiine on that same page -->link.

Another edit: here is the current domestic range. Prices are high!

.

So we're going for a RO based filter. Thanks.

I don't have any other source from where I can get it done. Besides, seeing that we're going for a RO-based filter now, we can't go wrong, can we ?

No, some places on the net.

I tried to search for them again, one site in particular, was a very good one, highly detailed explanation of filters for dummies like me, but could never find it. But then RO is decided now, so no worries.:)

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Since Kent failed to show up for the demo, they just lost a potential customer. I've narrowed the list down to three models.

1. Aquaguard Total Reviva : Recommended by the demo guy. Costs Rs. 10,000.

Link

2. Aquaguard Total Atom : It says on the site that it's available in select cities only. At Rs. 8,000, it's got both looks and function for a good price. Not sure if its available in Patiala.

Link

3. Aquasure Nano RO : Costs Rs. 8,000. For some reason, the salesman/demo guy recommended against it. Said that the company has received negative feedback about this product. I don't trust him though. But it hasn't got any looks as well.

Link

Help me choose please. Capacity and time taken to purify is not an issue. We're a small family with minimal requirements.

PS : Does any of these allow you to set TDS levels ? A RO filter that removes most of the TDS is bad, right ? From what I read, some TDS is required by the body.

I bought Kent RO 5 years back. When the salesman was testing the tap water, I had a bottle of mineral water lying around and I asked him to test that. The meter showed that the TDS in mineral water was less than 100 and the TDS of the untreated tap water was in the range of 700!

If you're interested in this product, I can take a second opinion for you from here in Chennai. Let me know your thoughts or some other options to help you.

Well, that's not the point @Anku. See it takes about 2 hours for us to get the water purified for us. But then, our TDS should be in excess of 800 & we're gaining only about 40%. So may be that's the delay for us. So, you may want to consider that factor.

You may want to test the TDS meter as such. Rajdeep's method is excellent one & you may want to try that.

None of them allows to set the TDS. I guess even the imported ones. But don't worry, the not the entire TDS's can be removed by these machines because the filters are not capable of removing anything below a certain point, may be 50 or 60 or something. Ask for another demo & check the TDS level of water after the RO process. You'll definitely see a positive TDS in 50+ but less than 100. Hope this clarifies.

That's an excellent idea Rajdeep. Appreciate for sharing. Thanks much.