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I personally prefer Syntex as it lasts a long time. We have 2 x 750 black tanks and they are over 20 years old, with no deterioration as yet.

Yes the water heats up a lot in summers of Delhi, but then you are getting hot water free of costs!

If you are still bothered about heat and deterioration, then try the Syntex triple layer tanks. The link in the second post above will take you to their site.

Thanks. That solves the concern regarding algae growth.

Sintex it is! We have two tanks both placed next to each other on the roof, both are 20 years old, one is Sintex (1000L) and the other is another brand called Stylus(500L). The stylus tank has developed cracks and is leaking water. The Sintex looks like it will easily last another 5 years minimum. We are trying to fix the leak in the Stylus and if it doesn't work will change it.

Need some help with a water situation am facing at home. Recently shifted to a house with only borewell water. It is hard water and have started noticing that I am feeling itchy after a bath. Please advise what water tests I should get done. Saw many available tests at this link
http://www.twadboard.gov.in/twad/waterquality_wing.aspx

Are there options for me to filter or treat this water on its way up to the over head tank? I also noticed some black sand in the water last week but that was only that one day. Should I get the over head tank cleaned often? It's been four months since I moved in. What could be the source of the black sand? My building is about 500m from our famous cooum sewage in Chennai.
The bore depth is 55 feet and water starts around 30 feet.

Bore well water will normally have a lot of suspended particles (fine sand) as well as chemicals. The composition of chemicals depends solely on what pollutants are entering the catchment are of the well.

. First of all get the over head tank cleaned as it would have accumulated solids over the years.

. I suggest a two part treatment of the water
a) Get a coarse filter, say 0.5mm mesh
b) A fine filter which may be a candle type (as used in the older type of water filters)
These should be between the bore well outlet and your over head tank.

. If tests show a lot of chemicals then install an industrial grade RO unit that will treat all the water entering your house hold.

Pre treatment filters are necessary to filter out suspended partices. The coarse one will collect larger pieces and the fine the rest. This will extend the RO Membrane life at least two or three times.

Thanks much Aroy. I called 3M for a visit and they are very pricey (starting at 59k). Do you know any other brands I can consider and approximate pricing?

Google - Industrial & Large home water treatment plants. There are quite a few suppliers and contractors doing it.

A good sized RO and powered pre-filter will cost 50K+. Just evaluate the cost of consumables for the worst case scenario.

You can try Ion Exchange. They make RO's and other kinds of filters for water. They should also be able to test your borewell water and give you a report, which will have permissible limits and actual values to help you understand how good or bad your water is.

http://www.ionexchangeservices.com/chennai.html

First get the water tested.
For larger sediments, you can get a steel mesh filter which can be easily cleaned and reused.
Then buy 10/20 inch filter receptacles and membrane filters for fhe same. Buy 2 size filters, one for large sediments and one for smaller. You can find different micron ratings. Having 2 of these mean longer life for the more expensive denser membrand filter for smalled sediments.
Then buy specific filters for the salts/metals etc you have to remove depending upon the results of the water test.
All the membrane and other filters are consumables and you will have to change as per their usage.
If you do proper research, then it is very easy to setup your own complete home purification system. I am going to do the same at my house and will follow these filters with a UV filter to kill any bacteria/viruses.
All these are gravity fed, so you'll have to set it up after your tank and not between borewell and tank as high pressure from pump can destroy the membrane filters.

Thanks Aroy, rdst_1 and keroo1099 for the direction. The 3M agent visited home and used the particulate meter to determine that the ppm is around 2000. He right away recommended a water softener (second image) costing about 110k and needing salt refill every three months.
He then tried to sell me his own brand of RO at 135k as an alternate solution. That one could feed 250 liters an hour and a higher capacity RO of 500 lits would cost 175k.
Wasnt too convinced by his pitch and he was not bothered to listen to my issues with the water. He started with a scale removal solution within one minute of arrival, then moved to softener and finally to his own RO. Will meet a few more folks and in the meanwhile will get my overhead tanks cleaned.

Need some suggestions.

Just behind my society is a commercial complex and behind my house a new restaurant has started operations. Some exhaust system of their kitchen falls behind my bedroom. This results into noise which isn't as bad as DG set but intrusive nevertheless.

A neighbor did try to have a word with restaurant operator for the noise of his kitchen's sort of chimney system but neighbor was told that once the system starts operating on daily basis, the noise will reduce. I knew from that point its a joke and noise wont reduce (the excuse had been dished out to avoid any changes to installation of that kitchen exhaust system). Essentially, no point in speaking with that owner.

Thinking of solution, after doing some research on noise reducing windows, I found out that Fenesta has good reviews. Just wanted to know if anybody has practical experience of having installed fenesta windows which gave positive results for noise reduction.
Any other brand to consider for noise reducing windows ?

My room has two large windows and a balcony door, am planning to get these windows installed in both windows and door.
As of now, my door is PVC with metal frame while windows are aluminium sliding ones with 4mm UV filtering glass.

Any thick glass will reduce noise. Doesn't necessarily have to be Fenesta; though the frame will play a role. They do have special soundproof glass/system with a good STC value. Sealing is important. As long as they meet their stated spec after installation, you should be fine.

check out this page http://encorewindows.com/understandi...rough-windows/


Beware of the glasshouse effect though - it will likely heat up the space inside, unless you put some heat reflective film. If you make it open-able, you could let in some air when there is less noise.

For noise reduction the best bet is to have two glass windows with around 50mm gap between them. To reduce sun shine use a heat reflecting film on the outer window pane.

Thanks, it was really nice to read about sound reduction.

After considering installation of Fenesta on window sill level inside the existing window frame, another thought I came across is of getting thicker glass and using better sealant in the existing sliding frame. This would help me have some useable space at window sill level. Would be inquiring for thicker glass this weekend and also inquire at Fenesta. Space is not a problem but if thicker glass can be the solution, would try that out first. The rubber sealing in windows is more than 19 years old now. Plus a few gaps here and there. Makes sense to attend to those first and then move forward to another set of window panes if required. Regarding glass house effect, I will definitely have the new panes and open-able for letting air in.

If sealed properly a single pane of glass is able to block a lot of noise. Just open and close the glass of your car to feel the difference.

I presume the wall is brick, either 4.5" or 9", probably the later. Consider replacing the entire door and window frames to an extrusion (shape) compatible with double glass. Material can be aluminum or PVC, it should be robust, not flimsy. Choose frames which has provision for minimum two grooves for fixing gaskets between shutter and frame. Fix good quality EPDM gaskets in the grooves. Without knowing decibel levels it is difficult to say what should be the glass combination. A standard 6mm glass + 12mm air gap + 6mm glass combination provides 35db reduction. This glass should be held to shutter using good quality gaskets. Sealing any gap is very important, whether it is with sealants for fixed joints or EPDM gasket for movable joints..

The sound insulation property of glass can only work with proper sealing of the gaps with felt lining. You could go for a 6-12-6 glass (6 mm glass, 12 mm gap, 6 mm glass) but make sure the gaps are well sealed.

The problem with sound transference is that lower frequencies are more difficult to block, which makes exhaust and DG and blowers more difficult to block than traffic noise and brass bands!

All the best.