+1 to it. Safe & clean drinking water is always safe, be it RO or UV. If it satisfies the minimum safety level, it is good to go for all.

I had a question on RO filters. What is the life of the RO membrane? Is it in liters or years? Typically the service folks try to convince me to change it every year and I always wondered if it was an overkill.

If the RO fails - meaning the pores become too big, it would allow more impurities to flow through, this should be indicated as increased TDS isn't it? Should measuring TDS be a safe way of measuring if the membrane is still good?

The other possibility of RO membrane failing is when it gets completely blocked and no water flows. That is also detectable.

Any thoughts on whether these measurement mechanism are a good way to go - or should I just go the safe route and replace every year or year and a half?

Purchased Eureka Forbes Aquaflow DX UV Water Purifier @ Rs. 5700/- from Snapdeal after the existing Aquaguard UV filter (decade+ old) gave up. Drank direct tap water for a week, decided not to take changes with rains starting & ordered this UV purifier again.

5700 is a great price for Eureka Forbes model IMO. The old one will be given off to my neighbor who wanted it. He has to get it fixed himself (suspect the fuse, yet to check it as I never found time to even see what could be wrong).

I just picked up a 1.5 year old Kent Grand+ RO+UV control purifier. What are good practices to follow when I install it in my place? Any filters I should change, clean etc., since I am not sure how the previous owner has run it?

Also, how much does the AMC cost annually for this? Does it make sense to take one?

I believe the RO systems have inbuilt beep like alarms which sound once the filter need replacement. You can probably decode with the number of beeps by reading the user manual.

I called in for a demo of 'Livpure' water purifier. The sales rep came with just the TDS meter and some literature. The borewell water had around 135 TDS and the BWSSB(Corporation) supply had around 185 TDS.

So, would we require a RO system for 135 TDS water? If so, does any of you have experience with this 'Livpure' water purifiers? This is from the 'Luminous' group of companies and seems they are new to this water purifier vertical.

Guys, any suggestions for me please?

I do not like RO unless you have a real problem. We have been using UV for the past 13 years (earlier on IIT campus we did not need one), since RO wastes a lot of water, and is really an overkill in most places.

You can call the Kent service person - he will do the installation as well as inspection. Better to replace the filters, cost of filters should be in 1k range.

AMC for Kent is very costly, it can be avoided.

Rohan

Apparently there's some white cylindrical thing that sits apart from the water filter unit itself, which is the filter? That cost me 350 bucks to change, so I asked to have it changed.

So are you saying AMC's are not needed? Should be good to go?

I am in the market looking for a good RO + UV. Inclined towards Kent, read the reviews over mouthshut and it was not satisfactory and the buyer reviews in Snapdeal or other online stores are a mixed bag.
Since this has let me down, checked the reviews like above for the more trusted and pricey Aquaguard. No difference.
With the help of Google, hunted for the best RO+UV in India and came across a blog which was boasting about OWN RO+UV+MM
Went through their website and the features were enticing. It is a Bangalore based company.
Reviews on Snapdeal/Mouthshut were too good, not even a single complaint. Biased??

Is any one using this OWN brand or do you still suggest to go for Kent/Aquaguard?

Presently have a water filter from Hindustan, which is pathetic on the design.

Website: http://ownwater.in/

I would suggest to stay away from smaller, unknown brands. The product might be good, but the availability of spares/ filters etc. in future might be an issue. This might hurt when you are spending about 15-16K on water purification solution.

I am using Kent Grand Plus and very satisfied with the machine. Since the system is very popular, finding replacement filters should not be a problem. The service may be sloppy though.
Also, not sure, but someone told me that Kent is the only RO system available on which you can set your desired TDS value.

Fully agree, buy RO ONLY if you are using borewell water directly or get really hard water from the municipality. Else not needed.

By seeing the umpteen reviews, thought this would be a very famous/familiar brand for atleast the Bangaloreans. Changed my mind now.
Will stick with Kent then. Do you suggest the Grand+ or the Supreme. BTW, water as of now from our tap is non-drinkable, meaning once we boil it, the water changes to half white and the vessel inners become white. Like a salt sedimentation, but the water isn't salty.
3 months back, when Manjeera was available, we just used the PureIt carbon filtering system and used it for consumption. But now due to water scarcity, the water from local tankers is being given to the houses.
And as of now for drinking, we buy those unbranded so called mineral water cans. I seriously doubt its just Manjeera water.

For my requirement, does a RO+UV required or just the UV?

That can only be confirmed by the Bangalore guys. However, personally, I would go with known specialized brands.

How does the water taste? Also, check the TDS level by a TDS meter. When I got the Grand Plus installed at my place, the borewell water we get had a TDS of 450. The taste of water was not good and I felt our hunger was going down. This was the status in our new apartment. At the previous company flats that we were staying at, we used Philips UV filter for a good 5 years without any issue.

So, if you feel that the taste of water is not satisfactory and the TDS level is high, say more than 250-300, you may opt for an RO system.