I invested in a reverse osmosis or RO machine some time back. I wasn’t too sure of the quality of the water we were accepting as pure and fresh from the vendors of the 20 liter plastic cans. And it was getting tedious to boil the water before we drank it, allowing for time to cool it down not to mention the amount of gas that gets used up in boiling water for a thirsty family like ours.

I kept getting advice to buy an RO from friends and family and it seemed like an easy way to get good quality drinking water. I finally bought an RO machine- Kent Grand 8-Liters Wall-Mountable RO+UV/UF+TDS Water Purifier. The water purifier apparently has a combination of UV (Ultraviolet) and UF (Ultra Filtration). UV kills harmful bacteria and viruses while the UF technology removes their body. TDS stands for Total Dissolved Solids and refers to the total concentration of dissolved substances in drinking water. For more information on TDS and what it pertains to read this.

During the initial days of the lockdown, when the water supply was a bit disrupted and having an RO really helped. Three years down the line, here are my observations about using an RO machine and why it may not be the best fit for all families.

• The filters can get spoiled with the amount of sediment that comes through the water supply to your house even if the water that’s been tested initially hasn’t been found to be hard water.
• The replacements are quite costly.
• The salinity levels need to be adjusted- nothing that we can do on our own, a technician has to be called.
• There’s a steady stream of water that gets wasted in the process of filtration.
• The waste water can be used for your dishwashing or laundry requirements but it is tedious to do.
• The entire unit is rather bulky and hard to clean once it gets dirty.
• If it’s not connected to your power back-up, you won’t be able to use it during power cuts.
• The filters etc need to be replaced every year which isn’t always something that the installing technician tells you but what you may hear from the technician who comes to fix the machine.

The benefits, if we choose to take it as such as these:

• Clean drinking water that’s been purified through multiple levels of filtration.
• Ready storage of drinking water of upto 8 litres.
• Easy to fill into any bottles, glasses etc.

On the basis of my experience, if one a verified source of safe drinking water, then any filter from a reputed brand can be fitted at the mouth of the taps and ought to be an easier, faster and much cheaper source of drinking water.

Priced at Rs.14,799 in 2019, this product is currently available on Amazon, Flipkart and Croma and Reliance Digital.