Treating borewell water the same as municipal water can ruin your water purifier. Borewell water is high in minerals and leaves behind scale. On the other hand, municipal water flows through old pipes that pick up contamination. The fastest way to find out which purifier best matches your water quality is to look at how your water affects your kitchen.
Borewell Water Tastes Different
Groundwater contains dissolved minerals, and the content increases the longer it sits underground. The TDS level of borewell water is higher than municipal tap water. It commonly sits above 1,500-2,000 ppm, depending on depth and local rock.
- Groundwater is faintly salty or has a metallic edge
- You usually have a difficult time lathering the soap
- White scales build up on and inside appliances
Borewell water quality varies far more from one plot to the next than tap water does, and two apartments on groundwater supplies can have completely different strata. The difference is visible in taste and residue before it shows up on TDS reading.
How is Tap Water Different from the Borewell Water?
Municipal water supply is the opposite of borewell water in terms of TDS levels. Even though the tap water is treated surface water, the TDS levels are much lower. Due to sedimentation and filtration at the water plant, the municipal water supply goes through a level of purification.
In many areas, you may find a faint smell of chlorine – it is normal. This means the treated water has added disinfectant before it reaches the tap.
Notice whether the water turns cloudy or smells different. Or if the water looks faintly discoloured right after heavy rain, it may indicate the pipes have picked up something they shouldn’t. In this case, the TDS level may be higher than usual, and you should contact the local water board instead of buying a bigger membrane.
Is Tap Water Safe to Drink?
No, tap water is not safe to drink without purification. In most Indian cities, tap water may have the taste of chlorine and still look clear. However, the exception cannot be ruled out after flooding or scheduled repair work. This is when a household should investigate the cause of the change in water quality rather than invest in a larger water purifier.
Can You Test Water Quality at Home?
Sending water samples to the lab is a standard procedure. For preliminary testing, use a TDS pen to see whether your supply falls within the high or low TDS range.
- Borewell water runs high on TDS level
- Low TDS level points toward treated water supply
You can also use a pH strip to check whether the drinking water is close to neutral. The pH level in drinking water matters because water far outside that band tastes off even when it looks clear.
However, nothing is a substitute for a lab test. The pH of tap water is generally more stable, since treatment keeps it within a specific range. Borewell water drifts further depending on the locality and season.
Landlords Do Not Really Disclose the Water Source
The water supply may not be mentioned on the lease. Whether the building relies on a municipal line, tanker, or borewell, the landlord may not tell you the whole story. That’s why many people choose to rent a water purifier, since the water source varies by building. If a UV+UF (non-RO) purifier works perfectly well for your current building, your next apartment may require a multi-stage RO and UV purification.
Borewell Water vs Tap Water: Which Purifier is Suitable for Which?
The problem with borewell water is dissolved minerals, so the fix has to remove ions from the water rather than just polish it — that’s what an RO membrane does. It pushes water through a barrier fine enough to block salts and hardness-causing minerals, along with everything else dissolved in it.
Tap water’s problem is rarely mineral-related, so a simpler UV stage or UF (ultrafiltration), where the power supply isn’t reliable, does the real work without discarding water that an RO would reject.
The households that genuinely need an RO and a UV purifier together are usually on a borewell, where the surrounding soil has also introduced some bacterial contamination — less common but not rare — in older, denser layouts with ageing pipework.
Moving Cities Means Different Water Sources
This is not a one-time problem, since bachelors and first-time renters tend to move between flats and sometimes cities more often than most homeowners do.
Someone shifting from a borewell-heavy area to a popular area that runs on treated surface supply doesn’t need the same membrane setup they had before. A water purifier rental helps avoid paying twice for two different problems within a couple of years.
Final Thoughts
There is no single water purifier that addresses all the problems for each address. The purifier can only match whatever comes out of a specific tap; however, the problem arises when the building’s water supply changes. If you notice scales building up quickly on appliances and utensils, along with a persistent smell of chlorine, you might have two different problems. You can run a TDS and pH test at home to get a primary understanding of the water quality.
