Monsoon in Nellore: how the water changes and what your RO needs

During the north-east monsoon, roughly October to December, the water reaching your purifier is not the water it saw in September. Silt is up, sumps and overhead tanks have been topped with run-off, drains near bore casings overflow, and TDS in many borewells drops as the table recharges. The purifier copes, but only if you shorten the interval on the one part that does the heavy lifting — the sediment filter — and keep the storage tank clean. Those two habits cover most of what the monsoon throws at an RO.

What changes in the water

• Turbidity rises. Rain disturbs silt in open wells, sumps and old pipelines. A sediment filter that lasted six months in the dry season can go brown in six weeks.
• Borewell TDS often drops. Fresh recharge dilutes the salts. That is good news for the membrane, but it also means a TDS controller set for summer water may now be blending in more raw water than it should. Have it checked at the post-monsoon service.
• Contamination risk rises. Overflowing drains, flooded low-lying streets and waterlogged septic soak pits sit close to sumps and bore casings in many localities. This is when the UV stage earns its keep — if the lamp is working.
• Iron and smell. Some bores throw a rusty or earthy note after heavy rain for a few days. It is usually the source, not the purifier, and it clears.

The monsoon checklist

Monthly, yourself:

• Look at the sediment candle if the housing is clear. Brown or grey means change it; do not wait for the flow to drop.
• Note the fill time. A tank that took forty minutes and now takes two hours is a choked pre-filter.
• Check the UV indicator. If the unit shows a UV fault light or the lamp cover is dark when it should glow, book it — the lamp is your last line against microbes this season.
• Dry under the unit. Damp cabinets and condensation on a cold tank are normal in high humidity, but water pooling near the adapter is not. Wipe it, and if it returns find the drip.

Once, before the rains (September):

• A service visit — filters checked and changed as needed, tank cleaned, UV lamp checked, fittings tightened. ₹299 on our rate card, with filters at MRP shown first. Going into the monsoon with a half-used sediment candle means changing it again in November anyway.

Once, after (January):

• A second service to clear out what three months of silt left behind, reset the TDS controller for the cleaner water, and check the membrane's TDS rejection. If you are on the AMC, this is naturally the second visit.

The storage tank: keep it clean

The storage tank inside the purifier holds purified water that no longer has chlorine in it. In a warm, humid kitchen that is an invitation for a film to form on the walls, in the tap spout and in the last stretch of tube. It does not announce itself; the water just starts to taste stale, and after a holiday it tastes worse.

Basic hygiene, all year, with extra attention in the monsoon:

• Drain and refill if the unit has sat unused for more than three or four days. The first tank after a gap is for the plants, not the glass.
• Clean the dispensing tap spout with a small brush and plain water every couple of weeks. It is the most touched, most exposed part of the system.
• Do not store purified water in open vessels on the counter for a day or more. Use covered bottles, wash them with hot water, and do not top up a half-empty bottle indefinitely.
• Tank clean at every service. It is part of a proper service visit; if it was not done last time, ask.
• No detergent, no bleach, no vinegar through the unit. Carbon and membranes do not survive that. The tank is wiped, not dosed.

A purifier that smells stale two days after a service usually has a film in the tank or spout that was not removed, or a dead UV lamp.

Power and damp

Monsoon evenings bring power cuts and voltage swings. The purifier draws little and is fine on an inverter, but the adapter dislikes dips and surges. If the light flickers during a dip, switch it off at the socket until supply steadies. Keep the adapter off the floor of the cabinet, where a leak or a flooded kitchen reaches it first, and never on an extension board lying in a wet space.

When to call

• Sediment filters choking in under a month despite a clean sump — the water needs a pre-filter at the sump or a larger sediment stage before the purifier.
• A UV fault light, or a smell that two tank drains and a tap clean do not clear: the foul taste and smell visit — deep flush, filter check, tank clean — is ₹299.
• Flow that stays weak after new candles: the low water flow visit is ₹350.
• Any drip you cannot stop by hand, especially near the adapter: the leaking visit is ₹350, and switch off at the socket until then.