The split, in one table
| Job | Who | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Sediment or carbon cartridge swap | You | Unscrew the housing, swap, screw back. Ten minutes. Close the inlet first. |
| Pre-filter bowl clean and candle change | You | The wall-mounted bowl opens with the spanner in the kit. |
| Reading feed and output TDS | You | A meter and a log. Nobody else will do it monthly. |
| Storage tank sanitising | You | Empty, wipe, rinse. Unplug the machine first. |
| Membrane replacement | You, with care | The housing cap is stiff and the membrane goes in one way only. Doable; look before you pull the old one out. |
| Booster pump replacement | Technician | A 24 V pump wired to a mains adapter, with two water connections. Wrong wiring or a reversed fitting floods or fries. |
| Membrane housing leak or cracked housing | Technician | Diagnosing the seal, the cap thread or a hairline crack under pressure is not a guessing job. |
| Electrical faults: adapter, UV lamp, float switch, solenoid | Technician | Mains voltage next to water. Not a place for trial and error. |
| Persistent leaks at push-fit connectors | Technician, after one try | One careful re-seat is fine; repeated attempts damage the fitting. |
The jobs that are yours
Cartridges. Close the inlet tap, open the purifier's tap to release pressure, unscrew the housing with the spanner, drop the old cartridge out, wipe the bowl, drop the new one in the same way up, and screw back hand-tight plus a quarter turn. Run the first few litres to drain. The sediment cartridge is ₹190 in Branded-Fit or Universal-Fit, the carbon ₹220 Universal-Fit or ₹250 Branded-Fit, and which fit you need is on the fit guide.
The pre-filter bowl. Same job, larger spanner. If the bowl is cracked or the thread is worn, the whole Universal-Fit housing bowl kit is ₹499 and the kit with two spun candles and a spanner ₹899, and either replaces the bowl rather than nursing it.
The TDS log. The single most valuable maintenance task on the machine, and no technician will do it for you monthly. Feed and output, written down with the date; the RO output TDS guide explains what the ratio means, and the filter change schedule tells you what to change when the numbers move.
The membrane. Borderline, but doable. The membrane housing cap is stiffer than the cartridge housings, the membrane has a brine seal that must face the right way, and the tube fittings are push-fit. If you can change a cartridge you can change a membrane, provided you look at how the old one sits before pulling it out. The 80 GPD is ₹650 and the molded high-TDS membrane ₹900; the membrane guide covers when.
The jobs that are not
The pump. The LUXGEN booster pump is ₹1,299, 24 V DC, and replacing it means disconnecting the low-voltage leads, both water fittings and the mounting, then the reverse. The pump itself is low voltage. The adapter it runs from is not. A pump fitted with inlet and outlet reversed runs and does nothing, or floods; a pump wired wrong takes the adapter with it. This is one visit, and the part is the bigger number.
Housing leaks. A drip from the membrane housing could be the cap thread, the O-ring, a cracked housing, or a push-fit that was seated at an angle. Under pump pressure a hairline crack opens without warning. Diagnosing it takes someone who has seen fifty of them.
Anything electrical. The adapter, the UV lamp and its ballast, the float switch in the tank, the solenoid valve on the inlet. These sit at mains voltage in a wet cabinet. The failure modes are a dead machine at best and a shock hazard at worst. This is where the service charge is cheap.
The honest risk statement: none of the jobs in the first half of the table can hurt you if you unplug the machine and close the inlet first. All of the jobs in the second half can if you do not know what you are doing. That is the line.
What a service visit costs
This site sells parts, not service, and will not quote a service company's rate card. The shape of the market is that a home visit in most Indian cities is charged at a few hundred rupees before parts, that the figure varies by city and by brand, and that brand-authorised service tends to cost more than an independent technician. Parts are billed on top, and this is where the total climbs: a technician's membrane or pump may be marked up well beyond the listed price here. Ask for the part price separately from the visit charge, and compare it with the linked product pages. The AMC guide does the same comparison for a prepaid year.
A routine that keeps the technician away
Most emergency visits are caused by a cartridge that was never changed. A blocked sediment cartridge starves the pump, the pump works harder and fails early, and the bill is a pump plus a visit instead of ₹190. Change cartridges on the schedule, keep the TDS log, and the technician's jobs mostly do not arise. When one does, pay for it without hesitation; it is the cheapest part of the year.
Questions
Can I change RO filters myself?
Yes. Sediment and carbon cartridges, the pre-filter candle and the membrane are all homeowner jobs: close the inlet, release pressure, unscrew the housing, swap the part the same way up, and run the first litres to drain. Unplug the machine first and check the cartridge fit before ordering.
Which RO repairs need a technician?
Pump replacement, membrane housing leaks or cracks, and anything electrical: the power adapter, UV lamp and ballast, float switch and solenoid valve. These involve mains voltage in a wet cabinet or pressure diagnosis, and a mistake floods, shocks or destroys the adapter.
How much does RO service cost per visit?
A home visit in most Indian cities is charged at a few hundred rupees before parts; the figure varies by city and brand, and authorised service usually costs more than an independent technician. Parts are billed on top, so ask for the part price separately and compare it with the listed price on the product page.