Buying advice, inverted

Don’t buy this

The purchases we argue against, including ones this site earns commission on. Each page commits to a verdict, states honestly when it does not apply to you, and ends with what to do instead — which is sometimes cheaper, sometimes a test, and sometimes nothing at all.

Note

The commercial logic, stated plainly.This section costs us sales. It exists because in a category where every publisher recommends buying, the only credible signal is a publisher that sometimes does not — and readers who find a genuine “you don’t need this” come back for the recommendations too. Our affiliate disclosure sets out how we are paid.

The most valuable commercial content in this category is not 'buy this'. It is 'you do not need this, and here is what to do with the money instead' — because that is the sentence nobody else in the category is willing to write.

Every page below commits to a verdict in its first paragraph, then immediately states when the verdict does not apply. That ordering is deliberate: a household on 1,400 ppm borewell water should not read four paragraphs arguing against RO before discovering that the argument was never aimed at them.

What unites all of them is a mismatch between a product and a problem. RO on water that had nothing to remove. Filtration against an allergen that settles within minutes. An ioniser that relocates particles onto your walls. A purifier fighting a cooking source emitting a metre away. In each case the equipment works exactly as designed, on the wrong problem, which is why the buyer concludes that purifiers do not work.

Every argument, in order of how much it saves

Frequently asked questions

Why does a site that sells purifiers tell people not to buy them?

Because a publisher that has never once said 'you don't need this' has given you no evidence that its recommendations mean anything. Buyers in this category are sceptical for good reasons, and these pages are the only honest response to that scepticism. It is a commercial decision as much as an editorial one — the pages readers remember are the ones that cost us a sale.

Are you saying purifiers don't work?

No. Purifiers work well when matched to the right problem. Every page here is about a specific mismatch — RO on water that does not need it, filtration against an allergen that settles in minutes, a purifier against a source emitting a metre away — and every one carries an exceptions section stating when the general argument does not apply to you.

What is the most common purifier buying mistake in India?

Buying on a TDS reading. A handheld meter measures how easily electricity crosses your water; it cannot distinguish harmless calcium from arsenic, and it reads identically whether or not the water carries bacteria. It is the single most effective sales technique in the category precisely because the number looks like evidence.

How do I know which of these applies to me?

Read the exceptions section on each page first — they are placed above the argument for exactly that reason. Or run the Purifier Doctor, which takes eight questions and can legitimately conclude that a purifier is not your next purchase.

These pages argue about the general case. The exceptions section on each one is where the specific case is handled, and it is written honestly rather than as a token hedge — because advice that overreaches in the sceptical direction is just as wrong as advice that overreaches in the selling direction. Last reviewed 2026-08-08.

Not sure what you actually need? Ask us before you spend.

Tell us your city, your water source and your budget. For homes we will recommend the right technology — including telling you when a ₹3,000 purifier is genuinely enough. For offices, societies and factories, our team will size a system against your water report and send a specification-backed quotation.

Or email betterworkindia@gmail.com — attach a water analysis report and we can quote faster.