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This is the most serious page on this website, so it is worth being blunt. Dissolved heavy metals — arsenic, fluoride, lead, chromium — cause cumulative, irreversible harm, they are invisible and tasteless, and they are documented problems across large parts of India: arsenic in the Ganga-Brahmaputra belt through Bengal, Bihar and Assam; fluoride across Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana; chromium near industrial clusters such as Kanpur's tanneries.
Only reverse osmosis reliably removes them at household scale. UV does nothing — it damages microbial DNA and has no effect on dissolved ions. UF does nothing, because its pores are far larger than a dissolved metal ion. Activated carbon helps with some organics and a little lead, but is not a dependable barrier for arsenic or fluoride. A gravity purifier or filter jug will not protect you.
If you are in an affected region, do two things. Get a lab test that specifically includes arsenic and fluoride — a standard TDS reading will not reveal them, and dangerous water can show a perfectly normal TDS. Then buy an RO and service it on schedule, because a fouled or bypassed membrane silently stops protecting you.
