RO Water in India is Regulated, not Banned

A practical explainer for homes, hotels and offices

There is a common claim that India has banned reverse osmosis water purifiers. That is not accurate. India now regulates where membrane treatment is suitable and how it should perform. The shift began when the National Green Tribunal asked the environment ministry in two thousand nineteen to frame rules for appropriate use of reverse osmosis at the point of use and to avoid needless wastage where total dissolved solids in supply water are already low. The key trigger was misuse of reverse osmosis in low TDS zones and high reject volumes from poor set up. You can read the tribunal record here:
NGT record in Original Application 134 of 2015.

Following that direction the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change notified a new rule set titled Water Purification System Regulation of Use Rules two thousand twenty three. A clear summary is available on the Press Information Bureau website and the ministry Annual Report also cites the Gazette number and date. These are the two most useful government sources for a quick check:
PIB explainer on the rule set and
MoEFCC Annual Report two thousand twenty three to twenty four.

What the rules mean in plain terms

The rules aim to match treatment to the quality of incoming water. If your supply already meets basic safety norms and total dissolved solids is under five hundred milligrams per litre there is no need to run it through reverse osmosis. If your supply carries high dissolved salts or specific dissolved contaminants that require a membrane barrier then reverse osmosis remains a valid choice. This is exactly the balance the tribunal asked for and the ministry has now put into force.

To understand the safety yardstick refer to the Bureau of Indian Standards drinking water specification IS one zero five zero zero. It sets the acceptable limit for total dissolved solids at five hundred milligrams per litre and spells out test methods for many other parameters. The document is long yet it is the definitive reference that water managers in cities and industry use. You can read it here:
IS 10500 Drinking Water Specification.

There is also a product standard for reverse osmosis point of use systems. BIS published the first revision in two thousand twenty three. It focuses on performance and testing for reduction of dissolved solids and it includes a framework for recovery and for removal claims across chemical and microbial risks. The BIS sites below show the standard and the related circulars:
IS 16240 two thousand twenty three program document and
BIS note on IS 16240 two thousand twenty three scope.

How to decide if reverse osmosis makes sense for you

If you manage a hotel or a corporate office you may also need a plan for handling any concentrate from reverse osmosis. Central Pollution Control Board guidance and many tribunal linked reports stress safe use or disposal. A useful reference is this CPCB report that discusses reject management in a broader water quality context:
CPCB report in OA 458 of 2017.

So was there ever a ban

The tribunal spoke of prohibition in a narrow sense. It asked for a stop on reverse osmosis in zones where supply water has TDS under five hundred milligrams per litre. The logic is simple. When water already meets the national drinking water specification there is no reason to strip minerals and discharge large reject volumes. The same tribunal documents also ask the ministry and BIS to improve efficiency and to set clear rules for when reverse osmosis is justified. The earlier linked tribunal record captures these points in plain language.

Where Boon stands

At Boon we support the principle behind these rules. Reverse osmosis is not suitable for all water. Some supply requires it. That is why we built UltraOsmosis which is our patented reverse osmosis technology. It is engineered for high recovery that saves about three times more water in field use and it is tuned to work across a wider range of inlet conditions while preserving a balanced mineral profile in the served water. We pair UltraOsmosis with WaterAI monitoring so owners can see quality and recovery data in real time. The idea is simple. Treat the water you actually have and run the plant with care.

The bottom line

India has not banned reverse osmosis. The country has put in place rules that say when it is needed and how it should perform. Start with a test. Compare your results with IS one zero five zero zero. If numbers are within the safe range and taste and odor are acceptable pick a barrier that secures microbiological safety without needless rejection. If numbers are high or the chemistry is complex choose reverse osmosis with strong recovery and a clear plan for concentrate. This is the approach that the tribunal asked for and the ministry now requires.

Primary government sources

• NGT record in OA 134 of 2015
• Press Information Bureau note on Water Purification System Regulation of Use Rules two thousand twenty three
• MoEFCC Annual Report two thousand twenty three to twenty four which cites Gazette GSR 833 E dated ten November two thousand twenty three
• BIS IS 10500 Drinking Water Specification
• BIS IS 16240 two thousand twenty three program document for point of use reverse osmosis systems
• BIS research terms of reference on recovery efficiency for point of use reverse osmosis
• CPCB report referencing reject and recovery management