Comments on: Help Me Choose a Berkey Water Filter System

By: mark

mark — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:54:23 +0000

I was buying filtered water as we traveled on our camping trip. It was hassle always looking for a place to buy water and fill our 6 gallon stainless steel dispenser. Looks like your system will do everything for us and more.

By: Dan DeBaun

Dan DeBaun — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:51:19 +0000

Hi Valerie -

We are not familiar with this WHO recommendation and if you could email us at customerservice@bigberkeywaterfilters.com and point us to it, we’d appreciate it. A couple things to keep in mind though is that the black berkey filters are made up of more than 6 different media, and not solely based on charcoal and/or carbon. This is important as there is a self-sterilizing feature to the black berkey elements that possibly is not accounted for in this WHO recommendation. I would also note that a charcoal/carbon media of 16 ounces would last much longer than a media that was only 2 ounces, so there is also some distinguishing points in that all filters are not created equal. With that being said, the ratings of the black berkeys are based on usage of tap/well water. The more contaminated the water (pond, lakes, puddles, etc) the less gallons they will be able to filter, because like a sponge they will reach a saturation point quicker due to the higher concentrations of contaminants.

Thanks
Dan

By: Valerie Kanatas

Valerie Kanatas — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 07:36:58 +0000

I was told that all carbon and charcoal filters are recommended by The World Health Organization to be changed every year regardless of how much water they they filter. My sister was told by your rep that 4 black Big Berkey filters would last up to 16 years! What is the truth here?
Also I was told that the stainless steel Berkey does not come with a base and yet i see in your video that it does? Thank you for answering my questions., Valerie Kanatas

By: Dan DeBaun

Dan DeBaun — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:58:05 +0000

Hi Andy -

The lower chamber is not designed to be filled past the seam, so you always want to be careful not to add water to the upper chamber if the lower chamber is filled. The sight glass spigot should help you keep an eye on this. Like you mention, that seam between the 2 chambers allows the air flow to come in and out, and is the only means of transfer, thus you do not want to block that.

Thanks
Dan

By: andy j

andy j — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 03:31:14 +0000

Hi,
I just got the imperial berkey, and i love how my water tastes. The only problem is that it leaks from the seam (where the upper and lower chamber meet). Is there a way to tell how much water is in the lower chamber without adding too much to the upper? I don’t have the glass spigot. Perhaps there is a way to seal the seam and still allow for air to be released?

Please help, as this is quite an annoying (and really messy) problem. The water is always leaking on my table.

Thanks,
Andy

By: Dan DeBaun

Dan DeBaun — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 15:51:43 +0000

Hi Erin -

No, there is no way to attach as hose to the system. The biggest model is the crown and that can hold up to 8 filters in the upper chamber, thus that would provide the fastest filtration. The filters need to be replaced approx every 6000 gallons per set of 2, so you can keep a rough idea of your usage by how many times you fill the 6 gallons system per week and then extrapolate that usage estimate out over time. Also, you can perform a red food coloring test at any time on your filters to make sure they are still filtering as designed. http://www.bigberkeywaterfilters.com/wordpress/water-filters/the-black-berkey-red-food-coloring-test/

Thanks
Dan

By: Erin

Erin — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 06:48:43 +0000

Hi there. We have five people in our family and use a lot of water for drinking and cooking. I’m thinking of getting your biggest model and, if I understand correctly, getting four of the black filters will give me the fastest filtration. Also, how will I know when the filters need to be replaced? Is there some visible sign? Also, I would like to use this filtered water (I would be buying a separate one) for our animals on our family farm. Is there a way to hook up a hose instead of using the spigot? Thanks so much!

By: Dan DeBaun

Dan DeBaun — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 17:56:08 +0000

Hi Christy -

No, the berkey systems are not whole house systems, but rather standalone gravity systems used for drinking and cooking water. We also have home shower filters available.

Thanks
Dan

By: christy

christy — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:18:52 +0000

Hi I am looking for a system which will clean the water for the whole house including for showers. Is the Berkey system a whole house system. Mainly I want to use it to remove the chlorine and fluoride in our water.

Thanks Christy

By: Dan DeBaun

Dan DeBaun — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:09:21 +0000

Hi Wayne -

Many customers use the berkey system for rainwater harvesting, but we cannot make a blanket statement that this will work for all setups. This is because if it it being collected from a roof, the roofing shingles can contain chemicals that the filters have not been tested for. We can only speak to what the filters have been tested for and in many rainwater collection systems, the water is only coming in contact with plastic, aluminum, etc; and in these cases we know the system is sufficient.

Thanks
Dan