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Priming Your Black Berkey Filter For Use or Storage
Before one can enjoy the first sips from their newly purchased berkey water filter, any system using Black Berkey Purification Elements must be primed to prepare the filters for use. Fortunately, it only takes a few minutes to do and is rather easy and straightforward.
“But, what if I am only buying the black berkey filters as a backup set for the future? Once I receive them, can’t I just throw them in the cabinet and forget about them?”
The answer to that question is no if you want to take advantage of the 2 year manufacturer warranty. Priming before storage will allow you to test the black berkey and verify that there are no defects with the product. This is extremely important because the clock on the warranty starts ticking upon date of receipt. If one just threw it into the closet and took it out 3 years later, only to find problems with the filter, it would be out of warranty. Even though there is a small chance of product defect, going through the priming exercise up front helps protect your future investment. Let’s begin by providing you a video of the priming being executed, followed by text priming instructions, and storage instructions.
Priming Your Black Berkey Filters Video
Priming Your Black Berkey Filter
Whether you are using a Berkey Light, a Royal Berkey, or any of the other Berkey systems that utilize the Black Berkey purification element, priming is required due to the extremely small pores that make up the filter.  These elements need to have water forced through them to clear the air that has been trapped inside the micro fine pores during production. Begin by opening up your black berkey box and verify that each element has a rubber washer and a wing nut attached to it. Also inside the box you’ll find your priming button, a tan rubber washer. It will be thicker than the element washer with a smaller center hole. See Figure 1.
Figure 1 - Black Berkey with Tan Priming Button
Now, follow the 5 steps of the priming process below (also shown in Figure 3 Diagram) :
- Start by pressing the tan priming button onto the stem of the black berkey purification element with the small end facing the element.
- Place the stem of the Black Berkey element between your fingers and press the large end of the priming button against the faucet. (see Figure 2)
- While holding the priming button against the faucet, turn on the cold water gently, and allow the water to fill the cavity of the purification element. (see Figure 2)
- Allow the exterior of the Black Berkey element to sweat beads of water for about 5 seconds.
- Follow this process for each element you intend to prime and they will ready for everyday use.
Figure 2 - Place Your Black Berkey Up to Your Faucet for Priming
Figure 3 - Black Berkey Priming Diagram
Storage of your Black Berkey Purification Element
Now that your Black Berkey’s are primed, you may either install them into your system and drink away, or you may store them for future use. If storing, the most critical issue to monitor is that the filters are allowed to fully dry out.
Follow these basic guidelines for storage after priming:
- Use a dry cloth to remove any excess water from the filters
- Air dry the filters by laying them out on a cloth on a window sill with good sun exposure. Preferably, this area should be well ventilated
- Turn the at least once a day to ensure they are being evenly dried.
- After approximately 2.5-3 weeks, the black berkey elements should be fully dry. If sun is not available, please place in warmer parts of your home and allow for longer dry out times.
- Once fully dry, place you black berkeys in a container or plastic bag that protects them from moisture. Vacuum sealed is preferred.
- These filters are now prepped and ready for use when needed.
Following the above steps for priming and storage ensures that you utilize the black berkey elements in the way they were intended and provides a method for you to protect your future investment. Proper storage gives you the ability to guarantee yourself years worth of clean drinking water with the ease of being able to install them directly into your system immediately when needed. This is another benefit that many other filtration systems cannot reproduce and speaks to inherent versatility and quality of the Berkey Filter Line.
Tags: prime black berkey filters, priming black berkey filters
If you prime a Berkey element and then dry it for storage, will it need to be re-primed later on? Or can they just be installed when the time comes?
Hi Kevin - They will able to be installed when needed and should not need re-priming. However, if the filters run for some time without water flowing through, you can re-prime as a last resort.
Thanks
Dan
[...] Click here for instructions on How to Prime the Black Berkey Purification Elements. [...]
I primed the Black berkey filter but, the water is bitter or taste like it is coming out of a garden water hose. Do I need to re-prime them? The water coming out of the flouide filter taste fine. I thought it was the water filter and I re-primed those. I threw away my brown prime button if I need to reprime the black berkey filter I can buy a gasket or something that works. I have drank about 5-8 gallons already.
Thanks
We have a Royal Berkey with two black filtering elements. We moved and the movers just packed our Berkey in with other items (plactic cups, sippie cups, etc…) We did not prepare it in any way nor have the filters dried out. There is still moisture inside of the top chamber. Do we need to do anything other than clean the stainless steel chambers out? Do the black berkey elements need to be reprimed or cleaned? Thank you!
Hi Stephanie -
You can clean your chambers with some soap and water, and they’ll be fine. For your black berkey filters, you can gently scrub them with a scotch brite pad under running water to remove any residue. You can then set your berkey water filter system back up and run you first batch of water through. The filters should run as they usually do, and if they do not, then you can re-prime them. This is not usually required, but can make a difference in opening up the pores if they have gotten clogged by residue or blocked during the scrubbing process.
Hi Gary -
It’s possible you may have a defective black berkey filter. We recommend that you perform a red food coloring test to verify. This link shows the process.
http://www.bigberkeywaterfilters.com/wordpress/water-filters/the-black-berkey-red-food-coloring-test/
Please make sure you place a separate cup or glass underneath each black berkey filter to isolate the one that may be defective. If red food coloring makes it though the filter, then you’ve identified the defective one. Please contact us, and we’ll have that replaced for you immediately.
Do I get the impression that I might have gone wrong with the process? about 2 inches up from the bottom of the “upper chamber” the water has stalled and isnt coming out anymore. I did the priming though, i didnt quite press it against the tap tho when i let the water go, so maybe the bubbles might still be present in the last 1 1/2″ of the black filters. I am using the pf-2 also. Have only filled up once for the trial to get it all working soo far. Hopefully get the fill up twice then use on the 3rd time round for clean drinking,
Actually it is just over an inch up from the bottom of the upper chamber that the water has remained. its about 2 drips per hour lol. im anxious to comsume the “holy” water that has about 86 less contaminents in (by about 90-99%?)
Hi Chris -
The water will not filter below the last 1-2 inches of the filters simply due to the lack of water pressure. This is normal and it sounds like your filters are working as designed.
Thanks
Dan DeBaun
Hey dan, thanks for the update. It sounds like I’m ready to have nice water after all these years
(aswell as half the natural herb chemist of products to go with the water for natural health, that aren’t pharmaceutical approved!). The 2nd half of the filtering was very slow tho but then i understand that the fluoride removers could well half the pace. Im wondering whether to just do another filter process then drink the 3rd fill up - to ensure best results.
It is nice to finally see a high end filter in the home though that removes most things and “actually retains the minerals in the water” (i have heard most products eradicate those) time to embrace health again!
just need to comfirm tho - is it normal to take several minutes to fill a cup full in equivalence when using both black and pf-2 together? unless i need to unclog them. i dnt think theyre used to water pressure just yet with it being 2nd time fill-up, took over 24hrs to get the first filling and about a similar speed now. apologies for all these questions! i’m aliitle inquisitive in my old age
Yes Chris, I would finish out one more flush then begin drinking. And yes, it’s normal for the 2nd half of the container to filter much slower than the first half, again because it is directly proportional to gravity pressure which drops as the water volume drops in that upper chamber. You’ll be able to adjust for this as you get used to the Berkey system. For example, when you only have 1/3 of the lower chamber left full, you can almost fill the upper chamber all the way to the top because you’ll know that the first half will filter quickly through and the the 2nd half will be slower, allowing time for you to drink from the lower chamber to open up space additional space in the meantime. This is assuming you want your lower chamber as full as possible. While it may seem a little confusing now, this will become second nature to you as you become accustomed to the Berkey filter.
Thanks
Dan
Ok, I have had to reprime the filters again as they were going far too slowly, however, i put the pf-2 on for full 7 1/2 revolutions instead of 8 to see if that worked, i dnt know if thats whats caused this effect but - the one filter is still dripping out at a passable rate (probably normal?) however, the other one is squirting more and just coming out constantly as opposed to dripping - although its still coming out in a fine line, im wondering if its too quick? as the other one is just dripping moderately at an ok pace, i know i keep asking alot of daft questions at times, but i’m making sure i get it right properly and that im doing the right thing. i have tried the water in a cup though and it does taste better now than it did before - it was alittle flat when i first drank from the filter but now re-doing/priming both black and pf-2, the water looks fairly clear (i put it next to tap water to distinguish the difference, and the tap water had lots of bits, and was like fizzy/gasey bubbles dominant at times while t he filtered water had just a few little small tiny bubbles and looked clean), and no water does come out the top of the screwing fixtures so maybe im concerned over nothing?.
What if I need to prime the filter in an emergency situation and I have no water pressure or no faucet. Are there other ways to prime it?
Hi Joseph -
Yes, there is a way to prime the berkey filters without water pressure, and instructions on how to do so are included with the black berkey elements themselves. We will post a blog covering this in the near future.
Thank you for this document. You have already answered two of the three questions I came to have answered regarding storing and priming filters. Now, on to the third: We purchased the Royal Berkey to have in case of disaster. Do you have any recommendations on external filters/screens that can be used to clean surface water before it is introduced to the Berkey? We know that it must be done to keep the black filters from collecting too much material too quickly. We also understand the other purification techniques regarding iodine or chlorine.
Hi Sarah -
This is not required, but if you’d like, many customers use a coffee filter as a pre-filter.
Thanks
Dan
We bought the Imperial and the filtering is going very slowly. I try to keep the upper chamber full, but it may filter only half and even that takes several hours. We did order 2 more filters and hope to be filtering on 4 soon. Is the slow filtering normal? There are 9 of us in the family and we have large groups over and have been running out of water, even when keeping the top full.
Hi Sheri -
Your filters may not be fully primed. Plase make sure you see a beading happen across the full length of the filter when priming. Also, another option is to clean the outside of the elements. Some tips are for cleaning the filters are discussed in this berkey water filter tips article.
Thanks
Dan
We are leaving on a 1-2 week trip and will leave our Big Berkey at the house. Is there anything special we need to do prior or after the trip to our filters and the water in the reservior?
Hi Theo -
Just empty the berkey water filter and dry it out. Once you come back home, add water again to the upper chamber of the berkey, and let it start filtering again.
Thanks
Dan
Hi Dan,
My wife and I are also going out of town soon. If it is only for a week or two, why do we need to empty the system before we go?
Yes Zach, i would just dump the water out of the Berkey system so when you return, you can start clean by adding a new batch of water into the upper chamber for filtering.
In the instructions we are told to wear protective gloves. Why?
Hi Cathy -
This is to prevent any possibility of contaminating the filters. However, if your using this in your home, these gloves are not necessarily needed.
Thanks
Dan
Purchased 2 additional black berkey filters for future use. Just read above that priming is suggested, and then air drying before storage. Should the filters be tested using the red food coloring before drying and storage? Thanks.
Hi Kathy -
This is a good idea to make sure you have no issues with your black berkeys up front, but not necessary.
Thanks
Dan
Hi Steve -
For Alex Jones and GCN listeners, it is “alex jones”.
Thanks
Dan
Thanks Dan. What is the shelf life of the black berkeys after they are primed, dried, and stored?
…one more question…how does the black berkey filtered water measure up against “distilled water”? We use distilled water for preparation of a nasal sinus rinse, and wondering if the filtered water could be used everyday or in an emergency?
Thanks, kathy
Just wanted to praise your customer service - had a defective black berkey that had been improperly glued in the manufacturing process. One e-mail and you had a replacement on the way. Thank you very much. Does underscore the need to check the filters before long term storage.
Thanks for the post. I wondered if you would consider using writing from guest posters any time?
Hi Elvin -
Yes, we do permit that. Please contact us at customerservice@bigberkeywaterfilters.com concerning your interests.
Thanks
Dan