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Posts Tagged ‘Berkey’
Help Me Choose a Berkey Filter System
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009In this article we’re going to walk you through 4 easy steps to help you choose the perfect Berkey Filter System to fit your needs.
Step 1: Understanding the Berkey Gravity Filtration System
Berkey filter systems take advantage of the extended time each water droplet is in contact with the filters and thus are able to achieve high performance filtration results that many other systems simply cannot match. These are countertop systems only, starting from the smallest 1.5 gallon size housing to the largest at 6 Gallons. The internal filtration elements like the black berkeys and the PF-2’s work in any of the system housing models we sell, allowing you to achieve the same desired filtration results for each size.
There are 6 system sizes in total (below), and all systems come standard with 2 upper chamber filters. Larger systems have the capacity to utilize more filters thus increasing the speed of filtration. (See Flow Rate @ Full Expansion)
| System | Holding Capacity | Fully Expanded | Flow Rate @ Full Expansion |
| Travel Berkey | ~ 1.5 Gallons | 2 Elements(Filters) | ~ 2.75 Gallons / Hr |
| Berkey Light | ~ 2.75 Gallons | 2 Elements(Filters) | ~ 4.25 Gallons / Hr |
| Big Berkey | ~ 2.25 Gallons | 4 Elements(Filters) | ~ 7.0 Gallons / Hr |
| Royal Berkey | ~ 3.25 Gallons | 4 Elements(Filters) | ~ 8.0 Gallons / Hr |
| Imperial Berkey | ~ 4.5 Gallons | 6 Elements(Filters) | ~ 16.5 Gallons / Hr |
| Crown Berkey | ~ 6.0 Gallons | 8 Elements(Filters) | ~ 26.0 Gallons / Hr |
Step 2:Â Choosing a Berkey Size
The golden rule for choosing a size is that bigger is usually better if you have the room for it.  Put simply, the larger the system, the less often you need to fill it, which ultimately translates into convenience. In addition, the higher water volume in the upper chamber increases the pressure that is placed on the water helping to push it through the filters faster.  The differences in cost between the various housing sizes is nominal when you consider that you will be using the same housing for 10-20+ years.
Here are some sizing guidelines:
Travel Berkey ~ 1-2 ppl
Big Berkey ~ 1-3 ppl
Berkey Light ~ 1-4 ppl
Royal Berkey ~ 2-5 ppl
Imperial Berkey ~ 4-8+ ppl
Crown Berkey ~ 6-12+ ppl
Step 3:Â Choosing Your Berkey Filters
Upper Chamber Filters
As mentioned above, all systems require 2 upper chamber filters standard to operate. Increasing the amount of filters utilized in the upper chamber will not improve filtration quality, but will increase filtration speed and the volume of water that can be filtered. For example, increasing from 2 to 4 filters will approximately double your filtration speed and double the amount of volume that can be filtered; 6000 total gallons to 12000 total gallons.
You can choose either Black Berkey Elements or Super Sterasyl Ceramic Filters for your upper chamber filters. These filters are comparable in terms of cleaning, volume of water they filter, and price.  However, the Black Berkeys, being a newer design, are able to filter everything the ceramics do, in addition to removing Lead and MTBE’s. The Black Berkey’s also meet ANSI/NSF log 7 specifications as water purifiers and show off their prowess by being able to remove food coloring from water. Read this article for more information on the differences between the black berkey elements and ceramic filters.
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- Black Berkey’s and SS Ceramic Filters last approx 6000 gallons for a set of 2
Lower Chamber Filters
The lower chamber filters are referred to as PF filters. PF = Post Filtration. There are 2 types of PF filters. The PF-2’s are specifically designed to work with the black berkeys, and the PF-4’s are designed specifically to work with the ceramic filters. The PF filters are easily installed by screwing them onto the stem of upper chamber elements so that they hang upside down in the lower chamber of the Berkey.
PF filters are optional. If your municipality adds fluoride to your water, or you are concerned about arsenic seepage into your well, then the PF-2 Filters as an add-on to your black berkeys are what you’re looking for. PF-4 Filters also remove fluoride and arsenic in addition to other chemicals that the upper chamber ceramics do not remove.
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- PF-2 Fiters last 1000 Gallons or 2 Years, whichever comes first
- PF-4 Filters last 6 months
Step 4: Understanding the Berkey Assembly
Watch this video of the Big Berkey
Begin Choosing Your Berkey Filter System HERE
High Levels of Phosphates Affecting Chesapeake Bay
Sunday, December 14th, 2008True wisdom teaches us that life is all about balance. When we stop and take a moment to appreciate nature, we recognize that we are surrounded by this wisdom. Unfortunately, the human species has played a significant role in disrupting this balance in ways that we are still continuing to discover.  The following news story provides an example of how a common item we use in our kitchen everyday is contributing to this disruption.
Berkey Water Filters vs Berkey Water Purifiers
Sunday, November 23rd, 2008Interest in home water treatment products such as Berkey filters has grown tremendously over the past 15 years. Unfortunately, it isn’t always easy for consumers to know whether or not a particular product will actually be as safe and effective as the manufacturer claims at reducing various contaminants from your water supply. This is where the NSF, a international public health and safety company, plays a critical role.
The NSF (National Sanitation Foundation), headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is an independent testing laboratory that performs comprehensive testing and certification of filtration products. In order for a product to earn “certification” for reduction of a contaminant, it must be able to reduce a specific amount of that contaminant. Certification is voluntary, so it is important that the consumer ensures that the product they are considering purchasing has attained certification.
One critical filter feature that sometimes gets overlooked is the level to which the filter removes contaminants from the water. For carbon filters, focusing on the pore size has some value, but the most important statistic is at what degree this filtering occurs. For instance, there is a significant distinction between water filters and water purifiers. A water filter like the ceramic berkey filters must remove pathogenic bacteria at the 99.99% level, also known as log 4. On the other hand, a water purifier like the black berkey elements, must be able to demonstrate a 99.99999% reduction in pathogenic bacteria, known as log 7. This is a much stricter standard and NSF certification in this regard gives confidence to the consumer that they are getting a high quality water purifier. If you are interested in water purification, double check to make sure the manufacturer and/or seller is not just throwing the word “purifier” around as it does have technical significance.
As a general rule, look for filters labeled as meeting NSF/ANSI standard 53. This standard applies to point-of-use (POU) and point-of-entry (POE) systems with a focus on removing bad tastes, odors, and chlorine. Standard 53 certified filters substantially reduce many hazardous contaminants, including heavy metals such as copper, lead and mercury, disinfection byproducts, parasites such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium, pesticides, radon, and volatile organic chemicals such as methyl-tert-butyl ether (MTBE), dichlorobenzene and trichloroethylene (TCE). For those interested, Berkey also has a separate class of filters called pf-2’s that filter out arsenic and fluoride.
Don’t forget that no filter will give you good performance over the long term unless it receives regular maintenance. As contaminants build up, a filter can become less effective and actually can make your water worse by starting to release harmful bacteria or chemicals back into your filtered water. The more contaminated the water, the more often you should clean the filters. Happy filter shopping!
The Thirsty Berkey - For the Love of Clean Water
Emergency Preparedness - Berkey Water Filters to the Rescue
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008For the majority of suburbanites and city dwellers, the food supply rests solely of the effectiveness of large scale farming, transport supply chain systems, and local supermarkets. Rarely nowadays, do we find self sufficient households with the ability to live off the land via their crops, gardens, livestock, and local water sources. Compare this to 100 years ago when self sufficiency was much more prevalent, neighbor could rely upon neighbor to barter and trade for essentials, and the local town store filled in the gaps. Today, our idea of bartering with our neighbors lies more along the lines of borrowing the snow blower for the power washer.
The more our current model of food supply evolves, the more dependent our population becomes. This is a dangerous road we’ve been traveling down for a very long time. The dilemma can be compared to that of raising an animal in the zoo for 10 years and then releasing it into the wild and expecting it to be able to fend for itself. Under those circumstances that animal will not survive, and on many levels the majority of the US population is just as vulnerable. If a natural disaster does strike and our zookeeper can’t tend to us for a few days, where’s our food and water come from? We can’t expect relief organizations to pick up immediately where the zookeeper left off as it takes days and weeks to address those in need.
The percentage of the population that is prepared and has a backup plan is sorely low and is only trending lower due to the nature of our technological pursuits and progression. Due to the fact that you can go weeks without food but only days without water, emergency preparedness begins with potable water. The popularity of Berkey Water Filters stem from the fact that they filter and clean the dirtiest of water using gravity, without the need for electricity. This fact alone speaks volumes as to the inherent value that these systems possess, not to mention the piece of mind it brings to the owner. There’s an argument to be made that a water filter such as the Big Berkey is considered the most, if not one of the most important forms of emergency preparation. Stop and adjust your perspective for a moment and this reality becomes abundantly clear. If we spent just a tenth of the time preparing for a potential emergency that we do preparing for a economic downturn, we’d have a garage stocked full of food, water, supplies, and equipment. Unfortunately, I feel as though we’ve been hypnotized by our own technological advances into a false sense of security. New Orleans residents had the wake up call of a lifetime, and my hope is that the rest of the population is still not sleeping.
Click here for more information on how many berkey filters are needed.
The Thirsty Berkey - For the Love of Clean Water
Indianapolis - Polluted River Water, Pt’s 1 & 2
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008A water treatment plant in Indianapolis has been dumping sewage overflow into the White River for over 40 years now. This is a river that people swim and fish in…even though there are warning signs posted. Pay attention to the amount of E-Coli they find from a river sample.
It makes you wonder how much of this contaminated water made it into the water supply of the downstream popuation over these 40 years. What seeped into the well water systems? Was it filtered out in some way? I’d be real interested to see illness or cancer rates across this potentially affected population to look for correlations. Environmentally speaking, this is just sad.
How Many Berkey Water Filters Are Needed?
Thursday, October 30th, 2008This seems to be one of the questions I receive the most. And, it makes sense because there are many ways in which Berkey Water Filters can be set up. The more you read, the more confusing it can get, and the information out in cyberspace doesn’t always clear things up. Below, I’ve assembled 7 basic facts and guidelines that will help you understand the world of Berkey.
- Basic systems all start out with 2 filtration elements in the upper chamber. You then build upon the system from there depending on your needs and system capacity.
- The larger the system, the more elements you can fit into the upper chamber. It ranges from 2 elements in a system like the Travel Berkey or Berkey Light, to 8 elements in the Crown Berkey.
- Traditionally, filter / purifying elements are designed for either the upper or the lower chamber. Ceramic filters & Black Berkey filters are upper chamber. PF-2 Fluoride / Arsenic and PF-4 Arsenic / Lead / MTBE / Fluoride filters are lower chamber. In theory, if you wanted to pimp out your Berkey, 16 filtration elements could fit into the Crown Berkey (8 up / 8 down).
- Black Berkey’s only match up with PF-2’s, and Ceramics only match up with PF-4’s. This is because the PF-2’s are designed to complement the improved filtering abilities of the Black Berkey elements. Similarly, PF-4 filter technology is designed to complement and fit with the Ceramic filtration elements. So, if you buy 4 BB’s up top, you’ll need 2 sets of PF-2’s down below…not a PF-4 set.
- The amount of lower chamber elements in any given system must match the amount of upper chamber elements. i.e. 2 BB’s up top must equal 1 set of PF-2’s down below, 4 Ceramic’s up top must equal a set of PF-4’s below…etc. Keep in mind, lower chamber(pf) filters are not required. A system can function with only upper chamber elements, like 2 BB’s, but not the other way around.
- You cannot combine different types of filtration elements in one chamber. In other words, if you have 2 Black Berkey purification filters in the upper chamber and you’d like to expand to 4, you cannot add two Ceramic filters to the mix. You would need to add 2 addt’l Black Berkey filters.
- More Filters = Faster filtration; not better filtering. If you’re buying a larger system, you most likely have a requirement for water to be available quicker and in larger volumes. In this case, you would want to opt for 4, 6, or 8 upper chamber filter elements.
Hope this gives everyone a good foundation. Couple this information with your filtering intentions and you’ll be able to select the right system and elements combination that will meet your health needs. Please feel free to contact me with any other questions that I can help you with - Dan@Bigberkeywaterfilters.com.
The Thristy Berkey - For the Love of Clean Water
Arsenic in Your Well Water?
Sunday, October 26th, 2008I remember when someone first told me that arsenic can be found in the drinking water coming from the taps of many homes in the United States. I took it as one of those scare statistics at first, until I came across a newspaper article on the subject a couple months later. It’s at that point that I decided to do a little research. I’ve written an article posted on ezine that gets into the details, but let me cover some of it here.
Arsenic is deadly, period. It is known for causing all sorts of cancers including bladder, lung and skin and possibly kidney and liver cancer. In 2006, the EPA set the arsenic standard for drinking water at .010 parts per million (10 parts per billion) to protect consumers served by public water systems from the effects of long-term, chronic exposure to arsenic. However, the limit was set at 50 ppb up until that time and the EPA readily admits that it reduced the maximum in part due to studies revealing health deterioration at these levels.
It’s a step in the right direction that public water systems are required to stay below 10ppb, but if you get your water from a well, you may be drinking water with much higher levels of arsenic contamination. Many areas of the country, particularly the western United States are known for naturally high levels of arsenic in the ground and well water. Being an element found in the earth’s sediment, arsenic has the ability to leech into your well water source and you may be none the wiser. Hopefully, if you live in a particularly vulnerable area, your town and/or state officials require arsenic testing as part of a home inspection or house transfer. Unfortunately there are also many towns that do not require this, or are simply not aware of new studies highlighting the need for more stringent arsenic thresholds.
State and federal governments do not require regular testing of well water for arsenic, so what develops is a gap in public safety. The public water officials must report their arsenic levels on a regular basis to state and federal officials, but many homeowners have been drinking from wells that haven’t been tested in decades. The distress of researchers pushing this issue is that even at levels lower than 10ppb, the continuous consumption of low doses may result in cancer 15-30 years down the road.
Fortunately, arsenic testing can be done for as little as $50 and it may be well worth your while to get it checked out. You can also invest in a full home filtration system, but these installations can cost upwards of $4000, with additional annual costs of $300. I recommend point of use water filters as an inexpensive and highly effective option. I’m partial to Berkey water filters since they are distinguished for their arsenic removing filter technology and the systems last for many years without needing regular filter replacements typical of others on the market. Regardless of your choice, if you drink well water, please take a few moments to learn if you may be affected by this chemical and explore your options.
The Thirsty Berkey – For the Love of Clean Water
Contaminants in our Bottled Water? - The Video
Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008For those of you still interested in this story, ABC news picked it up. Check it out.
Contaminants in our “Pure Mtn Spring” Bottled Water? - Part 2
Friday, October 17th, 2008Well it’s time for me to touch on some of the other findings from the Environmental Working Group’s study on 10 major brands of bottled water. See part 1 of bottled water contaminants here. Being released just this week, I’m hoping we’ll see some major news organizations follow-up on these disturbing results.
Altogether, the test found 38 different type of contaminants with a average of 8 in each bottle of water. 4 of the 10 bottles also were contaminated with bacteria. Ugh! So, what sorts of contaminants are we talking about here? How about disinfection byproducts or waste water pollutants like caffeine and Tylenol. There’s also your standard array of heavy metals including arsenic, radioactive isotopes, and fertilize residue (nitrate and ammonia). Also found were what the study termed “tentatively identified” industrial chemicals such as solvents, plasticizers, viscosity decreasing agents, and propellants. I wonder where that’s coming from?
This is not the first time a study has highlighted some of these contaminants found in our bottled water. What’s truly fascinating is that the marketing department would lead you to believe that you’re getting water from a spring in the Rockie’s or the Catskills…a pristine source undisturbed by the byproducts of our human development. Most of us are not naive enough to believe this hype though; especially since the fine print usually gives it away. That is, if there is a fine print. According to a EWG survey of 228 brands of bottled water, less than half state their source or detail any information regarding treatment. Transparency is a usually a good thing for the consumer, and if we take our health seriously, this sort of information should be a bare minimum requirement for the bottled water industry.
So, where are the controls? Where are the regulations? Why am I paying all this money for bottled water that is similar to tap water, or actually is tap water? Why am I not addressing the fact that using tap water as a reference point for bottled water is troubling in itself? We’ll definitely get into that in the future, but here’s an EWG stat for you: Of the 36 million bottles of water sold in 2006, only a fifth were recycled. That’s alot of bottles ending up in the dumpsters or potentially polluting the very water sources we rely on. It should make us all give the subject of bottled water a little more serious thought.
The Thristy Berkey
Contaminants in our “Pure Mtn Spring” Bottled Water?
Wednesday, October 15th, 2008While doing some research for my blog today, I come across an AP release stating that tests on 10 leading brands of bottle water turned up many of the same contaminants shown in everyday tap water. It turns out that a rather intensive investigation by the Environmental Working Group revealed that not only was this water in many cases no purer than tap water, but that in some instances it had more contaminants. This obviously caught my attention and I decided to turn this article into a two part series so that readers fully understand the basics of these findings.
As many of you may or may not be aware, the bottled water industry is not regulated by the government or any official body. Rather, this industry simply states that its own regulatory standards and thresholds are stricter than that of tap water safety standards. While that may sound semi-convincing, a curiosity is arisen when one discovers that the industry will not disclose the results of its own testing. With that said, let’s jump right into what the Environmental Working Group discovered.
Breast Cancer Cell Proliferation
For one type of bottled water that was tested at the U. of Missouri, the results were less than satisfactory. Apparently, when this water was combined with breast cancer cells it resulted in a 78% growth proliferation in just 4 days when compared to a control. The exact figures at day 4 were 32,000 cancer cells for the bottled water and 18,000 for the control. While, I’d like to see additional testing done to substantiate this sort of data, the thought that this water stimulated a faster cancer cell growth rate is not a pleasing one. But, here’s the kicker… When the scientists added an estrogen blocking chemical into the mix, the effect was inhibited, inferring that the chemicals found in this water were akin to estrogen, a hormone which has been linked to cancer. The study claims that other industry chemicals known to be cancer spurring are relatively worse, but makes the point that individuals typically consume many bottles of water and in essence could be fueling this sort of activity bottle by bottle. Unfortunately due to the type of lab tests that were performed, EWG and we, the consumers, do not know which bottled water product this was. They’ll be more to come on this, I’m sure.
Walmart(Sam’s Choice) and Giant Brand Waters(Acadia)
Right off the bat, the study reveals that these two products have the same chemical signature of municipal water. Actually, the Sam’s Choice water source was Las Vegas tap according to the Walmart officials. There’s something rather funny(insert your own appropriate adjective here) about living in Las Vegas and spending $5 for a case of bottled water that also happens to come out of every faucet in town. I can live with that though because bottled water provides me with convenience, right? Well, then I learned that Sam’s Choice Water was found to also possess levels of trihalomethanes that exceed California state law. Trihalomethanes are disinfection byproducts that are linked to cancer and reproductive problems. That doesn’t sound too appealing, so maybe I’ll bring a travel water filter with me next time I go to Vegas. But wait, there’s more. Lab tests also found a cancer causing chemical called bromodichloromethane that again surpassed California safety standards. Ok, I think it’s time Walmart revisits their supplier. It seems that as a result of these findings, EWG is filing suit against Walmart to enforce warning messages posted on Sam’s Choice bottles sold in California.
Acadia also possessed these same cancer causing chemicals exceeding California safety standard levels. Fortunately, this brand is only sold in some Mid-Atlantic States so Californians and their safety board can breathe a sigh of relief. Hmm…, I wonder if our states safety standards are more appropriate than California’s or simply slower to catch on to the risks that these chemicals may pose to our health? The government’s usually never late to the public health safety party, so I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about. One thing’s for sure, the bottled water industry’s standards may actually not be stricter than FDA standards as they claim. Or, maybe they’re just slow in policing themselves. Looking forward to posting part two of this series.
The Thirsty Berkey