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Posts Tagged ‘ceramic berkey filters’
Help Me Choose a Berkey Water 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 of our newest generation black berkey filters in the upper chamber. 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 Water Filter 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 ~ 1-3 ppl
Big Berkey ~ 1-4 ppl
Berkey Light ~ 2-5 ppl
Royal Berkey ~ 2-6 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 Berkey Water Filter systems require 2 upper chamber filters to operate and these come standard with each system purchase. 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 black berkey elements to 4 black berkey elements 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 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 that the ceramics do not remove, and chlorine and bacteria (giardia, e-coli, etc) to higher degrees. The Black Berkey’s also meet high ANSI/NSF log 7 standards 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.
* Black Berkey last approx 6000 gallons for a set of 2
* Super Sterasyl Ceramics last approx 1200 gallons per 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 any multi-filter Berkey Water Filter system.
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 SS ceramics do not remove.
* 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
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
