Berkey water purifiers are gravity-powered purifiers that don’t rely on electricity, making them an excellent way to filter any source of water including ponds and streams. Plus, their long filter lifespan – estimated at up to 6,000 gallons per set of filters! – means they’ll likely outlive you.
Adsorption technology is used to remove chemicals and toxins from water supplies, creating an ionic barrier that keeps out contaminants smaller than their pore sizes.
Easy to assemble
The Berkey water filter is designed for effortless assembly and maintenance, featuring two silver chambers, a lid, rubber ring base and spigot for easy operation. In addition, the fluoride filters require more attention but tend to last much longer – these are optional though a spigot may help control flow rate more precisely than black filters do. It comes standard with black filters but optional fluoride filters may also be added; fluoride filters have longer filter life when maintained properly.
Black Berkey elements utilize mechanical micro-filtration technology, with thousands of microscopic pores that filter water molecules through mechanical micro-filtering to eliminate pathogenic bacteria, cysts and parasites as well as harmful chemicals like herbicides, pesticides, organic solvents and VOCs; plus sediment. This is achieved by forcing molecules of water molecules to stay inside for several minutes instead of passing quickly through traditional pressurized filter systems.
When the time comes for cleaning your berkey, simply use a Scotch Brite pad to wipe away any residue on its black filters and reprime them using one of the vials of red dye included with your kit.
Easy to clean
Berkey water filters are easy to use and maintain, making them great for homes, vacations and emergencies such as natural disasters or power outages. Berkeys can filter any type of water including pond and stream water – even portable enough for taking camping or work with you!
These laboratory tested water purification systems remove an extensive list of contaminants, such as fluoride, cyanide, toxins, heavy metals like lead and arsenic, bacteria cysts and viruses. Furthermore, chloramines pharmaceuticals petroleum contaminants from the environment pesticides. It’s an ideal alternative to boiling water on the stove for its risk-free way to purify. Their durability also makes them very low maintenance with simple clean up using Scotch Brite sponge or plant fiber non-scratch scrub pads with homemade lemon foaming dish soap.
Removable filter elements
Black Berkey filters rely on water pressure rather than a long “contact period” to capture contaminants, including pathogenic bacteria, cysts, parasites, chemicals herbicides pesticides volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and sediment in drinking water. The longer period ensures all potential threats are captured including microscopic pathogens bacteria cysts parasites chemicals herbicides pesticides VOCs sediment are safely eliminated from drinking water supply.
Filters made of durable material make cleaning and reusing easier, lasting for years before needing replacing. One set of two elements can purify up to 1,000 gallons of water at one time and can be regularly inspected. Furthermore, self-sterilizing filters eliminate the need for expensive disposable cartridges.
Though Berkeys can be great investments, it’s important to keep in mind that they don’t come equipped with a way of monitoring how much water remains in their lower chamber. Therefore, some users might wish to purchase an additional sight glass that attaches directly to their spigot between upper and lower chambers for visibility purposes.
Easy to store
Berkey systems are easy to store and maintain. You can keep one in a cabinet or pantry, on a countertop or even on top of a refrigerator – simply make sure the stainless steel chambers are completely dry before placing them away to avoid bacteria from growing on them.
Before beginning to clean your Berkey filter elements, gather a bucket of clean water for rinsing purposes and use a non-scratch cleaning pad such as 3M Scotch Brite to scrub each element’s surfaces prior to thoroughly rinsing them off.
Once your filters are clean and in tip-top condition, allow them to air-dry before placing in an airtight container or plastic bag until you need them again.
Each pair of black Berkey filters can filter up to 6,000 gallons before needing replacement, and to determine this total you can multiply the number of filters by your daily water consumption.
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