Berkey Water Purification System?

[BlueDog]

Anyone have first hand experience with a Berkey water purifier (or any other good quality system)? Looking for a way to remove a slight sulfur odor from well water - system will need to sit on a counter-top so should look half way presentable. If you have experience, what size works for you and what extra parts are recommended? Thanks!

 

[indyjohn]

They are amazingly expensive. A tad on the gaudy side (lots of shiny steel). But they do filter everything bad out. I do not know if they take the odor out though.

For that kind of money and considering renewing filters, I would think a dedicated tap at the sink would do the same job for maybe less.

 

[woowoo2]

Check google, they had issues with the filter elements coming apart. May be fixed by now.

 

[guns and groceries]

I use the Big Berkey daily. I am on city water and it makes the water drinkable. Removes all the chlorine smell and the water tastes great. I notice a big difference and am very happy with it. Yes, it is expensive but the elements last a loooong time. I have had it for 2 years now. I do have a backup set of elements and they have fixed the issue with them coming apart.

I love it but the only thing I want to add is the sight glass. Picking up the top to see how much filtered water I have left is a pain and if you overfill it your feet get wet. I have considered getting the Travel Berkey or the Go Berkey for my travels because I have become so used to good water.

 

[Stschil]

We have a Berkey Royal. It does a very good job. OP, have you thought about a whole house activated carbon filter. If the sulphur content is low, this could solve your problem without taking up counter space.

 

[Stschil]

My wife bought us a couple of Berkey travel bottles a few years ago. I was not impressed with the flow characteristics. Too much work to get a good drink, IMO. The LifeStraw Go bottle is much better.

 

[linzal12]

We are on a well and use the royal Berkey with two of the black filters. It removes all sulfur odor and all of the iron taste from our water. We have to take out the filters every other month to clean the sludge off of them. I think it is worth every penny we spent.

 

[mrjarrell]

We're on a well with heavy iron, (rusty but no sulfur smell). Sounds like you could use a decent iron filter or a good water softener and iron filter. We added one to our setup last year and couldn't be happier. Soft water and no rust or smell. Contact a local water softener company for quotes on an iron filter. We used Aqua Systems.

 

[daddyusmaximus]

We have the Big Berkey. Absolutely love it. Remington water has a lot of rust in it. (could be our 117 year old home) We have the white ceramic filters. They clean off easy with a green scratch pad. Haven't used it in months, it got dropped while cleaning it and suffered a broken valve. We've been buying bottled water. More money and I really miss it now. I have to go online and order a new valve now. A Berkey filter is too good to sit broken in the basement.

 

[alexIndy]

I wished I had the money to buy a Big Berkey. If you search survival blogs and other sites, this is one of the better rated mass water purification system. Feedback indicates that customer service also bends backwards for you, which is extra nice beyond a solid product.

You can definitely get a life-straw, or a smaller filtration bottle, but in a bug in situation, I personally want a system that will mass filter and purify 50+ gallons for my family (and I guess pets). Something that is on top of my preparedness wish list.

 

[pudly]

I have the Berkey Light and it has performed flawlessly for over a year. It is actually surprisingly cheap when you calculate the cost over its lifetime. In addition to daily drinking/cooking water, I consider it part of my preps. I'm on city water and it definitely improves the taste.

 

[BlueDog]

So, a few posts point out that a Berkey system is expensive - I guess that's relative. Looks to me like they are in the mid-$200's, are there some hidden costs?

By the way, don't drink softened water if you can avoid it - hard on blood pressure!

 

[guns and groceries]

--"are there some hidden costs?"

Not really. How much is clean water worth? The Big Berkey and the larger ones will filter more per hour with the addition of black elements. Those elements are $110/pair. You start looking at the Royal and Imperial Berkey with 4 or 6 elements and the price starts to stack up. They will work with only 2 or even 1 but slowly. Fluoride filters are an add on too at around $70/pair.

People will pay $125/month on cable or $500 for a new iphone. I would rather have clean water.

 

[Super Bee]

We have a Big Berkey and love it. I shopped and shopped around and found the best deal on E-Bay.

 

[skulhedface]

We went with the fakey royal, aka stainless steel stock pots from walmart with a stainless steel spout and berkey elements. All together it was about $150

 

[irishfan]

I have a Big Berkey and am glad I bought it. Im using the two black filters and it produces great tasting water and looks good in the kitchen. It pays for itself over time compared to smaller less expensive filters that go bad much faster

 

[RockofStrength]

I use a Big Berkey on city water and my parents use one on softened well water, in both cases we've noted a marked improvement in taste though I can't vouch for smell improvement since we don't have that issue. Been using it for about a year now and 0 problems with the stainless shell, any valves, or the filters themselves.

 

[BlueDog]

Sounds like most of you are happy with the Berkey filters - thanks for the input!

 

[warthog]

I bought a Big Berkey in a group buy on another forum a while ago. Great item and if I had water troubles I would use it. I did have those at my previous house and it worked great for me there. It wasn't that expensive in the GB either.

 

[irishfan]

I actually got a better deal then anything I found online from the guy at Indy 1500 who sells berkeys and flashlights usually by left wall.