Berkey or what else for water purifying

[keeprunning]

In the market for a water filter. Is Berkey the way to go? Good for emergencies AND everyday drinking? Or does anyone know of something similar, just as good, and less expensive?

[Aprhys]

I wish I could recall the name of the one I bought for emergencies. It uses the same filter they use for kidney dialysis and apparently has a millions gallon capacity. You drill a hole in a five gallon bucket, attach this filter and let the water run through. If it clogs you simply backflush it. If I can remember the name I'll post again.

[Aprhys]

It's called the "Sawyer water filter."

[EmmaLee]

In the market for a water filter. Is Berkey the way to go? Good for emergencies AND everyday drinking? Or does anyone know of something similar, just as good, and less expensive?

Yes! We've had a Berkey for 15+ years now and we love it - can't recommend it enough. We put all the water we drink and use for cooking through it. It's the only filter we're aware of that removes the fluoride they put in the water, as well as all the other crap - and it makes our nasty swimming-pool tasting city water taste so clean and fresh. It's not cheap, but it's more than worth it, and if you take proper care of it, will last for many, many years. Would recommend getting one soon though, as they are back-logged a lot lately with limited supplies (like everything else) - and maybe buy extra filters to keep in your storage supplies.

Depending how many people are in your household, I'd recommend the Big Berkey or Berkey Light - and either of those would just sit on your kitchen counter for everyday use (drinking and cooking). For bugging out or camping, we have the Go Berkey water filter and Sport Berkey bottles (one bottle for each family member).

[keeprunning]

So the only difference is plastic or stainless steel? Which one do you have? I've never liked stainless steel water bottles, but it does look prettier. lol

[EmmaLee]

So the only difference is plastic or stainless steel? Which one do you have? I've never liked stainless steel water bottles, but it does look prettier. lol

We have this exact model/version sitting on our kitchen island, and it's worked extremely well for us for over 15 years (we change the filters on average, once per year, depending how many people are living in our house - the more people you have, the more often you have to change the filters - but we've never had to change them more than every 6 months, even with heavy use when all the kids were living at home) -

Berkey.jpg (531.77 KiB) Viewed 263 times

The small Berkey water bottles that we have in our bug-out bags are also plastic (a very hard, durable plastic).

[mahalanobis]

You can buy the Berkey filter replacements (not the unit). Then build your own reservoir. The result is the same and you will save a lot.

You can do the same with off-brand Berkey-like ceramic filters. But do you research first.

There are some good videos about this online. They're easy to find.