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Water storage is great for if you are able to stay home. You can check out our family’s water storage plan in this post.
But what if you’re evacuated? Or what if your stored water at home runs out?
Your emergency water plan isn’t complete without a way to filter water to make it safe to drink and cook with.
Sure, you’ve got options:
But … wouldn’t getting a water filter that takes care of it for you be easier than guessing which of those methods you should use?
That’s why I am such a big fan of our Berkey Water Filtering System!
I love knowing that my Berkey filter can filter pretty much anything.
A situation where I need to filter water sounds stressful enough! I want a water filtration plan that I can have confidence in.
Because Black Berkey Filters remove pathogens at such a high level, the filters are classified as water purifiers that remove 99.9999% of bacteria and 99.999% of viruses. This distinction is what makes Berkey the only certifiable gravity flow water purification system on the market.
Arsenic, Bacteria, Chlorine, E. Coli, Giardia, Micro Organisms, Pesticides and VOCs are just a few of the yucky contaminants that it removes. If you are concerned about something specific based on where you live (or just like to nerd out on the details) check out their complete list of covered contaminants here.
The shorter list is what IS in Berkey water, because it is pure, delicious water: Hydrogen, oxygen, and beneficial minerals. Nothing else! Unlike other water filtering options, such as reverse osmosis, Berkey water is not stripped of the good stuff that our bodies actually need.
Berkey water is slightly alkaline because the ionic minerals (aka beneficial minerals) are able to pass through the filters, while the sedimentary minerals are blocked. Berkey water is also aerated because water drips from the top chamber to the bottom chamber as well as through the spigot. The combination of those things is what helps the water taste so dang good!
The bottom line is, with my Berkey, I know that I can just throw contaminated water in the filter and feel safe.
One huge plus with a Berkey Water Filtration System is that it is mobile!
Not only can it be used in your home for things like water boil advisories, but you can also take it with you in an evacuation.
No, you can’t really fit it in your 72-hour kit, but it is at the top of our grab list for evacuation purposes and we would be able to take it wherever we go.
I also love that I can use my Berkey to filter our daily water. It sits on a little table in our dining room and it’s where we fill our water bottles, pitchers, etc. We are technically saving money because we decided to stop buying filters for our fridge. The Berkey water is so much better! The only filtered water we use the fridge for is our icemaker, so I just don’t worry about replacing it.
Each filter filters 3,000 gallons of “normal” water (if your water is awful in an emergency situation where you’re drinking disgusting lake water, they’re not gonna last quite as long).
If you’re running two filters in one system, that’s 6,000 gallons you could filter before needing to replace them!
We put about 2.5 gallons through our Berkey filter every day, which means our filters should last over 6 years.
6,000/2.5 gallons per day = 2,400 days
2,400/365 days = about 6.5 years!
That’s a heck of a lot better than replacing our fridge water filter every 6 months!
As long as Berkey filters are kept dry, you can keep them forever! Having safe drinking water with an indefinite shelf life is pretty amazing! (It is recommended that you test the filters when you get them to make sure they’re working properly, although I have never gotten one that didn’t work. Just make sure they are completely dry before you pack them away).
I keep a few on hand for emergency backup.
California basically has dumb hoops you have to jump through to certify that your water filter is good enough to pass CA’s standards. Which is ridiculous, because Berkey is seriously one of THE BEST on the market. But of course CA’s real objective is not to help its people, but rather to put money in its pocket. So they make it so dang expensive to jump through all these hoops that Berkey basically said no thanks.
So I ordered mine and had it shipped to my in-laws’ house in Utah, and picked it up when we went there for Christmas.
They are able to sell some of their smaller units in CA, which is TRIPLE DUMB, because they use the SAME EXACT FILTERS in all of their systems! It’s seriously SO DUMB.
Moral of the story?
Don’t let California wreck your day.
Just have it shipped to a friend or family member who doesn’t live in this dumb state.
They do recommend testing your filters every 6ish months. To do that, you just put red food coloring in the water in the top chamber and make sure it filters out clear. Easy peasy!
Yes, it is pretty much the best or one of the best. I don’t use absolutes. But I love that it filters so much water.
An RO unit is awesome, but keep in mind it takes everything out including the good stuff- the minerals in your water. So you might need to look at supplementing your diet. But the biggest reason not to use RO for EP reasons is that it’s not mobile. So it’s great if you’re bugging in.
So easy. Unscrew the filters and handwash the parts and chambers with warm, soapy water. I use Dawn dish soap. Do not use soap on the filters. You only need to clean them once every 6 months. You just use a scotch pad. No cleaner, no soap. My filters have actually never been dirty.
The easiest way to increase your Berkey’s filtration speed is by doubling the amount of Black Berkey filters in your system. Adding an extra pair of Black Filters to your system doubles your filtration rate, cutting the time needed to filter your water in half.
Basically, if you’re in a situation where you have to use a water filter to make your water safe, wouldn’t you want a filter that absolutely filters out all the dangerous things, guaranteed? I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to have to wonder if someone is going to end up super sick, because I went cheap on a water filter.
If you want to have total confidence in the safety of your water, get a Berkey!
California basically has dumb hoops you have to jump through to certify that your water filter is good enough to pass CA’s standards. Which is ridiculous, because Berkey is seriously one of THE BEST on the market. But of course CA’s real objective is not to help its people, but rather to put money in its pocket. So they make it so dang expensive to jump through all these hoops that Berkey basically said no thanks.
So I ordered mine and had it shipped to my in-laws’ house in Utah, and picked it up when we went there for Christmas.
They are able to sell some of their smaller units in CA, which is TRIPLE DUMB, because they use the SAME EXACT FILTERS in all of their systems! It’s seriously SO DUMB.
Moral of the story?
Don’t let California wreck your day.
Just have it shipped to a friend or family member who doesn’t live in this dumb state.
Yes, as long as they’re kept dry. They do recommend that you test them when you get them to make sure they’re working properly and there isn’t a manufacturer error. I have never gotten one that didn’t work. It’s a red dye test. (LINK to friend’s Reel??) So obviously you’d be getting them wet to do that. But then make sure it’s completely dry before you pack it away
We just use the two black filters that came with the system, so that means these two filters together should last about 6,000 gallons.
Since we put about 2.5 gallons through it every day, that would mean they should last about
2,400 days (6,000/2.5 gallons per day). That equals about 6.5 years! (2,400/365 days)
How do you know that your filter is still working properly?They do recommend testing your filters every 6ish months. To do that, you just put red food coloring in the water in the top chamber and make sure it filters out clear. Easy peasy!
How many replacement filters do I keep?Not a ton. Each filter filters 3,000 gallons of “normal” water. If your water is awful in an emergency preparedness situation where you’re drinking disgusting lake water, they’re not gonna last quite as long. If you’re running two filters in one system, that’s 6,000 gallons. I keep a few on hand for emergency preparedness. They do last forever, as long as they’re stored appropriately. Keep ‘em dry!
If I’m not going to use this on the daily, should I still get this for emergency preparedness reasons?Yes, it is pretty much the best or one of the best. I don’t use absolutes. But I love that it filters so much water.
An RO unit is awesome, but keep in mind it takes everything out including the good stuff- the minerals in your water. So you might need to look at supplementing your diet. But the biggest reason not to use RO for EP reasons is that it’s not mobile. So it’s great if you’re bugging in.
How can I get the water to filter faster?The easiest way to increase your Berkey’s filtration speed is by doubling the amount of Black Berkey filters in your system. Adding an extra pair of Black Filters to your system doubles your filtration rate, cutting the time needed to filter your water in half.
How hard is it to clean a Berkey?So easy. Unscrew the filters and handwash the parts and chambers with warm, soapy water. I use Dawn dish soap. Do not use soap on the filters. You only need to clean them once every 6 months. You just use a scotch pad. No cleaner, no soap. My filters have actually never been dirty.
Most people see the value in having 72-hour kits for their families, but putting them together and actually finishing their 72-hour emergency kits is another
Answers to some of your most asked questions about long-term food storage, including the difference between dehydrated and freeze dried food.
A beginner’s guide to short-term food storage and the differences between short-term and long-term food storage.
