I love our water filter! I bought it in Arizona shortly after we moved there from Montana. Before we purchased the filter, I was attempting to haul 1-1/2 gallons of filtered water from the store for daily use. If I did this every few days, that was a LOT of trips from the parking lot to my apartment with jugs of water, two small children in tow. The Berkey was a lifesaver!
What to purchase for your family
For our family of three I have:
- The 1-1/2 gallon Travel Berkey (see more and purchase all of this by clicking here).
- 2 Carbon Filters (you can have 4 filters and it’ll filter faster, I don’t mind waiting a bit)
- 2 Fluoride Filters
How it works in our routine
I have my son, 4, pull up a chair and use a Nalgene bottle to fill up the Berkey as part of his morning chores. Yes, it takes him a while, but he’s up high, in the kitchen, and pouring water- this is the dream chore for a preschooler ~grin~.
If I’m making stock, kombucha, or something else that uses lots of water, I fill it up as I take water out.
The kids can easily reach to fill up their cups or water bottles, which is simpler than trying to get a big pitcher from the fridge or drag a chair to the kitchen sink. I had to show them how to stop filling when the cup was half full, but overall they do well. My daughter even fills up the dog’s water bowl without being asked.
Some Tips
- If you have a bigger family and a bigger kitchen, I’d recommend getting the Big Berkey (click here to see all sizes and compare prices here).
- I personally like how the stainless looks, but it does show water spots. I wipe it down with a damp cloth when it starts to bother me, it’s not hard to clean.
- The kids will put their mouth under the spigot and get water that way, without a cup, I’m not sure how sanitary it is but it’s an adaptation they think is awesome.
- I replace my filters once every 6-8 months.
- The up front cost is quite a bit, but if you divide it out into daily use even the biggest system costs less than $1/day for ALL the filtered water your whole family needs and that’s just over the first year. I’ve had my system over a year now and it’s absolutely worth the investment. I seriously do not like hauling jugs of water!
- If possible, place your filter over a sturdy drawer in the cabinet, and then pull it out to hold the pot or jar you’re filling up. This allows you to multitask a bit.
We use filtered water in everything, even homemade gatorade
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How does it stay mold-free? I know the brita and pur filters are supposed to be kept in the fridge to prevent mold. Just wondering! :)
You replace the filters every 6-8 month. That seems pretty quick. According to the website the carbon filters last 3000 gallons each. In order to use that much water in six months you would have to fill it 22 times a day. While you should replace the flouride filters at least every 6 months or 1000 gallons. The black carbon ones should last for a couple years.
That’s good to know, thanks! I guess I never really looked into how often it was supposed to be done, or I heard someone else say they replace every 6 months.
We’ve had a Berkey Light for about 10 years and we are on our 2nd set of black filters. They can be scrubbed clean (with a white brillo pad– the kind without chemicals added) about once every few months. You will see a slow decrease in the size of the filter, but not bad.
I was thinking the same thing, you do not have to replace those filters every 6 months. When it filters slower…remove elements, scrub, rinse & prime elements (we discovered it is best to lay scrubbed element in dishpan of water/while scrubbing additional elements, we have a 4 element unit) and then assemble. You can find the instructions for the elements online, they tell you how to calculate when you should replace them. I think each black element does 500 gal…multiple times # of elements.
We use to have a PUR faucet mount and our water tastes best (or has no taste) now that it goes through the Berkey. We were surprised that we could tell by taste how much better the Berkey was compared to the PUR.
Hi, I just found your site and it’s great.
I saw with this post and this water filter and that fluoride filters were mentioned and are used with this water filter. Since you want the best for your family’s diet, which is great. I felted compelled to let you know you should do some research on fluoride and the effects on the body. I am no expect, but there are studies stating negative effects. One of them being having thyroid issues which I do have and I was one of the kids that had the fluoride program in our school back in the 80s and even with the fluoride I still got 4 cavities in my childhood, go figure.
I think a reverse osmosis water filter removes fluoride (and chlorine).
Yes, we have the filters to remove fluoride :)
Great post. Thanks for sharing this and keep posting. This will really help homeowners.
Hi! I really would love a Berkey, but I’m so torn because I am wondering if we should get a whole house system instead. Do you filter all your house water or just drinking water? Just wondering if you have any recommendations on a whole house filter as well. Thanks!
Curious if you add minerals to your water? I just purchased green clay. I don’t know how we’ll that’s going to go down with my glass of drinking water! :)
Does this system filter everything good and bad?
This system does not filter out minerals. There is no need to add them back in (like in distilled or RO). We have hard water– and we get all of those minerals, just no chlorine, bacteria, or viruses. At my last look at the website, they had a list of what it filters– and it’s LOTS of yuckies.
We have one, but it has the ones you scrub. I don’t know how often I will have to replace those. They’re four of them and at $25 a piece I hope not too often.
I would like to know if you could tell me what it takes like. I live in Phoenix and I currently have Sparklettes delivered, we love it. I cannot stand Arrowhead water. Which do you think it tastes like more? Thank you
We just recently purchased the Berkey water filter. It is wonderful.