Why a Berkey May Not Exist The Best Water Filter For Preppers

   11.19.18

Why a Berkey May Not Be The Best Water Filter For Preppers

Over the past couple of years, we accept talked about diverse types of water filters, and there seems to be 1 brand that is mentioned advertizing nauseam, and that is the Berkey, and sometimes the Lifestraw. For this article, nosotros will exist talking almost the Berkey and its human relationship with preppers / survivalist.

Earlier we begin, let'due south accept a few minutes and draw how a Berkey filters water. After all, not all of the readers volition know the ins and out of the filter.

Berkey filters, such as the Purple, Light, and Regal are gravity filters. This ways h2o seeps through the filter using gravity. This ways in that location are no moving parts besides the spigot. At that place are no pumps to break, and the simply seals are those around the filters.

The Berkey elements (which exercise the bodily purification or filtration) attach to the bottom of the meridian reservoir where the water is poured, the water seeps through the filters into a holding tank at the bottom of the unit.

Some units can take up to four filters (e.g., Royal Berkey), while larger units (e.thou., Purple Berkey) can have to upwardly to vi. Depending on h2o quality, each black Berkey chemical element can purify effectually 3,000 gallons. Which means the Royal Berkey with its four elements tin purify around 12,000 gallons, and the Purple Berkey with its half dozen filters tin purify around xviii,000 gallons.

H2o Filter Life

While 12,000 and 18,000 gallons may sound impressive, some handheld water filters advertise 100,000 and 1,000,000 gallon life expectancy – such as the Sawyer mini and the Sawyer PointOne. Keep in mind life expectancy is directly related to the quality of the h2o source.

Sawyer Mini vs. PointOne

Awhile back, a buddy of mine and I were talking about h2o filters. He knows I have a Majestic Berkey and it is my chief water filter here on the subcontract. When he started talking nigh the Sawyer Mini and its 100,000 advertised life expectancy, the 12,000 gallons of my Royal Berkey did not sound that impressive.

In all honesty water filtration technology has come a long way in the past decade. When preppers were using a handheld water filter, such as the Katadyn Hiker, 12,000 gallons was a lot. And so along came the Sawyer Mini and PointOne which blew everything else out of the h2o.

The one thing the Berkey blackness filters take the reward with, they are purifiers a not filters.  What is the departure?

Purifiers remove or kill viruses, while filters do not.

Please keep in heed at that place are several types of Berkey filters on the market place.  Some are advertised as purifiers while others are simply filters.

Water Filter Price

Let'due south exist honest, Berkey units can be expensive, and the replacement black purifiers can exist equally expensive. The black purifier chemical element cost is one reason why people opt for the less expensive filter elements.

The Royal Berkey cost around $300 and comes with two black elements; and so that is an estimated vi,000 gallons.  A pair of Berkey black purification elements  can easily cost around $100.  To achieve the 12,000 adequacy of a four unit filter, the consumer will have to buy the unit, and so purchase ii more than blackness elements.

Using the Royal Berkey as an example, the consumer would need to spend around $500 to get started and to use the filter to its maximum output.

That Sawyer PointOne for around $25, or the Sawyer Mini for effectually $20 are looking very attractive at this point.

We could spend around $100 on four Sawyer PointOne filters, each filter has an estimated life expectancy of around i meg gallons, depending on source h2o quality.  This gives united states a 1000 total of around 4,000,000 gallons of prophylactic drinking water.

Or nosotros could spend effectually $500 for an estimated 12,000 gallons of condom drinking water.

Portability

Berkey water filters are non very portable, every bit they are intended to be dwelling house based units for a fixed location.  There are some personal sized Berkey filters which are somewhat portable. However, even the personal size units fail in comparison to various filters on the market for hikers and campers.

At this time my Berkey water filter has h2o in it, then let's plough to amazon to become the estimated empty weight.

  • According to Amazon, the Imperial Berkey has an estimated weight of around 7 pounds.
  • Sawyer PointOne – 2.45 ounces
  • Sawyer Mini – 1.45 ounces
  • Sawyer PointOne with platypus bag and tubing to brand a gravity filter – 10.95 ounces

It is going to be a lot easier to carry an eleven ounce filter than a seven pound filter.

Filter Menstruum Rate

Regardless of what the specifications say, Berkey Elements tin have a tedious catamenia rate.  This means of the Berkey runs dry, it will take a little while for water to collect in the lower unit of measurement.

In comparison, the Sawyer PointOne has a wonderful menstruum rate.  The Sawyer Mini has a slower catamenia charge per unit than the PointOne, but is even so very acceptable.

Related Commodity – Sawyer PointOne vs. Sawyer Mini.

Terminal Thoughts

Fifty-fifty though Berkey makes a wonderful production, the price can put some people off. On a personal annotation, I have been using a Royal Berkey for close to 10 years. After I moved to the farm several years ago the Berkey has been my primary water filter.

This brings up several questions:

  • How much h2o would someone need to filter?
  • How many people volition demand the filter?

While a Berkey may non be the all-time water filter for preppers, possibly it should play a part in having a well rounded water filter program?