Bucket Berkey Water Filter Blog

May 9, 2012

The Bucket Berkey has been a tremendous success.  It has been just about two years since the low cost Bucket Berkey water filter was introduced, and we have learned a few things that we want to share with you.

White Blocking Plugs - The Bucket Berkey filters water really fast.  We have had several customers order blocking plugs traditionally used on the Big Berkey and remove all but one filter from the Bucket Berkey because the speed of one filter was more than enough for their needs.  This is, in part, due to the size of the bucket.  This gravity feed water filter is made out of a 5 gallon food grade bucket.  Because the upper chamber (bucket) holds so much water, there is a lot of pressure on the Black Berkey filter elements.  More pressure equals faster water filtering.  So with the Bucket Berkey, you only need one filter to take on what a Big Berkey would need two filters to do.

How to Increase Water Filter Flow Rate - Another tip we received from one of our customers has to do with increasing the flow rate of water filter by minimizing the vacuum seal that is created when the lid to the upper and lower chambers is screwed on.  The Bucket Berkey is made with twist top food grade buckets.  These twist top lids have a gasket to keep them sealed.  But if you tighten them all the way, it creates a vacuum seal and actually slows the filtration rate.  We recommend that you only turn the lids on about one turn, leaving the buckets unsealed but secured to each other.  This will increase your water filter flow rate by preventing the vacuum seal between the two chambers!  Another customer suggested using a 1/8th drill bit and drilling a small hole near the top of each bucket to allow for air flow.  That is great, but we like the idea of screwing on the lids loosely rather than drilling.