How to Choose a Berkey Water Purifier Filter
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HTChooseABerkey
Choosing the right Berkey water filter has a lot to do with what you plan on using it for. This how to article helps you make the decision by considering each component and how it will serve your purpose.
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How to Choose a Berkey Water Purifier Filter
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Detailed Information
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To make a good choice on a Berkey water purifier / filter, there are a few things you will need to understand first. This article about Berkey filters should help you make an informed decision.
We are often asked what the difference is between the older white ceramic filters and the newer Black Berkey elements: Here are the quick facts:
| Element Type | Works For | Last For: | Recommended | | White Ceramic Element | Biological removal Only | Six Months |
| | Black Berkey Element | Biological and Chemical removal | 3000 gallons | X |
We are also asked a lot about how many elements should be purchased for a given family or group size. This depends on how much water you estimate will be used per person. Once you know that, you can refer to the flow rate chart below. Keep in mind that we have found the published flow rates below to be about 20% higher than in the real world tests we have performed. The Parts of a Berkey Water Purifier or FilterBerkey water filters have six components to them. These components are:
- Lid on the unfiltered water reservoir (Upper Chamber).
- Filtered water reservoir (Lower Chamber).
- Ceramic or Black Berkey Wicks inside the unfiltered water reservoir.
- Optional PF2 filters hanging in the clean water reservoir from the Ceramic or Black Berkey Wicks.
- Clean water reservoir.
- Spigot
Important FactorsEach Berkey Water System has a Gallons Per Hour (GPH) rating and Storage Capacity rating. It is important to understand these two ratings because they will help you determine what system to buy.
- GPH - How many gallons of water can be processed by the Berkey System per hour.
- Clean Water Reservoir - How much water can be stored after being processed.
GPH or Gallons Per Hour
The GPH of your Berkey water filter is determined by the following factors:
- The level of water in the unfiltered water reservoir.
- How many filter elements are installed in the unfiltered water reservoir.
- How dirty the unfiltered water is.
Clean Water Reservoir
The clean water reservoir determines how much water you can store at any given time without the need for a secondary water storage device such as water bag or other container.
Questions to Ask Yourself Before Ordering A Berkey Water Filter- How many people will be using the Berkey water filter? - This question is important because it will help you determine the size of filter to order. If you are shopping for two people, your needs will be different than the family looking to provide clean safe water to five or six people or an organization where many people may be dependent upon the filter.
Remember this rule: 1 gallon of water per day per person is what you need to survive. Three gallons of water per person per day is living comfortably.
Berkey water filters are rated by the amount of water they can hold in their clean water tank and how much water can be filtered per hour.
Here is an example. A family of two needs no less than one gallon of water per day per person to survive, or 2 gallons per day. The Berkey light with its 2.75 gallon clean water reservoir is sufficient to make it through a 24 hour period. This filter has the ability to filter 4 gallons of water per hour when the upper reservoir is full.
- How much water do you want to produce in an hour?
You can increase the amount of water you produce per hour by doing two things. First, you can add more filter elements if your system has open holes. For the Berkey Light and Travel Berkey, you are limited to two filters. The Imperial Berkey can hold up to eight.
The other factor that determines how much water you can produce in an hour is gravity and water pressure. You can't do anything about gravity, but you can increase water pressure on your Black Berkey filters by keeping your unfiltered water reservoir topped off and you can choose to order a larger Berkey system, which holds more water in the unfiltered water reservoir. The more water you have in your unfiltered water reservoir, the more pressure will be on your filter elements.
- So what system do I choose?
Well, that is a personal question! Most of us at DisasterStuff.com have the Imperial Berkey, populate two of the holes with Black Berkey filters and plug the remaining six. Then, if need arises, we have two full sets of replacement elements to draw on. That is a total of 16 filter elements or 8 two packs. But when you are talking about survival, you really need to consider what your back up plan is if unforeseen needs arise.
One last note. Get a replacement parts kit for emergencies. They will be needed if anything breaks during an earthquake or other disaster. Be Prepared!
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