Survival Gear - Testing a Berkey water filter at the camp

http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=122884 While spending a few days at the camp, I decided to hook up the Royal Berkey water filter and give it a test.

The Royal Berkey is made out of stainless, so rodents can not chew through it. This makes it a good choice if your looking for a long term storage filter - in other words, something you can store and not have to worry about it.

Each filter can filter around 3,000 gallons
2 filter unit - about 6,000 gallons
4 filter unit - about 12,000 gallons

For most people, it would be impossible to store 6,000 - 12,000 gallons of safe drinking water. But with a Royal Berkey and 2 filters, its possible to make an estimated 6,000 gallons of water safe to drink.

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• shigella
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• life after shtf
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• berkey water filter
• shtf survival gear
• water filter for shtf

[BugOutFox]

I don't get it... you have a sink and dish washer, so wouldn't you have running water anyway... whats the point of using creek water just turn on the faucet

[survivalistboards]

@BugOutFox - you dont test your plans very much,,, do you???

[bozzchem]

My 2 cents regarding the"Testing" of a Berkey system requires that the filters have been previously hydrated and that a couple drops of red food coloring are added to the water in the upper tank to give a visual representation of the filtration capabilities based upon what the water looks like once filtered into the lower tank.

Hydration of the filters makes a night and day difference in the speed of their filtration - based on my experience.

[survivalistboards]

@bozzchem - I wanted to test the unit with no purging, because a lot of people ask if the unit "has" to be purged to work.

One of the upcoming videos will be a berkey light - side by side test with 1 filter purged and 1 not. That way viewers will be able to see how flow difference their really is.

[johnlvs2run]

That's a great idea to put food coloring in the tank. Also be sure to have a TDS meter, that measures the total dissolved solids in the water. The berkey filters do NOT significantly change the tds of the water. All they do is to get out some of the largest particles.

Reverse osmosis is much much better. I would use a reverse osmosis system with a permeate pump.

[survivalistboards]

@johnlvs2run - will your reverse osmosis system with a permeate pump work without electricity?

[bigdanbear]

Have you had any problems with the filter? Other than the kids sucking it dry. I am thinking of buying one.

[SelfRelianceGuy]

@Chewbacca1978 Berkey did have a problem with the silicone they use with the bases a while back. But you can contact a Berkey dealer and they will exchange them for you. Look for a little printed circle on the base of the filter and I bet it has a 11 with an arrow pointing to a 2,3,4. If you have a 11 with a 5 or higher, you should be out of the woods.

[Chewbacca1978]

If the Berkeys are so great,why do the Black Berkey filters break off at the base of the Plastic?I purchased 4 black Berkey filters four months ago used all four in the container and always took good care of them.Now I cant seem to get an exchange for the three that broke loose from what appears to be Hot Glued together.Berkey is a waste of my time and money.What a Ripoff.

[chancey1979]

@johnlvs2run This is true about the berkey filter. To my surprise I just tested the TDS of my tap and then the TDS of my filtered tap from my Berkey Light. The Berkey Light with 2 Black filters reduced my TDS from 480 ppm with tap to 380 ppm. So thats a total reduction of about 20% with Total Disolved Solids.

[shopkins011]

IF YOU ADD A PURE SILVER COIN IN THE TOP & BOTTOM .....EXTENDS LIFE!!

[dvorakfan1]

@hoopz2598 it is supposed to work even without boiling, but you could if you want to. But be sure the water is not hot when you filter it.

[outbackeddie]

These are great filters. I have a katadyn with two filters which operates the same way as the Berkey filters. You are right about the two filter elements being good for maybe 3-4 people. You definitely want 4 elements if you are trying to provide water for more than 4 people.

[TheRealSuperSlayer]

@BugOutFox It's for campers or for the end of the world :)

[CBob357]

On a realistic note, you boil the water first then filter it!