Considered by many to be the best of the best when it comes to delivering clean, safe drinking water, a Berkey water filter stands out from the crowd for many reasons. But what exactly is a Berkey water filter and what does it do?
How does a Berkey Filtration System Work?
Berkey water filters are fully portable gravity filters, meaning they use gravity to draw water from the upper chamber through state of the art Black Berkey Purification Elements that trap more that 200 contaminants that may be present in the water as it passes through to the storage chamber below. Purified drinking water, free of contaminants can then be tapped off from the lower chamber.
What Makes a Berkey Stand Out from its Competitors?
Berkey water filtration systems are far superior to other home drinking water filters because the contaminants they remove are not limited to basic contaminants such as chlorine, taste, odors and bacteria, but extend to over 200 harmful contaminants, including waterborne pathogenic bacteria, parasites and cysts ((reduced by 99,9999%); toxic heavy metals such as arsenic, chromium, lead and mercury (reduced by 99.9%). These are not just claims, they have independent lab test results from State and EPA accredited laboratories that prove their superior filtration qualities, showing they exceed EPA 7 ANSI/NSF (Std 53) protocol.
Berkey water filtration systems, with their high quality polished stainless steel chambers, are not just pretty to look at, their super-power lies under the hood, so to speak. The Black Berkey elements fitted inside the upper chamber are state-of-the art filters that are specially designed to target a wide range of common pollutants.
The patented Black Berkey filters utilize the following three filtration principles to deliver purified water of an exceptional standard:
- Mechanical Micro-filtration — Water is filtered mechanically through tiny micro-pores that make up the Black Berkey elements. These pores in the filter media are so tiny they prevent pathogens such as bacteria, cysts, as well as sediments and particulates from passing through.
- Adsorption and Ionic Absorption — Contaminants are also removed by a process known as adsorption where the molecules of some substances are attracted to the surface of the filter media. The Black Berkey elements are also impregnated with absorbing media that promotes ionic absorption of contaminants as they pass through the micro pores of the filter elements. These processes work together to remove harmful and undesirable contaminants such as sediment, silt, heavy metals, pesticides, VOCs, trihalomethanes, nitrates and nitrites, chlorine and other foul tastes and odors.
- Extended Contact Time — While some users may find the Berkey's slow filtration time annoying at times, this too has a purpose. The prolonged filtration time means the water is in contact with the purification elements for a longer period of time compared to other water filter systems that use water pressure to force water through their filters. The slower filtration process allows more contaminants to be captured by the filter elements, making the filter elements far more efficient at removing unwanted contaminants.
Berkey Water Filters
A Berkey Water Filter is a great investment as it will provide you and your family with a source of clean water for years to come. A set of two re-cleanable and self-sterilizing Black Berkey elements will purify 6000 gallons of water before they will need to be replaced. This makes it a very cost-effective source of purified water, especially when compared to bottled water. Berkey filtration systems come in wide range of sizes, all of which are fully portable and can be used to provide safe drinking water at home, on vacation or while camping
