Debating a Berkey
It's got raving reviews, everyone tells me it's the thing to get, but is it really worth all the money and the space it takes up?As I alluded to in my steem powered homestead library post, we're debating using the steem for some other homesteading/ prepping purchases. A Berkey water filter would be one of those, but we just can't decide if it's worth it to us.
The Pros
From Amazon, I know that the Berkey does two things:
This powerful Big Berkey system purifies both treated water and untreated raw water from such sources as remote lakes, streams, stagnant ponds and water supplies in foreign countries.
Removes viruses, pathogenic bacteria, cysts and parasites and extracts harmful chemicals such as herbicides, pesticides, VOCs, organic solvents, radon 222 and trihalomethanes and more
Those things are certainly pros and would make it very handy to have in case of a pollution of our communal water supply. The thing is, there hasn't been such a pollution that wasn't fixed shortly and only required us boiling the water for a day, in about 30 years, which leads us to..
The Cons
It's expensive, as in really, really expensive. Between 2-3k DKK depending on the model.
It takes up valuable space in our tiny home.
Our water is some of the best quality in the world, so we aren't all that concerned.
The power of Steem
Steem is the deciding factor in some ways here. If you guys weren't generously upvoting my posts and comments, we wouldn't even be debating getting a Berkey. It's the main reason we don't have one already. It's never been a priority in our budget and it's still not as we are piling up money for that downpayment.
We now have a small source of funds from Steemit, that could be turned into a Berkey. It's already been turned into books, but instead of getting more books we could start saving up for a Berkey and possibly get one sometime next year. It's a big item though and we're not sure it's worth it to get that one piece of equipment compared to all the other useful things the same steem could buy us.
How do we make a decision?
Only my husband and I can make a decision about whether or not the Berkey is worth saving up for and what model to get if we decide to get one.
I do, however, believe in the value of asking your peers for their advice, so what do you think?
Do you have one? Would you like one? Why?
Is it worth the cost?
What are the pros and cons of it in your opinion?
Which model would you recommend for a growing family with a small child and hopes of more in the future (Lord willing)?
We'd really appreciate all the insight you can offer us so we can make an informed decision about this big purchase. We want to spend the Steem you give us well. As always trying to be good stewards of what has been left in our care.
Hello again! We have a big berkey and love it. I even wrote a post about it awhile back here. We moved to Panama without having ours and spent 6 weeks drinking tap water. We all then met the Panama parasites that live in the water here. Since we've had the berkey, no problems. Panama has drinkable water, but not necessarily clean water to people who haven't lived here all their lives! Anyway, we also lived in an area in Texas that had decent water most of the year until the lake turned and then the water smelled. It took all smell and taste out of the water. I got so used to drinking berkey water, I couldn't even stand bottled water or softened RO water at my parents'! :)
Wow, sounds like it really does what it promises then.
My mum got one because one of the filters will also get rid of fluoride from tap water. I have a ceramic water filter so I did consider seeing whether those filters would fit it rather than buying the whole thing. I decided to just use rain water though. I figure if we had to, you can strain stagnant water to get the worst muck out, boil it then filter. I even looked up how to make a filter in a survival situation.
Sounds like you did your homework well.
It comes from not wanting to spend money! Lol!
Here's my two bitcoin...You can spring for the whole tamale and spend$300 or just buy the filters on sale. sometimes you can find them 2 for $99, take a stainless sauce pot and make your own. same benefit but for way less! We spent the moolah and got the whole system and it does work great on our well water that has gobs of iron in it. We have to clean it more often but its easy enough!
TWO BITCOIN! I'm rich! ;) just kidding. I had no idea you can just use a pot. Isn't there some sort of gravity built into it too or is it just the filters doing their thing?
Gravity pulls the water through the filters. If you drink a lot of water, You would probably want at least 4 filters.
check out this--->
DIY Berkey filter
Wow $60! so clever with the buckets, thank you.
If I would have had more time
As you currently have a very reliable water supply, maybe hold off on the big Berkey system until you get your homestead as @Ravenruis suggests.
Instead maybe make a more modest investment in some sort of mini filter for emergencies, perpaps like this :
And also perhaps keep a few litres of bottled water in case of any short term water cut-offs.
Thank you. I think we will do the few litres of water right now. We are more interested in daily use items right now than things for an emergency that may never happen. We'll look into the filter though. With limited funds and space, we are focussing on items that will be 'daily-use' type things for now.
My opinion would be to say that it might be more prudent to hold off on the purchase until you get your homestead and see what the water is like. You might not need it at all, or so infrequently as to have the cons outweigh the pros on it overall.
Unless you suddenly did have a lot of trouble with your current water supply.
Also, while filtering out all the bad stuff you listed above, what does it do to the good stuff in the water? Does the filter discriminate? Keep in mind we can get 'too clean' and not let our bodies naturally develop resistance to small doses of the negatives, and we can be culling out the positives too. Water needs to be alive.
IMO :)
That's very valuable point that we had not thought off. Thank you very much for pointing that out. I absolutely agree that we can get too 'clean', we are by no means germaphobes, but we hadn't even considered that angle on the water.
Yes, yes, yes. It is worth it. From our testimony alone, we have probably gotten 4 or 5 other people to purchase them. They are amazing. Honestly, if there was only one physical object that I was able to take with me out of my home, it would probably be the Berkey.
When we lived in the city, I don't know how we would have done without it. The water there was so bad, and the Berkey made it drinkable.
The filters last a lot longer than they say they do, too. You can buy a Scotch-Brit sponge and scrub off the outside of the Black Berkey filter elements and have them run like new again. I have done this a few times with our current filters.
We are also very frugal and don't spend money flippantly, but if something destroyed our Berkey tomorrow morning, I would buy another one tomorrow afternoon.
Thank you for your input. It's interesting to see people's different take on it. If you had great water quality would you still get one?
I would just because I could also use it to filter rain water or pond water if the need arose. Also, if you have good water quality, it won't strain the filters, so they will last a LONG time. Water is just absolutely critical for the normal functioning of the human body. And nowadays, it is REALLY difficult to find "great quality water" in the US; even rural areas are contaminated with heavy metals and nitrates/nitrites (from fertilizers and pesticides). Even what falls in the rain is usually contaminated with industrial chemicals from factories. And there is no such thing as building up a resistance to such things.
Thank you. We are blessed with some of the world's best water, which is a giant blessing, but we'll keep your points in mind when making the final decision.
I have a mini or travel Berkey, I have it in my BOB. I also have a life straw. I love the Berkey far better. Just my opinion.
Thank you, I'll keep that in mind.