Berkey Light Water Filter Review

I purchased the Berkey Light water filter a few months ago.  When I made the purchase I also had the option of getting a free accessory.  I decided that the portable sport bottle would go well in my 72-hour kit (Bug out Bag).

Here are some of the stats on the Berkey Light filter:

  • Can process 6000 gallons of water
  • 2 1/2 gallon storage chamber
  • Filters 3.75 gallons of water per hour
  • Includes elevated base

Set up for the water filter is quite easy.  There are three main pieces: the upper chamber, lower chamber, and base.  All three simply snap together.  The spigot and filters are fitted with some washers and thumb nuts.  Setup is 5 minutes if you are taking it slow.

The first thing that you must do before filtering water is to prime the filters.  Berkey provides a rubber gasket that you can to prime the filter from any water tap.  My concern is that what if you are using an untrusted water source to prime your water?  In that instance you are going to have to toss out the first couple of gallons of water, then thoroughly clean the bottom chamber.  If you don’t have access to any pressurized water source then you can get your filter to 70% efficiency by soaking the filter nozzle side up in water for several hours.  If you use this method then make sure that the nozzle is above water.  The Berkey FAQ provides additional insight into how the filters work.

After setting up, priming and filtering a few gallons of water I decided a taste test was in order.  I got three glasses of water: 1 from the tap, 1 from the Berkey, and one from by refridgerator which has a Brita water filter installed.  After letting all three glasses come to room tempurature (so the cold water didn’t have an advantage) I did a rather informal blind taste test.

The Brita and Berkey filter water both tasted excellent.  The tap water was obvious.  I actually ended up picking the Brita water as my favorite in the test, but it was very close.  I’m sure that since I’ve been drinking the Brita water for so long that my taste buds were more attuned to that.  My conclusion though was that the Berkey water was just as good as any filtered water I’ve had.

At this point I would definitely recommend the Berkey Water filters.  The Berkey Light fit my budget, and had a good capacity.  Looking back however I would probably get one of the stainless steel models.  The main reason for this is that they look much nicer.  I had the Berkey Light in the kitchen for about a week when I first got it.  By the end of that time my wife wanted it gone because it was too ugly.

Originally posted at http://www.thelances.net/james/2009/08/berkey_light_water_filter_revi.html

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  • http://kentucky-preppers-network.blogspot.com/ matthiasj

    Looks great, thanks for the review neybar.

  • http://kentucky-preppers-network.blogspot.com matthiasj

    Looks great, thanks for the review neybar.

  • http://www.directive21.com/ theberkeyguy

    Thanks so much for this nice review about the berkey’s, it is great to see another independant review.

    Best wishes with your berkey,

    Jeff
    theberkeyguy
    http://www.directive21.com

  • http://www.directive21.com theberkeyguy

    Thanks so much for this nice review about the berkey’s, it is great to see another independant review.

    Best wishes with your berkey,

    Jeff
    theberkeyguy
    http://www.directive21.com

  • http://preparetosurviveincalifornia.blogspot.com/ William Lankes

    Awesome post. Living in CA, we can not have Berkey filters send here. So, I am going to do my own water test using ZeroWater. Thank you for the inspiration.

  • http://preparetosurviveincalifornia.blogspot.com William Lankes

    Awesome post. Living in CA, we can not have Berkey filters send here. So, I am going to do my own water test using ZeroWater. Thank you for the inspiration.

  • http://prepyourfamily.blogspot.com/ Jimmy

    I ordered their filters and made my own. Not as pretty as yours, but just as functional and only pennies on the dollar. This obviously does not sit out on my counter, I made a shelf for it in my utility room.

    Thought you might like to see an economical version.

    http://prepyourfamily.blogspot.com/2009/08/homemade-water-filter.html

  • http://prepyourfamily.blogspot.com Jimmy

    I ordered their filters and made my own. Not as pretty as yours, but just as functional and only pennies on the dollar. This obviously does not sit out on my counter, I made a shelf for it in my utility room.

    Thought you might like to see an economical version.

    http://prepyourfamily.blogspot.com/2009/08/homemade-water-filter.html

  • http://wretha.blogspot.com/ Wretha

    We absolutely LOVE our Berkey Light water filter, or more accurately, purifier. and I think it looks just find in the kitchen, we have ours on a shelf over the sink. It is essential for us, we get good water from a well, but we store it in a large tank, so for drinking purposes, we filter the water through the Berkey Light, it tastes great and we don’t have to worry about what might be growing in the tank. :)

    I suggest that when setting up a new Berkey Light and on occasion when using one, that you test it with Koolaid or food coloring just to make sure the filters are working and that you have it put together right. Our first set of filters had a faulty filter, it looked like it had been dropped before I ever received it. It worked fine for a month, then the water seemed to pour too quickly through that cartridge, I tested it with food color and sure enough, the color was coming through, the Berkey people replaced the cartridge with no questions asked.

  • http://wretha.blogspot.com Wretha

    We absolutely LOVE our Berkey Light water filter, or more accurately, purifier. and I think it looks just find in the kitchen, we have ours on a shelf over the sink. It is essential for us, we get good water from a well, but we store it in a large tank, so for drinking purposes, we filter the water through the Berkey Light, it tastes great and we don’t have to worry about what might be growing in the tank. :)

    I suggest that when setting up a new Berkey Light and on occasion when using one, that you test it with Koolaid or food coloring just to make sure the filters are working and that you have it put together right. Our first set of filters had a faulty filter, it looked like it had been dropped before I ever received it. It worked fine for a month, then the water seemed to pour too quickly through that cartridge, I tested it with food color and sure enough, the color was coming through, the Berkey people replaced the cartridge with no questions asked.

  • arrianna

    The Berkey Light is the most flexible and adaptable everpure water filter available providing reliable, user friendly, powerful yet economical water filtration and purification while enhancing the ambience of any environment.

  • http://www.pantryrack.net/ Pantry Rack

    .., the use of shelf in the kitchen is very advisable today since there are lots of people who have many stuffs in the kitchen… this will make an an organized environment…

  • Charlescmt

    Thanks for the real scientific review – NOT! No lab testing? No addressing the issue that this is a Chinese company posing as British Berkefeld?
    BUT, it tastes as good as the $5 filter…that is conclusive

  • Piedpiperstories

    Please do the red dye test to make sure your filters are working properly. There are many people on different preparedness sites who have defective filters. Berkey has a prorated warranty so if you do not discover the problem quickly you will be out more money.

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