Hello all, I'm in the hunt for a gravity fed water filtration system "THAT WORKS"

I'm sick and tired of having to purchase gallon jugs of water due to my city polluting
our drinking water with chemicals, such as fluoride and chlorine. So I guess I'm looking
for help from some of you that are currently running such filtration systems. Thank you
in advance.

I use the "big berkey" and have a couple of them (one for my house that has well water with lots of iron/sulfur and one for my detached garage where I capture rain water into a 55 gallon drum then run it through the Berkey to use for my coffee maker, drinking water, etc).  No complaints.  I run two of the filters and I think you can run up to six for faster filtration.  you can clean the filters (scrub with soap/water) and I Think they are good for 6K gallons

there are other similar solutions out there (fill the top section, filters into the bottom with a tap).

We have filters from justwater.me

They are ceramic with carbon inside. We are on well water, deep well.


We currently use 2 food grade buckets and 3 filters at a time in the top bucket. Makes lots of water, like NOW. All gravity. I have $100 worth of filters, and $10 worth of buckets and a spigot.

I have a Big Berkey.  2.5 gallon one.  After I got mine, my parents and my brother both have one now.  They are pretty nice.  I prefer the stainless one, but the plastic one lets you see the water level.  The stainless seems much more sturdy.

They come with a fluoride attachment that goes on, but I don't have that one on mine since I'm on a well.

Would recommend.  

I have a Big Berkey as well.  We are on well water right now, but when we were on city water I used the fluoride filters.

For the Berkey filters, you have to buy separate filters for this that attach to the BOTTOM of the top piece.  Word of warning, you are going to want to max out your number of filters if you use the fluoride add-on's.  They significantly slow the flow of the water.   When I first had mine setup that way I only had two filters and it made it VERY slow to filter.  

I would definitely recommend the Berkey filters.

i would get a r/o system

expy37 had a great post about them/even gravity fed

Upon doing some research, it looks like the
Berkey wins. Many thanks guys.

OP

I'm in the same boat.  Read about the Berkey "black filters" (the ones that Berkey says last for 6000 gallons a pair) and how they had an allegedly bad batch in 2011, which apparently either was a completely isolated incident, of was merely the cat escaping the bag.

I was 2 seconds away from pulling the trigger on one of the larger Berkeys and decided to read the negative reviews on Amazon.  The reports of the "black filters" failing are out there, and they do not seem to end in 2011. I started a membership on a survival website just to try to figure out if there has been any solid resolution of this issue since 2011 and so far I'm not comfortable that it has.   Plenty of white ceramic filters out there that fit the Berkey can (or the can that the Berkey is based on with a very similar name) that last 1/10 the volume but unfortunately cost more than 10% of the price of the Berkey.

It seems like there is room to question.

Katadyn ceradyn user here. Going on 6 years daily use. 10 liters at a go.
Have yet to clean them and not one issue .

Not as pretty as the berkey...but I trust the brand.

Sawyer water filters. The Best, period.

Having been to parts of the world where the water won't just make you sick.. but can kill you if it gets the chance, we used Berkey. We have one at home, and use it. 15 years or so now. I would trust it to filter cow piss.

Yes there is a much publicized past issue with a batch of filters. Nothing I have found on RECENT purchases has been an issue, and we never had an issue. People often buy stuff in batches, and don't necessarily use them promptly or in order. So I have no doubt someone out there is yet to discover bad filters, manufactured in the past. Many, if not all, candle style filters will fit just about any housing or chamber made. So you aren't locked into one or the other.

Had a couple of the bad Big Berkey filters from 2011. They sent replacements and I've had no issues since. I run two in our Crown size tank and it keeps up with our consumption rate. I put a couple 1 oz. silver rounds in the bottom tank and the H2O stays nice and fresh.

Why the silver rounds?  Please explain. Sincerely curious. What does that do for you?

Oh and OP-we too have the Big Berkey in our house.  Stainless Steel version.  Imperial size with 4 elements I believe.   We have 4 total in our family and I wouldn't want anything smaller.   We use the fire out of it.  I'm all for good, clean water to drink.

More info on your rooftop water system please.  You have the shingles with the "grit"?  How do you initially filter the water from the rooftop into your barrel?  Thanks.

Big Berkey used daily with 2016 black filters and fluoride filters added on just for the fun of it.  I'm not really a fluoride conspiracy guy but the wife liked the idea of the add on white filters.

I can tell you without any doubt that the big berkey is the absolute best water purification system I have ever used in my life.  Our coffee pots stay cleaner, tea tastes better, water quality and taste is incredible.  I am one seriously satisfied customer.

I got the Berkey shower filter as well.  I think it is a rebranded filter of some sort, but it rocks as well.  Our city water sucks and I kept getting dried out skin on my elbows and hands.  The Berkey shower filter seems to have cleared things up somehow.  

I'm not a salesman for Berkey products.  I am simply a very very happy customer as I said.

Ancient secret: silver is antimicrobial.



Ever hear of "born with a silver spoon in their mouth"? Why was actual silver used for eating utensils? Helped keep you from getting sick. Silver is STILL used in hospital settings for its antimicrobial properties.



People traveling used to put silver dollars in their water buckets to keep them fresh. Sterilizes any microbial things (virus, bacteria..)



I use .9999 pure silver wire in our water bucket.



 

Thank you.  Where would a guy get said silver wire cheaply?

I got mine here.

 

I called, the silver is mined/refined in the USA, or at least that is what he said at the time.

Two Doulton ceramic Candle Filters from Amazon, two buckets, one spigot.
" />
It isn't beautiful, unless you think that 5-10 gallons of pure drinking water per day is beauty.
" />

We have been using this one since late last year.  I figure that we have 900-1100 gallons through it so far and no sign of it slowing down.  when it does slow down, I will scrub the filters with scotchbrite and keep on going.

Is that stand DIY, or did you pick it up somewhere?

 

I made it out of 1/4"X2" bar stock.  rolled it and made the scroll legs.  Ice trays, coffee pots, Yetti drink cups, etc will fit nicely under it. I should have made the legs more utilitarian than stylish.  they stick out more than I like. Anything past the radius touching the counter is wasted space.

Shit that's a helluva lot cheaper than the fancy ass Berkey stainless steel jobs.  

I put a tap into my gutter with a filter cloth/thing in it.  PVC goes through wall with shut off valve on it.  Goes into 55 gallon drum.  From there into Berkey, no grit

My two 275 gallon totes with "first water flush" system.

This is the best way to filter a bunch of water. The only thing that I did different is used activated charcoal, which I got a few lbs off of amazon pretty cheap. I might need to look into those ceramic filters though.

Just bought a Imperial Berkey off Amazon.  Look for "used" ones (usually NIB but the box may be damaged or not pristine) with two Black Berkey filters for $230.  Mine looks fine and it nests perfect.
I was hoping that I could store it in a plastic 5 gallon bucket but it's too big; I'll have to find a 7 gallon bucket.  Bought it for emergency preps.  

I think the Royal Berkey could fit inside a 5 gallon bucket and store well, as well as the Big Berkey.
Also look at Aqua Rain; similar nesting containers and a similar one I bought years ago (HealthSmart) used two Super Sterasyl Doulton 7" ceramic filters. Then I picked up four 9" candles for spares or run full capacity.

And this is another option for your containers: http://www.ebay.com/itm/121698552097?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT    
then just buy the filters you need.
I have been looking for economical nesting containers that I could make my own (i.e. travel version) or give as a gift.  
I think at one time ProPure was selling the stainless containers, but I haven't ran across that item again.

Berkey is real proud of their stainless containers.
What is the best price that anyone has found on the Black Berkey filters and where?
I want to pick up some spares (and a 55-250 gallon cone bottom drum for decanting dirty water{pre-filtering})

After looking some more, I'm thinking that the Super sterasyl filters manufactured by British Berkefeld look pretty good.  I haven't found any reported issues like what people were saying about the black Berkeys.  Plus they are user serviceable for a period.

I recently ordered Saywer filters and had a couple Q/C issues. A box of 4 mini's came with only 3, and a point zero two bucket filter was totally blocked, you couldn't blow air through it. Also, the price of the bucket filter dropped recently on Amazon, from 114 to 89. The daily deal price was 82.