Does the Big Berkey Water Filter REALLY work? I take out my microscope and find out - review and giveaway!

Pin It

Ain’t it pretty? Big Berkey sent me their Travel Berkey to review for you (and one to give away!).

Although we live in the country and have delicious well water, I still will find opportunities to use my Berkey. Apart from the convenience for my four-year-old to re-fill his glass at a height he can reach, this will be perfect for when we go camping or spend time away from home where the source of water isn’t acceptable. Although it’s fun to think we can just drink water from a running brook and be safe, you just don’t know what the source is - do you?

Dan DeBaun, the owner of Big Berkey, shared some of the Environmental Working Group’s findings in his article Filtered Tap Water, It’s Not Just About Taste.

Even top ranked Arlington, TX had 15 different pollutants present in drinking water and exceeded health targets for 4 during the monitoring period. Lowest performing Pensacola, FL reported the presence of 45 pollutants and exceeded health guidelines for 21 of them.

I went on to read that there are “acceptable levels” of 91 chemicals that could be in your water. Acceptable? If you have the stomach for it, you can read the full report here: Filtered Tap Water, It’s Not Just About Taste.

Clearly, making sure your water is safe for you and your children to consume should be a priority. If it’s good enough for the Queen of England, it’s good enough for me :)

Why Berkey? Easy to set up, friendly company, and proven high performance..

You don’t need to hire a plumber to install a water filtration system. If you can read, you can set this up yourself in just a few minutes - just like I did :)

I have heard so many good things about Berkey, and the wonderful customer service Dan provides through BigBerkeyWaterFilters.com.

Berkey uses a gravity water filter which is why it’s so easy to use. On this comparison chart, you can see Berkey is the only gravity water filter system listed that also removes viruses. I am really impressed that Berkey has the only filter that can be officially called a Purifier. In order to get this status, the element must be able to remove or inactivate all types of pathogens.

Specifically, element must remove two species of virus to 4 Log10 (=> 99.99%) and remove pathogenic bacteria to 6 Log10 (=> 99.9999%) and remove cysts to 3 Log10 (=> 99.9%). This makes Berkey systems the only true gravity fed purification systems.

As you can read here, Berkey elements exceed results in their latest lab tests.

When scanning the comparison chart I am also seeing that Berkey:

  • has a much higher output of gallons a day - 84 vs 24 or less
  • can provide water for more people - 168 vs 24 or less
  • elements filter more gallons - 3,000 vs. 1,500 or less
  • have no replacement time limitation
  • are affordable
  • have the least cost per gallon - 1.8 cents vs up to 7.6 cents
  • passes the food coloring test - only one other filter passed

I love that my Berkey chamber is made of stainless steel and not plastic. It is difficult to find water purifiers which have a storage basin that isn’t plastic. Even an expensive reverse osmosis system I had stored the filtered water in plastic.

And it doesn’t remove minerals?

I was astounded to learn Berkey can remove microscopic pathogens, and yet allows minerals to stay in the water where they belong. The Black Berkey Elements don’t just go by particle size like other filters. According to Dan of Big Berkey, “the media chosen as part of the filter make-up will result in what is removed, and the Black Berkey’s don’t use any filtration media that absorbs minerals.”

To verify this, I pulled out my microscope and checked for myself. Sure enough, I did find minerals in the resulting filtered water.

Here is a capture of the water (using this camera on my ‘scope) before filtering (click for full-size image). I was able to view a clump of minerals in this bubble:

And I was able to spot minerals in several areas of the test slide after it was filtered. One capture is shown below:

I am relieved to know my minerals are still present!

Does Berkey really filter bacteria? Let’s look under the ‘scope…

I mentioned already how effective the Berkey is in removing pathogens, viruses, and bacteria. I thought I’d test some sauerkraut brine, kefir water, and beet kvass and see if any of the bacteria and yeasts made it through.

Here is the sauerkraut brine (see the LABs?) before adding some to the water in the canister (click to view larger image):

Here is the pre-filtered sample diluted in the water in the upper chamber (click to view larger image):

Here is a sample of the water after it came out of the filter (click to view larger image):

Here is the beet kvass before adding some to the water in the canister (click to view larger image):

Here is the pre-filtered sample diluted in the water in the upper chamber (click to view larger image):

Here is a sample of the water after it came out of the filter (click to view larger image):

Here is the water kefir (see the gut-healing yeasts?) before adding some to the water in the canister (click to view larger image):

Here is the pre-filtered sample diluted in the water in the upper chamber (click to view larger image):

Here is a sample of the water after it came out of the filter (click to view larger image):

As you can see, the filter is effective at removing the bacteria, as advertized :)

Travel Berkey - close up

Here are some photos of the Travel Berkey on my counter. The lid is easy to lift off and fill.

Here it is full of water.

Here is another view.

Now the water has almost finished filtering.

This is the lower chamber that holds the filtered water.

Couldn’t resist adding a photo of the (diluted) beet kvass as it was filtering.

The Travel Berkey is perfect for 1-3 people and stores 1.5 gallons. It stands 18″ tall and is 7.5″ in diameter. It’s a wonderful counter size, and perfect for toting along on family camping trips. When empty, you can nest the upper chamber inside the lower chamber and it’s only 12″ high.

What size Berkey is best for YOU?


(click for full size image)

There is a handy chart here where you can compare Berkey Filter Systems to see which is best for you. You can also select and compare details of each system side by side.

Big Berkey also offers a shower filter so you aren’t showering in contaminated city water, absorbing the toxins through your skin, as well as a Sport Berkey that you can put in your purse.

Buy Berkey

My Berkey came from Big Berkey Water Filers - I highly recommend them.

Win Berkey

Dan at Big Berkey agreed to give one of my readers a Travel Berkey! US and Canada only, please. Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter the giveaway…

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Similar Posts:

Want to learn more about herbs?

proud contributor
Lea Harris founded Nourishing Treasures in 2006. A mom passionate about her family's health and well-being, Lea believes education is power. Encouraging others to take baby steps in the right direction of health for their families, Lea's goal is to raise awareness of what goes into our mouths and on our bodies, providing natural alternative information that promotes health and prevents disease by using traditional foods and nature's medicine.

Lea is a Certified Health Coach graduate from Beyond Organic University, and a Certified Aromatherapist graduate from Aromahead Institute.

"Like" Nourishing Treasures on Facebook, join the Nourishing Treasures Group on Facebook, follow @NourishTreasure on Twitter, and subscribe to our newsletter.

You can also find me on Learning About Essential Oils forum, and Fido Fermentation Facebook group.

Disclaimer: I use affiliate links wherever possible. So if you click on a link, and make a purchase, I might make a small commission, but it doesn't cost you any more.

Comment with Facebook

comments

Comments

Does the Big Berkey Water Filter REALLY work? I take out my microscope and find out - review and giveaway! — 185 Comments

  5. I am not sure as to where to leave the Comment for the Big Berkeley .. I would Love to have one of these. I live in the City of St Louis Mo I am really trying to get my husband and I into a good, healthy way of living. We have not taken care of ourselves for a long time and I believe it is never to late to start. He will be retiring next year and I want to have all the quality time we can together. I live in pain and if I can start to manage that through clean eating and living then it will be a happy retired life together for a very long time … His Father is 92 so there is Longevity in his family and I am 15 years younger than my husband so we still have quit a lot of time to get healthy .. Thank you Karen

  11. We live in a home where we cannot drink our well water. In fact most of our community can’t. Due to high levels of nitrates. I was told the nitrates are from agricultural crop run off contaminating the water supply. Even local gas stations along the interstate have signs posted for travelers NOT to use the water because its not safe. It is a crazy way to live. We haul in a minimum of 14 gallons of water per week for our family of four. I would be interested to know how this would work for our situation. Having this would be a huge blessing on so many levels.

  22. I’m definitely concerned with how well my current water filter is getting rid of bad stuff … I’d like to win so that I can be confident in the water I drink wherever I go!

  25. My local water is pretty nasty. And to top it off, I have IBD so it REALLY hurts my tummy to drink it - Brita doesn’t help much since it doesn’t filter any fluoride. I have to keep lugging environmentally-unfriendly, chemical-laden water gallons home or else my leaky gut will never have a chance to heal.

  27. My family and I love camping and this would be a great gear addition for our adventures while giving us peace of mind that we are giving our children safe drinking water. I’ve been looking into a Big Berkey for counter top use in the kitchen as well. :-)

  28. I’d love to try a Berkey for our well water. For a couple years we were using a PUR filter pitcher - until I woke up an noticed on the filter box that it “adds beneficial fluoride.” ACK

  29. I want to win the Berkey to give it away! We already own one, and it works great. We love the water after it goes through the Berkey. But I do have friends and family that could use one, so I’d give it away. Thanks for the giveaway

    • It does filter chlorine and fluoride. The black elements that comes with it handles the chlorine. If you want it to filter fluoride, you need to place their PF-2 Fluoride and Arsenic Filters in the lower chamber.

      “Installed in the lower chamber of the Berkey Water Filter, a set of PF-2 arsenic and fluoride water filters are designed for use in conjunction with 2 Black Berkey water purification elements ONLY to adsorb the following unwanted elements found in drinking water:

      - Fluoride
      - Arsenic V and pre-oxidized Arsenic III
      - Other residual heavy metal ions”

  33. I would absolutely love to win this! We have to buy our water from the store (12 gallons at a time) because our tap water is so awful! I really appreciate the slides!

  41. We’ve been needing a water filter for our home- I would love to win this! Most of the ones we’ve looked in to are plastic, I love that this one is stainless steel, and comes in so many sizes!

  44. We NEED one of these! Just moving across county and living in an apartment doesn’t allow us to have any kind of water filtering system (besides brita)…hope to win!! THanks so much for hosting!!

  57. Our city water is horrible. Every couple years there’s a boil water advisory, not to mention the chlorine and fluoride added to our water. Sometimes the water smells like a swimming pool.

  64. I looked into Berkey filters years ago and have always wanted a filter that works so well. But even these seem to expensive. I wish our town water would stop adding fluoride and chlorine. I never asked to be the water filter.

  73. My friends have a Berkey and it”s great but right now I can’t afford one. I’d love to win one so I can stop buying bottled water. Our tap water isn’t very good.

  75. Great review as always. Now Im curious how the Berkey rates against my AquaSana?? I do like, as you pointed out, how the Berkey is stainless, my Aquasana is plastic. :(

  76. I love your review and testing all the different brines. I have always wanted a Berkey but sadly it will never be in our budget. I really would like to win!

  82. I would so LOVE to win a new Travel Berkey water filter!!! My husband and I currently use a Brita water pitcher, but it is not strong enough to filter out all the contaminants in our local water system. My husband suffers from Crohn’s and MS, and I have IBS. Its really important to us to upgrade to a product that can provide clean, safe and drinkable water. Thanks for the opportunity to potentially win a new Travel Berkey!

  91. I have been wanting to buy a Berkeley for a while, but held off because I had read a review that said it really couldn’t do the job. I was glad to read your positive review; you really do your homework.

  94. I would love to win this. I’ve been wanting one for quite a while, and research tells me there is not a better water filter out there. pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease…..

  95. I would love to have a travel Berkey. I have a Big Berkey I use it daily to filter out all the junk our city puts in and have the fluoride filter too. I would love to have the smaller version to take with me when I leave town.
    Bye the way …great review!

  97. We have two under 2yo and would love to win one so they have a better option than our chemical-laden city water. We love traveling and being outdoors, too, so it would be perfect!

  102. I would love to win this travel size Berkey because I have a lot of digestive issues and need good filtered water. I’ve heard and see from your review that Berkey is the BEST! Thank you so much for a chance to win one!!! :-)

  103. For many years we have wanted a Berkey when traveling. We have well water at home, but always are concerned about being away from home. I would love to be the winner of this travel Berkey! Thank you!

  107. I went to Africa last year and the Berkey was used to filter the water for all the missionaries. It is awesome and I never worried about the water I was drinking. I would love to win one!

  112. I want to win because I have three kids who need a good, clean water source when we camp and are away from home. We are involved in scouting, and it always worries me when the troop is filling up their bottles from the tap at the campsite after their home water runs out. Would love to have a Berkey with us so we know we are drinking safe :)

  118. Thanks for this - I really appreciate the micro-pics! We have used a brita and right now our fridge is equiped with a filter but I know nothing about what it does and doesn’t filter.

  119. Would love one of these cause we live in an old house and I’m sure the pipes are pretty old and don’t think the water safe to use! And our brita filter just brook!!

  120. i truly believe we are in for hard times and the things we take for granted now will not be available so finding a way to filter our drinking water is a must!

  126. Thank you so much for the review. I have often wondered if Berkeys really work, and I love that you used a microscope to check the results in a scientific manner. Nice job!

  127. It would be awesome to win travel size Berkeys. That would decrease the bottled water purchase when I’m visiting my in-law’s cottage in Michigan.

  130. I would love to win because I HATE all the stuff in the water…and really resent the added fluoride. Love your demonstrations of the filtering system!

  131. I have been eyeing these filters for a while. We have so many chemical sensitivities in my family. I buy bottled water but am not thrilled about the plastic it comes in. I would love to know the water my family is drinking is REALLY clean.

  135. I’d love to win this Berkey Water Filter because I just learned the current filter system I am using will no longer make the filters for it anymore and the Berkey sounds like it does an even better job anyway!

  136. My daughter camps often. I would love to win this for her to purify her water outdoors. It would also be great for our drinking water here in the house.

  137. I’d LOVE to win the Berkey Water Filter! I have been looking at them for a long time and have just been waiting until I could save money for such an essential purchase. We had a tornado this year, lost water and power, and confirmed for me how important it is to prepare for my family.

  138. In my quest to get my family healthy i’ve read about the dirty water we drink and the toxic chemicals in it. I’m trying to “heal” us and would love the opportunity to try out the travel size Berkley. It would be the perfect tool to convince my husband about needing to filter our water. I believe the flouride and other chemicals in our drinking water is what is making my family sick.

  141. I didn’t see my reply, so I will do so again. A Berkey water filter has been on my wish list for some time. The results and positive feedback are Amazing!

  144. I would love a Berkley!!! I have been so confused about water filtration and what to do about it. Right now I am just using a Brita filter…I would love to hear your take on how effective these are? I really love your blog and respect what you are doing here:)

  145. I want to win the berkey water filter because the water that comes out of my tap has such an awful chlorine smell and taste that I cannot drink it, it literally smells like a swimming pool and other filters that I have tried do not remove all of it.

  147. This is the first I’ve heard of the Berkey. After reading the information I would really like to get one of these to filter our water. Our well water has high amounts of iron and who knows what else in it. Thanks for doing the giveaway.

  150. It’s not even funny how much my family needs this. We lube in a town called Brookshire, and the planes fly over our house dumping the chemicals for the fields, and it all runs into our drinking supply. I have a 3 year old and a18 month, and it just kills me to think the Brita filter isn’t removing what I know is in this water. I would just love to win this,I hope I do.

  151. This is the one step we HAVEN’T taken in our journey to better health, and I know its one of the most important….every time we think about it…lack of funds seems to hold us back. Hope I win! Thanks!

  152. This is truly amazing! I love all the research and “microscopic” work you did, thank you! I would love to win this, thanks to you and Dan at Big Berkley!

  154. I REALLY want to win this!!!! We have a family of 6 (4 kids) and we live in town and have city water. I would love to have a Berkey so we can feed our kids good, clean water with the minerals still intact!

  156. This looks amazing! I have one of the small plastic water filters- your comment on the difficulty of finding ones that aren’t made of plastic just made me realize that I don’t know if it’s BPA free! I would love this, as it’s something I’ll never be able to get myself (I’m a high school music student-no time for work, and I don’t want to make my parents buy it ahaha)

  157. I’ve been wanting one of these for ages! I’m trying to get all the chemicals out of my life in order to boost my immune system so I can get off of some medication. This would be a HUGE help! It’s so hard to prioritize what is important for me to heal, and the Berkey keeps getting pushed back due to the cost. I would love one.

  159. I would love to win this Berkey! I have been wanting one of these for a long time now…but haven’t had the money to purchase one. I have been wanting one of these because we rent a house right now and I want something I can take with me when we move. Thank you so much for this giveaway!

  162. Very impressive testing.
    I want to win a Berkey because I need one to heal my gut. Been suffering from GI troubles for over 2 years. It’s been confirmed through hydrogen breath testing that I have bacterial overgrowth but doctors only treat the symptoms not the cause.

  164. Since the upper chamber just rests upon the lower chamber, it seems there is always a risk that when you fill the upper chamber, it might not be able to drain completely into the lower chamber and then water would leak out the space between. Given that you can’t easily see into the lower chamber to see how full it is, it seems like this would be a serious issue.

    What is your usage pattern with the Travel Berkey? How do you know when it is time to refill the upper chamber? Have you had any problems with overfilling/leaking or is the seal tight enough that you can just fill up the upper chamber without worrying?

  165. I started learning about Berkey a couple of years ago, and I really want to get one as soon as we are able. Currently drinking straight out of the tap bothers me, but do not have much choice right now. Would be blessed to win one!

  166. I want to win because I can’t afford a water filtration system. I am stuck using tap water. Thank you for the opportunity to win. Good luck to everyone.

  167. I would love to win a Berkey because I want to drink water that is absolutely pure! Water filtered by Berkey tastes like no other water out there!!!

  169. I am trying to do away with all of the plastics in my house, and of course our water filter is made of plastic. This would be one step further for me in my journey!

  174. This is on my wish list. I live in an area with horrible tasting hard water, the filter on my fridge takes some of the bad taste out but I still would rather be drinking Berkey water.

  175. I’ve been wanting a Berkey for a while now but haven’t been able to get one. This would be awesome to have to clean questionable water (especially when we’re camping!)

Leave a Reply