Berkey Filters: What to Know Before You Buy

Berkey water filters are growing in popularity and for good reason. (Have you checked out what’s in the water in your zipcode?!?) As a mom who invested in a Berkey water filter system for my family 4 years ago, I wrote this Berkey Review to tell you what you need to know before you buy a Berkey and help you decide if a Berkey is worth it for you.

We may earn a commission for qualifying purchases.

Berkey Water Purifier

Berkey is the world leader in Water Purification Systems, Bundles, and Accessories. Berkey takes out the bad stuff and leaves the good stuff for your drinking water, cooking water, and shower water.

Shop Berkey Filters

Should You Get a Berkey?

Not sure a Berkey is right for you?

Here’s some honest information and experience from our 4+ years of using a Berkey water purification system.

Is a Berkey Water Purifier Worth It?

Berkeys are an investment, but every health-conscious person I know who has one has come to the same conclusion: Berkeys are worth it.

When our family was having a lot of health struggles, I realized the toxins in our life were a major contributor. Cleaning Up Our Water is one of the seven lifestyle changes that helped our children have fewer mysterious rashes, chronic eczema, inflammation, and digestive issues.

For many years I had used fridge water filters, but when I discovered how Berkey water purifiers perform so much better than water filters (by removing so much more gunk), I knew it was the best choice for my family. Berkey black filters remove over 200 contaminants! 🤯

Check The Water Quality In Your Area

Berkey has a cool water quality search tool where you type in your zip code and it gives you a report about which contaminants are in your local water.

Here’s the unfortunate truth about the water in our town:

And here are the details about which contaminants exceed EWG’s (Environmental Working Group’s) health guidelines for safe water. 🤢

Thankfully, the Berkey Black Filters remove nearly all of these toxins and the Berkey Fluoride Filters remove the neurotoxin fluoride.

Check Your Local Water Quality

Check your water quality to see if a Berkey would help rid your water of toxins and put you on the path to better health.

Are Berkeys Just For Drinking Water?

No way! You can use a Berkey System for any of your water. We purify water from our Berkey for:

Drinking Water
Coffee + Tea
Boiling Water for Cooking
Baking
Watering House Plants
Pet’s Drinking Water
Neti Pot
Essential Oil Diffusers (when I don’t have distilled water)
We also have the Berkey Shower Filters in our showers!

How Often Do Black Filters Need to Be Changed?

Each Black Filter has a lifespan of 3,000 gallons of water, so the bigger filter systems that use two black filters have a lifespan of 6,000 gallons of water.

For example, we have the Royal Berkey, which has two black filters in it. The Royal holds 3.25 gallons of water, and we typically fill it once per day.

3.25 gallons x 365 days per year = 1186 gallons per year

6,000 gallons per filter / 1186 gallons per year = 5 years

So the black filters in our Royal should only need to be replaced every five years. This is possible because the Black Berkey Filters have the unique ability to be cleaned up to 100 times using a 3M Scotch-Brite pad.

3 More Things to Know Before You Buy a Berkey

Have counter space in mind! The website is great about telling you the exact measurement of each filter size, so make sure you have a space in mind that will work to store it. We have our Royal Berkey next to the sink where there are no overhead cupboards. If you don’t have any counter space without overhead cabinets, get creative with a small console table or kitchen island to place your Berkey instead.

Get big enough! It can be tempting to save money and go for the smaller size, but if you’re anything like us, you might go through more water in a day than you think. We opted for the Royal Berkey (3.25 gallons) for our family of four. We typically fill it once per day, but sometimes when we make homemade bone broth, we need to fill it twice. If you have a bigger family, definitely consider sizing up rather than down.

Consider a Stand! We got this stainless steel stand that lifts the Berkey off the counter high enough that a pot and short glasses can sit underneath. This not only allows you to have a free hand (hello, mamas with a baby in one arm) but also makes it easier for kids to fill up glasses of fresh water by themselves.

Peace of mind. Once you learn about all the harmful things in your water, it’s hard to look at a glass of tap water the same. Giving yourself, your kids, your pets, and your family cleaner water is one thing you can invest in this year that will bring more peace of mind for years to come.

Shop Berkey Filters