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Survival and Preparations Long and short term survival and 'prepping'. |
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Berkey Filter? Would Someone mind please recommending a good water filtration unit?
Hello Calguns,
I recently purchased online a Travel Berkey Filter with the 4 black filter units and stainless steel spigot etc (https://www.berkeyfilters.com/products/travel-berkey). Supposedly they are the top or one of the top in the business. However, I've seen threads where one or more person/s may have questioned Berkey's effectiveness. Now I am having my doubt/s. Did I get ripped off? If you could choose only one water filter for daily safe/reliable water usage, and also for long term reliable emergency preparedness, which water filtration unit would you choose? I would like a unit that can reliably filter out bacteria, viruses, heavy metals, chemicals, etc. Threads Where One or More Persons may have questioned Berkey's filtration: https://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/...ghlight=berkey https://www.survivalistboards.com/th...#post-14772457 Youtube Videos: Berkey PPM test, unimpressive result/s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2ckxAd6H1M Berkey Filter positive for coliform bacteria: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGWAB4y6S60 TLDR: I ordered Berkey Filter with black filters, and now questioning the reliability of Berkey etc. Could Calguns please let me know if Berkey is good, or if not, could you please recommend a good long term reliable and safe water filter? Thank you!!!
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Acts 2:38 Last edited by MasterrEugene; 02-06-2021 at 1:02 PM.. |
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We've used Berkey black filters for years on well water. Water tastes/smells totally neutral.
We take it camping too. The filters are easy to clean and last a long time. Money well spent. We use the Berkey lite and only keep 1 filter in it.
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"Find out just what the people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress." -- Frederick Douglass -- “I didn’t know I was a slave until I found out I couldn’t do the things I wanted.” – Frederick Douglass -- |
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Hi, thanks for the response. Are all berkey filters the same and all are compatible with black filter (except sports bottle), and the only difference is size or stainless vs lite/plastic or so?
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Acts 2:38 |
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Berkey sends up all sorts of red flags. Look for truely independent testing and certification of their filters....you won't find much. It seems their biggest fans are folks that bought one of their systems and feel compelled to like it after laying out the big bucks.
If your normal water supply is a domestic system pretty much anywhere is CA, water out of the tap is fine....assuming you don't have messed up piping on your side of the meter. For emergency use, I'd go with something like First Need, which are available sometimes at Costco. After pumping through the First Need, you can back up the filtration with MiOx, mixed oxident, or a tiny splash of chlorine. Katadyn is another reputable filter, usually more expensive than First Need. Back it up with MiOx or Chlorine as well. If you have a big group, check into the filter systems river rafting outfitters use. You can find them at Partner Steel up in Idahoe. Rafting outfitters have a huge interest in their customers not getting sick and they know clean water is key...you will not find a reputable outfitter using a Berkey....you will find many using Partner Steel built systems. Berkey might make sense for taste issues, but I would not use them for bioligical or chemical safety. And make sure you maintain the Berkey regularly and fully as such a vessel can harbor things you don't want in your water.
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Benefactor Life Member, National Rifle Association Life Member, California Rifle and Pistol Association Last edited by Jeepergeo; 02-06-2021 at 1:34 PM.. |
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Likely the most expensive portable unit, but look at the MSR Gaurdian Purifier. Yes, purifier
https://www.msrgear.com/water-treatm...ier/02370.html
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All things being equal... |
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There's lots of data and science behind these filters. Quote:
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Keep doing your research and make your best WAG.
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"Find out just what the people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress." -- Frederick Douglass -- “I didn’t know I was a slave until I found out I couldn’t do the things I wanted.” – Frederick Douglass -- Last edited by FeuerFrei; 02-06-2021 at 2:53 PM.. |
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Well, there is a lot of info on the web about effective filtering. I would go there and read some..
Here are the ingredients you need to make a very very good filter, better than store bought in most cases. 0. Filter material, Paper filters or coffee filters. Coffee filters work fine. 1. Activated Charcoal - Amazon sells it for fish tank filters and other uses. Frequently comes in 5 pound containers of small pellet form. 2. Diatomaceous Earth - Amazon, or you can go to a swimming pool supply store and buy it a little cheaper. Amazon says you can use it for killing ants, that's not because its poison, it's because the ants get caught up in the fine powder and die. Of dehydration I believe. 3. Sanitized sand - Home depot. This is sand for children's play boxes. Its very fine and clean. You can boil it or mix it with a water/clorox bleach (only a few drops of clorox or chlorine per gallon). Then rinse the sand with clean water, if you are worried about it being clean. 4. This is a pre-filtration layer of larger sand particles, or some other screener that removes larger particles. What are the materials for--------- Coffee filters are used to separate the filtration layers. Activated charcoal is used to absorb unwanted chemicals from the water. Look that up. Diatomaceous Earth is an extremely effective filter for contaminants down to 2-5 microns! Which is finer than bacteria. Sand is used to remove larger particles. The pre-filter layer is there to remove visible contaminants. Construction--------------------- The simplest filter construction is using disposable water bottles. Use thicker high end water bottles. Cut the bottoms off the bottles. The top bottle will be a coffee filter (CF) at the cap end, covered with fine sanitized sand. The next bottle would be a coffee filter (CF) with Activated Charcoal (AC) on top. The next filter down will be a CF, covered with Diatomaceous Earth (DE), and maybe a pre-wet CF on top. With the caps off, nest the DE filter inside the AC filter and tape them in place. Leave plenty of space between the bottle and the filter media for water to flow. The water won't touch the tape if you are careful not to over fill the filter. Now, do the same with the fine sand filter. So, you have bottles nested inside each other. Water poured in the top bottle will trickle to through the filter media to the next bottle, and the next, until it finally drips out of the bottom bottle into a catch bottle. This water will be extremely clean. If you are still concerned about the water you can boil it or add 2-3 drops of chlorine per gallon. Lots of people who make this type of filter use PVC pipe and fittings so they can unscrew sections and replace the filter media. Finally, you can do a search for "DIY water filtration" but most of the suggestions do not use Diatomaceous Earth, probably because they are not aware of the material and its amazing filtration capability. A home made filtration system similar to what I've described will filter a LOT of water before you will need to replace filter media, but you may need to experiment to get it working exactly the way you want. DE -> https://www.waterworld.com/drinking-...omaceous-earth Survivalist Boards DE -> https://www.survivalistboards.com/th...-filter.69159/
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C'mon man, shouldn't we ban Democracks from Cal-Guns? Or at least send them to re-education camps. |
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Here is the article I was looking for...
https://www.hunker.com/13408571/home...omaceous-earth I do it a little differently, but close.
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C'mon man, shouldn't we ban Democracks from Cal-Guns? Or at least send them to re-education camps. |
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What is the filtering order, Sand-AC-DE Thank you for this information. ETA. I re-read your writeup. All clear now. Thanks!
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I have a reverse osmosis filter and I can test (not taste) the water by measuring total dissolved solids and what is in those total dissolved solids before and after.
I recently bought a berkey and to my surprise the reading from the tap and after the filter is exactly the same 80ppm. Then I ran reverse osmosis water thru the berkey and the TDS was higher after the filter. From 5ppm to 80ppm. I'm in the process of understanding the reason behind my findings by talking to a chemist this week and showing her my test results. I bought the berkey filter because I have a 500gal fish tank with bluegill, and it is a bit short of 10 months worth of water for my fam, in case I ever need. So a gravity filter sounded good but no one was able to answer my questions without citing their own website published results. It's kind of a leap of faith, and I'm not a faith guy. I need proof, specially for water purification. So, im figuring how to rig a water pump to a bike in order to create enough pressure to run the water thru my reverse osmosis filter as I HAVE NO PROOF yet that berkey is indeed adequate for the job. I will keep you posted. I know a bit about a water, I've been keeping freshwater fish, plants and invertebrates for about 20years. Sent from my LM-K500 using Tapatalk Last edited by Bionerd; 02-10-2021 at 5:47 PM.. |
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Unfortunately, I didn't see anywhere on description on Amazon that noted it removes heavy metals or chemicals. Do you know if MSR offers any products that filters out bacteria, viruses, heavy mentals, and chemicals? The unit also has a proposition 65 warning, unfortunately :/ https://www.amazon.com/MSR-Military-...s%2C243&sr=8-2 ----------------------------- Do you think this one might be a good backup unit for bugging in scenario? https://www.msrgear.com/water-treatm...ter/13237.html
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Acts 2:38 |
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Thank you everyone for your inputs. I have dropped off the Berkey unit etc at Fedex for return/refund. Perhaps in the future, I may decide on buying a Berkey Gravity Filter but for now might try to see what else is on the market or so.
I've recently purchased the Survivor Pro and Survivor Straw water filters. Apparently they can filter out heavy metals, chemicals, viruses, bacteria, which is what I am looking for. Right now, filters I own (May not be a complete list): at least 2x sawyer mini filters, Berkey Sport Bottle Filter, Survivor pro, Survivor straw. I may end up buying a gravity filter and also a distiller. The idea is to have reliable ways to filter out water for maybe a bug in scenario. If someone knows a good, reliable, long term gravity filter that reliably removes chemicals, bacteria, viruses, and heavy metals, please let me know! *UPDATE 2/13/2021, 10:07PM: Not too long ago I put in an order today for the Propur Scout II. (I guess they renamed themselves to ProOne, but anywho, I put an order in for Propur/ProOne Scout II). https://www.amazon.com/Survivor-Filt...dDbGljaz10cnVl https://www.amazon.com/Survivor-Filt...0LA97I8M&psc=1
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Acts 2:38 Last edited by MasterrEugene; 02-13-2021 at 9:07 PM.. |
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Acts 2:38 |
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You did note that this is better than store bought in most cases, do you know of any filter for sale to the public that comes close to this?
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Acts 2:38 |
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Sent from my LM-K500 using Tapatalk |
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Get OCD
Develop OCD Every time you are out dining and see the soda machine, take a look to see if you can find what filters they use.... A lot of coke and Pepsi dispensers in Los Angeles use everpure filters.
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Rule 1- ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED Rule 2 -NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT PREPARED TO DESTROY (including your hands and legs) Rule 3 -KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET Rule 4 -BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET AND WHAT IS BEYOND IT (thanks to Jeff Cooper) |
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I chose ProPur over Berkey because Berkey has basically no truly independent testing I could find. Sure their own tests show its effective, but what kind of dumb company would commission and publicize a test they fail?
Good science is Verifiable, Falsifiable, and Repeatable. One thing about the propur though, it removes so much crap (dissolved solids and more) it leave the water tasting "bland" or "empty". You think water 'tasts like nothing' but indeed natural salts do provide a slight flavor and mouth feel we associate with normal water. The ProPur water is different, probably from being devoid of minerals and such. Personally I didnt like it and end up using our RO system a lot more. As for the MSR guardian, it is a hollow membrane fiber with .02 micron pore size. This will filter basically EVERYTHING out of the water, but does not absorb chemicals as there is no Carbon element to the guardian. You could probably use the hose output attachment and add an in-line carbon filter though. Last edited by OVGCguy; 02-18-2021 at 11:47 AM.. |
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RevOs is not a great system for power down/zero water pressure in your typical city cracker box sized dwelling du jour.
Ever wonder why commercial restaurant water is legally certified safe but still tastes like azz water? RevOs is great if properly maintained and extra filters are on hand. https://optipurewater.com/news/rever...ed-simplified/ Quote:
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"Find out just what the people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress." -- Frederick Douglass -- “I didn’t know I was a slave until I found out I couldn’t do the things I wanted.” – Frederick Douglass -- |
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I too have under sink RO system, 7 stages. Best tasting water. Have to agree RO may not be the best for power down situation or if water pressure drop. This is why I have life strays for every family member.
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Acts 2:38 |
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This is not a high flow filter, it filters slowly. These are gravity filters. I have not used these products and I'm sure they are available elsewhere, but there are other filter materials that could be used instead if coffee filters. https://filterswater.com/filtration-...s-specialties/
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C'mon man, shouldn't we ban Democracks from Cal-Guns? Or at least send them to re-education camps. |
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These are not pressurized filters, although pressurized DE filters are common. Yes, most people buy filters like the Sawyer that have no charcoal to remove chemicals. Not that the Sawyer is a bad filter, they are compact and work well for travel and hiking. But if you are at home and run out of the store bought filters... My point is that keeping filter media with an indefinite shelf life (fine clean sand, DE, and activated charcoal) is a great way to ensure that you have clean water in an emergency, even if you don't have a fancy filter.
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C'mon man, shouldn't we ban Democracks from Cal-Guns? Or at least send them to re-education camps. Last edited by ScottsBad; 02-20-2021 at 9:42 AM.. |
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The way out of this new liability the law created out of thin air, is to label your product with that silly warning we all now see. There is no penalty for putting the warning label on your product even if it is provably false. But if you don't put the warning label on, you are forever at risk of being sued out of business. The result is that companies just label everything to be safe from the lawyers. This is the upside down state of affairs in California and part of what drives the exodus. |
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