Big Berkey BK4X2 Countertop Water Filter System with 2 Black Berkey Elements and 2 Fluoride Filters

We sound the perfect solution to the problem we mentioned at the end of our previous post.As a result of spending many hours searching Amazon's website, we found the PERFECT solution for performing the Red Dye Test with a Big Berkey Stainless Steel Filter: a two-gallon, heavy-duty glass container, with a lid diameter of 7.75 inches. THIS DIAMETER ALLOWS USERS TO SECURELY MOUNT THEIR BIG BERKEY ON TOP OF THE JAR TO VIEW THE OUTPUT OF AS MANY AS FOUR BLACK FILTERS SIMULTANEOUSLY. It's the "Anchor Hocking 69372MN 2 Gallon Glass Heritage Jar" (see photo), Amazon item B014AVB3KU, currently priced at $41.99.OUR PREVIOUS POST BEGINS WITH THE NEXT PARAGRAPHBecause the vendor of the distilled water that we have been drinking for decades has recently been selling out frequently, we decided that the time has come for a backup supply that makes use of our tap water. Before we decided on the Big Berkey, we read not only all the comments here on Amazon but also everything that is available on the Berkey website.On the Berkey website, multiple texts and videos discuss everything a potential purchaser needs to know, including:-Descriptions of all six sizes ranging from 1.50 gallons to 6.00 gallons-Berkey's recommended minimum and maximum number of users for each size-Berkey Quick Start guide-Priming Black Berkey Filters-Priming White Fluoride Filters-Cleaning the Black Berkey filters-Routine System Maintenance-Testing Black Berkey Filters-Instructional Manuals-Parts & AccessoriesThe site also offers a Water Quality Search link: enter your ZIP Code to learn how your local water supply stacks up in terms of the standards of the Environmental Working Group (EWG), which are more stringent than the federal standards (which reportedly haven't been updated for more than 20 years).According to the most recent data (2015-2017) available for the provider of our tap water, here are Berkey's findings:Of the 21 Total Contaminants, 8 exceed EWG guidelines, including:-519.8X Arsenic: Berkey removes more than 99.9%-188.9X Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs): Berkey removes more than 99.80%-105.2X Haloacetic acids (HAAS): Berkey removes more than 98.0%-7.0X Uranium: Berkey removes 98.7%Of the 21 total contaminants 14 are reduced or removed by Berkey; for example, a Berkey that is equipped with the white Fluoride filters removes up to 97%Berkey's Detailed Data ReOur Local Water SupplyThe site provides links to all the following data:-The contaminants that exceed the EWG guidelines-The contaminants that meet the EWG guidelines-The contaminants that Berkey Removes-The contaminants that Berkey does not remove or that were untestedIn addition to all the above information, the site offers much more; enough to merit many hours of perusal.In our case, because we wanted our very first attempt at installation to be successful, we unboxed our Big Berkey only ONTHE DAY AFTER spending most of one day exploring the website. The result was an uneventful installation, including running the Red Dye Test and attaching the two White Fluoride Filters to our two Black Berkey Filters.As suggested in Berkey's literature, we filled the top chamber to the brim with tap water the night before we intended to taste the output.Conclusion #1: re the Berkey's output: In comparison with the distilled water that we have been drinking for many years, we are unable to appreciate any significant difference in either the smell or the taste. (We have never tried the tap water directly, so we are unable to compare with the output of the Berkey.)TEST RESULTS:pH-Tap water 7.4 (neutral)-Distilled water 6.4 (slightly acidic)-Berkey water 9 (slightly alkaline)Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), ppm-Tap Water 0270-Distilled water 0002-Berkey Water 0250INTERPRETATION OF RESULTSAccording to Berkey,TDS Metering"A TDS meter cannot identify between; healthy ionic minerals, harmful sedimentary minerals, and heavy metals. In other words, TDS is not a good way to measure the 'cleanliness' of water because beneficial minerals are also considered total dissolved solids."It is our belief at Berkey Filters, that a water purification system should filter out things that are harmful to your body, but leave in the helpful things such as beneficial minerals. The Black Berkey elements, utilized in all our Berkey Systems, are designed, to do exactly that! The Berkey Black filter’s proprietary design allows healthful beneficial minerals (like calcium, potassium, etc.) to remain in your water and remove: chemicals, harmful sedimentary minerals, heavy metals and many other contaminants (200+ in total) see Our Independent Test results!"(Clicking on the Independent Test link leads to a data-filled page entitled, "Black Berkey Filter Specifications" that is sub-titled, "Take an in-depth look at the test results."Re the Increased Alkalinity (Berkey output pH 9 in comparison with the neutral pH 7.4 of Water Directly from the TapAccording to the Berkey website, the following are some of the benefits of the slight increase in alkalinity of our tap water because of the Berkey:"Alkaline water is slightly more 'sweet' than pure water. In other words, it has a higher pH. While pure water has a neutral pH of 7, alkaline drinking water has a pH between 8 and 9."The data is mixed on the health benefits of alkaline water, but several studies have found that it helps with acid reflux, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. More research is still needed to support the benefits, but when it comes to filtering normal water, more alkalinity isn’t a bad thing."As noted previously, pollutants can increase the acidity in the water and if you use a filter like the Black Berkey filter to filter your drinking water, it will filter out those contaminants and raise the alkalinity, providing clean drinking water."Conclusion #2: The fact that the Berkey reduced the ppm of the tap water from 270 to 250 while increasing the pH confirms the Berkey statement that the filter is removing contaminants which increase the acidity of the water.UNDERSTANDING WHY BERKEY FILTERS ARE NOT APPROVED FOR SALE IN CALIFORNIA AND IOWAAccording to Berkey's website,California"Although [Berkey's] extensive testing is sufficient for 49 states in the US, it is currently not acceptable for residents in the state of California."Even after NSF certification has been obtained, the state of California additionally requires that companies pay high costs to obtain and maintain certification with the state of California.After careful review, it has been concluded that the additional taxes, certifications, and red tape have created too large of a barrier for their dealers to offer the larger Berkey Systems in the state of California."Iowa"Even after NSF certification has been obtained, the state of Iowa additionally requires that systems further be registered with the Iowa Department of Public Health. One major problem arises because each flexible configuration we offer is considered by the state of Iowa to be a distinct and separate system that must be certified independently. Under Iowa legislation, the expense required to certify each system and maintain certification per configuration quickly becomes unaffordable."While this may not be a problem for companies that are inflexible with respect to the systems they offer or have few product offerings, such requirements place a huge burden upon companies that do offer such flexibility, (i.e. multiple variations of water filter systems)."Berkey has concluded that the additional taxes, certifications, and red tape have created too large of a barrier for their dealers to offer Berkey Systems in the state of Iowa."(Re California: Berkey is hardly the only company to avoid California. According to published reports, between 2009-2016 an estimated 13,000 businesses departed the state. In just the two years 2018 and 2019, which were "economic boom years," 765 additional commercial facilities departed "The Golden State.")THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF PERFORMING THE RED DYE TEST AS DESCRIBED IN THE TEXT ACCOMPANYING THE VIDEO ON THE BERKEY WEBSITE"8. Pour the red tinted water into your upper chamber. Your Black Filters should be fully submerged."9. Allow the full batch of water to filter from the upper container into the glasses below."Problem: For the Big Berkey's Black Filters to be fully submerged, the upper chamber must be filled nearly to capacity, which is 2.25 gallons. Thus, #9 requires that the two glass jars that are shown in the video and that receive the output from our two Black Berkey filters must be capable of receiving about 1 gallon each. However, we are unable to locate two one-gallon glass containers that can fit together within the 8.5-inch diameter of the space below the upper chamber.

Though simple in design the assembly was a little difficult to follow. I have to watch on line videos to make sure I was doing this right. The instructions that came along with the product were very wordy and hard to follow. A few simple drawings would have been nice. (like IKEA product instructions which I almost always find easy to follow)There are black plugs in the holes where the filters mount. They just pop out with a screwdriver and are then discarded. It was hard to know if I was taking them out correctly or if I was damaging something by doing this because there is nothing in the instructions about these black caps. They just pry out.Priming the filters was a little confusing. On line videos helped me understand how to do this properly. There are little caps on each end of the filter that you have to remove and discard. Again this is not covered well in the instructions. You need to use the beige washers as a sort of seal to help you prime the filters. Place them between the opening on the filter and your faucet. Then turn on the water slowly while pressing the filter with washer up onto the faucet opening. If you don't have a good seal the water will spray all over. So low pressure at first until you know you have a good seal. Then the water moves into the filter and out the other side.The next problem I had was installing the arsenic filters correctly. It turns out that these don't screw on tightly and this is counter intuitive. You must only turn them 8 turns after they start threading and then STOP. If you go further you could damage the screens on the filter. I actually turned them all the way till they were tight because they hung so loosely. But that is the correct design. Do not tighten. I did and then found out that I did this wrong and backed them off to where they were supposed to be situated. Mine works fine and I apparently didn't damage a thing.Some people noted on discussion boards that all the water doesn't pass through the bottom filters (arsenic filters) but bubbles up at the entry point. I noticed that mine did this too. Arsenic isn't a problem for my situation but if it was I would be more disappointed with the design.You can place the system anywhere you like. I tried a number of locations and found that the best location was right next to my sink with the spout extended out over the sink edge. This placed the Berkey system close enough to my faucet that I could take the hose attachment and extend it to where I could fill the system directly eliminating the need to fill a pitcher to then fill the Berkey. This is a real time saver.Now that I have the system in place I am surprised by how often I have to fill it. I never realized how much water we were actually drinking until I started working with this. I bought some reusable bottles that look just like bottles and keep them filled in the fridge. I also bought a water view sight glass attachment so that I can see where the water level is at in the bottom reservoir with out having to open the system. If you want to save the cost of buying a sight glass it is actually very easy to notice when the reservoir is running low because the water movement out of the spout slows way down when the water starts getting low. I fill the upper reservoir to just over the top of the charcoal filters and let it then filter for my next later use.I spent a lot of time looking into which filtration system to purchase and am happy with the Berkey system. Berkey needs to improve their directions and create a better design for the entry point on the secondary filters. Other than these problems the system works very nice for me and my family and the water tastes terrific.A few tips for anyone buying this product: Find a location for this right next to your sink. I fill ours 1-2 times per day. Since it is right next to the sink and we have an extendable faucet I can just pull the faucet over to our Berkey and fill to the top when needed. To have to do this with a pitcher every day would become a huge irritation. If you don't have an extendable faucet I would recommend you get one as it makes this product so much easier to fill.

We purchased this to replace a countertop water filter. The Berkey filters out much more chlorine and other additives than our countertop filter. It makes our water taste even better, and has even made our coffee taste better!I did the dye test while setting it up and realized that one of the filters was faulty -- it was dripping red water even after I took it out of the unit and even after I rinsed it off. I contacted the seller and they were so helpful with getting that one filter replaced. The amazon-interface for contacting the seller was crappy to use, but the seller was great!

Total begeistert von diesem Filter , schreibe ich gerne eine Rezension.Habe sehr lange nach einem von Strom unabhängigen Filter, der es mir ermöglicht, mein Leitungswasser von Schadstoffen zu filtern, gesucht. Ständig stilles Wasser in Plastikflaschen, mit Mikroplastik versetzt :-)) . zu schleppen, wollte ich nicht. Habe dann bei Outdoor Filtern geschaut, doch die waren für mich nicht praktikabel. Ich wollte einen Filter, der in der Küche steht, akzeptabel aussieht und seine Aufgabe erledigt. Hier bei Berkey habe ich den passenden "Wasseraufbereiter" gefunden.Einfach perfekt! Das Wasser schmeckt wie frisch aus einer Bergquelle, der Filter sieht sehr gut aus , ich brauche keinen Strom und könnte im Notfall auch Wasser aus einer Pfütze sauber filtern und genießbar machen. Was will ich mehr ?? Ganz klare Kaufempfehlung.

Der Wasserfilter ist der Hammer, endlich brauche ich kein Wasser mehr kaufen. Der Filter soll so ziemlich das Beste sein was man sich zulegen kann. Preis erscheint nur auf den ersten Blick hoch zu sein, da die Filter Jahre halten. Für mich persönlich wird der Filter sich nach bereits ca. 10 Monaten bereits amortisiert haben, da ich fast nur Wasser trinke.Der Filter soll sogar Meerwasser und Flusswasser in tropischen Regionen trinkbar machen können.Habe den Filter in der Küche stehen und erfreue mich jedesmal aufs neue wenn ich mir ein Wasser zapfe.

Im großen und ganzen echt nicht schlecht, aber es filtert kein kalk. der innenraum unserer Kanister ist voll verkalkt und der wasserhan auch. Wenn der kanister kein kalk filtert dann frage ich mich warum der so gut sein soll !!! Ich finder die ersatzteile ziemlich teuer jedes halbe jahr 200 für die filter auszugeben ist doch recht teuer für dem das es nicht mal entkalkt

Nach vielen verschiedenen Wasserfilter Systemen, die nicht hielten, wsa sie versprachen, bin ich nun mit dem Berkly sehr zufrieden.Simpler, aber effektiver Wasserfilter. Wasser schmeckt wieder nach Wasser. Filterwechsel auch nicht immer nach einem halben Jahr, sondern nach Ihren reellen Verbrauch.. Ich bin sehr zufrieden und kann den Filter nur wärmstens empfehlen.

Ich bin auf lange Sicht mit dem Produkt nicht zufrieden, denn der Filter fing nach einiger Zeit zum Schimmeln an, obwohl das Gerät wurde von mir ca. alle 4 Wochen sauber gereinigt wurde. Jetzt benutze ich den Berkey Filter leider nicht mehr, da mir der Schimmel zu gefährlich ist.Ansonsten war der Geschmack des gefilterten Wasser sehr angenehm!