UPYOG Big Berkey Gravity-Fed Water Filter with 2 Black Berkey Purification Elements

I live in London (where water is said to have passed through many people before it got to you) in a Victorian terrace house that is divided into flats. I can't replace the lead water supply pipe from the street as the owner of the flat above me lives abroad and can't be bothered with the expense of replacing the pipe. The water from my kitchen tap has always tasted unpleasant and, with the added lead issue, it ended with my dental hygienist telling me I was far too dehydrated. She told me to get a water filter and so I went with a Berkey, as I wanted something that stands alone and doesn't involve complicated machinery under the sink. Also, I liked the idea that it was gravity-fed and didn't require electricity to work, unlike water distilling machines. I have to say that I am incredibly impressed with the result. They are finding plastic particles in mountain streams in Scotland and the Lake District, so no water in the UK can be considered "100% pure" but with my Berkey the filtered water has no taste of chlorine and no "mankiness" in general. The other day, I drank a glass of water from the kitchen tap without thinking and the horrible taste of it was a shock. I used to have to drink tea and coffee to mask the taste but now I have at least one glass of filtered water for every tea or coffee that I drink and I'm feeling and looking better for it. I still use the kitchen tap for the washing up and cleaning but for everything else, drinking and cooking, I use water from my Berkey. Lead pipes... copper pipes... plastic pipes... they will all have issues and the information that comes with the filter tells us that the Berkey can filter approximately 99% of pollutants (please check the info for the actual details), so I will be having a Berkey in my kitchen at any future property that I move to, even if I'm living in a less-polluted part of the country like Dartmoor. I have a couple of caveats. I have only had my Berkey for a couple of months, so I don't know how easy it is to clean the ceramic filters and I don't know how often they need to be replaced. As we saw with the Volkswagen "Diesel-gate" scandal, it is common practice for companies to be "economical with the actualité" and the filters may have to be replaced earlier than the company says. I won't know for a year or two or three. However, for clean, potable, odour-free water...? In my experience, the Berkey has genuinely been worth the initial expense (it has been cheaper than paying a builder to dig up my front yard and replace the feeder pipe) and I won't balk at the expense of getting new filters when the time comes. Other people who have purchased it complain that not all the water drains from the tanks due to how the ceramic filters and the spigot are placed but I have no issue with this. The small amount of unfiltered water that can't drain out of the top tank is poured into the sink and the small amount of filtered water in the bottom tank gets poured into a jug I keep in the fridge. It's very easy to manage. I just need to add that the advice on assembling the Berkey isn't very clear, especially the part about how you "prime" the ceramic filters. So I recommend that you look at videos on YouTube where people show you how to do it. Once the details are clear, it takes just a few minutes. BTW, after having my Berkey for 3 months, my dental hygienist is really impressed with the results. I am now properly hydrated and the water I drink has less calcium in it thanks to the Berkey, so I have much less tartar on my teeth than I used to.

Easy setup. Filtration is great. Water tastes ok but not great. I purchased as disaster tool to convert non drinkable water to drinkable

Fácil de montar y usar, funciona perfectamente como se describe.

Delivers perfect water without much effort. Great design and looks great in the kitchen. I certainly can’t live without this filter as it makes poor quality water taste fantastic

Easy to assemble, little bit of work required on the filters before you can use them, but knew this before I bought this unit. Instructions are OK, but followed other users advice and YouTubed away. I have pretty good water in my area, but the Berkey makes it taste much better.