Do Black Berkey® water filters remove minerals?


Water can contain a certain number of minerals in the form of dissolved ions, negatively charged (anions), or positively charged (cations). This ionic form is assimilated by the human body. These minerals include calcium (Ca++), carbonates (CO3--), bicarbonates (HCO3-), chlorides (Cl-), potassium (K+), magnesium (Mg++), sodium (Na+), nitrates (NO3-) and sulfates (SO4--).

The media contained in Black Berkey® purification elements is not designed to remove these beneficial minerals (in ionic form) from the water. They can certainly be reduced if they are highly concentrated, but most will pass through the filters and into your filtered water.

If you still want to add additional minerals to your water, we recommend using liquid additives and incorporating them into the lower chamber of your Berkey® system so that their concentration is not reduced.

Finally, we are often asked what the dry residue rate is after filtration. The answer is simple: if you understand that the mineral concentration is the same before and after filtration, the dry residue level is also the same and depends entirely on the water you are filtering.