Big Berkey® 8.5L

See the assembly document for a diagram and specific instructions on how to assemble your Berkey® stainless steel water purifier.

This document also contains instructions for placing the filter elements.

For more details, you can consult the specific Black Berkey® element priming document.

Most people use a carafe or pitcher to pour water into the upper chamber. If you have a faucet with a hose on your sink, this can also be a good solution.

The upper chamber, which contains water only momentarily, will need to be cleaned less frequently than the inner chamber, in which water remains for a longer period of time. We recommend cleaning the lower chamber once a month.

Stainless steel chambers can be cleaned with soapy water (dishwashing liquid).

In areas with hard water, lime deposits can build up on the lugs and chambers after prolonged use. To remove it, you can use vinegar pure or in a 50-50% mixture of vinegar and water that you spray on and leave for about 15 minutes. Then wipe with a sponge, then wash with soapy water and rinse.

Yes, it is quite normal to have 1 to 2.5 cm of water remaining in the upper chamber. To be filtered, the water must pass through very fine micropores in the filters. The lower the water level in the upper chamber, the lower the pressure available to force the water through the micropores. You may have noticed that the filtration rate is much faster when the upper chamber is full than when it is half empty. This is because there is more pressure. The only way to remedy this problem would be to enlarge the pores of the filter elements, which would reduce the efficiency of the Berkey purification system. During each cycle, the residual water from the previous cycle mixes with the water from the current cycle and is then purified. There is no need to worry about excess water during normal use. If, however, you stop using your filter for a long time, for example during a vacation, it is best to empty both chambers and let them dry completely.

Concerning the lower chamber, the tap cannot technically be positioned on the bottom of the tank for reasons of watertightness. Don't worry, this is not stagnant water as it will mix again and again during the successive filtrations.

We recommend replacing your filtered water with your Berkey® system after three days if it has not been used. If the water is in a cold environment, the time can be extended to one week. This is a precautionary principle. The reason is that when you filter your water, the chemicals that inhibit the growth of bacteria are removed. In very humid environments, bacterial growth can occur more quickly.

If you need to transport your Berkey® filtration and purification system, you must first remove the Black Berkey® purification elements. If you do not remove them from the system, you may break the rods. Place your water filters in a safe, watertight package. The stainless steel top and bottom parts fit together for easy transport and space savings. If your system has a level valve, be careful to remove or secure it so it doesn't break.

Important : Failure to remove the filter elements from the system may result in rod failure and will void the manufacturer's warranty.

It all depends on the technique used. CO2 or magnetic softeners, for example, produce water that is normally drinkable (to be confirmed by the manufacturer) and is not a problem with Berkey® systems.

But the most commonly used softeners work with ion exchangers that convert calcium and magnesium, which are responsible for the accumulation of limescale, into sodium. Using these softeners produces soft but salty water...

Black Berkey® water filters are designed to remove a very large number of pollutants as specified in test results from an independent laboratory. However, they do not remove the mineral salts initially present in the water and preserve them for the benefit of our body. The salts used to soften the water in your softener, and present in large quantities, will not be filtered by the Black Berkey® filtration element and will end up in your drinking water. Unlike natural mineral salts, they are highly concentrated and should not be consumed.

Therefore, we do not recommend that you use water softened by a water softener to supply your Berkey® purifier.
Note: Some systems are equipped with a bypass to remove water from the system before it goes through the softener. In this case, this water can be used without any problem with the Berkey® water purification systems.

The Black Berkey® water filters used in Berkey® purification systems are fully capable of filtering rainwater.

However, certain precautions must be taken. For example, make sure that there is no contamination by a specific pollutant that would be missing from the test results performed by Berkey®. Also, be careful to minimize contact of the water with any animal feces (birds, squirrels, etc.) or chemicals used on the roof. The water should be pre-filtered before entering the purifier to avoid excessive suspended solids, which would clog the filters more quickly and require frequent cleaning.

Some of our customers have built rainwater filtration systems with a multi-stage collection process (up to 5 for some systems) and equipped with several Black Berkey® filter elements (from 4 to 8). The water is filtered in successive stages and stored in suitable containers.

Even if the Black Berkey® elements are water purifiers, it is nevertheless recommended, in this type of use and if for example a high contamination by E-Coli is suspected, to add a few drops of disinfectant (unscented) based on chlorine, at the first stage of filtration.

See also this topic on filtering water from a source other than the tap.