Water is life.

And clean water is essential.

But even though I live in a modern, cosmopolitan metropolis, access to clean,

uncontaminated water is not a given.

In fact, it can be quite a challenge.

 

I live in a state which boasts relatively clean and safe drinking water, however,

fluoride is added to our drinking water and I try to avoid drinking water that

contains fluoride as much as possible.

 

Thanks to resources like www.ewg.org/tap-water/whats-in-yourwater.php,

the National Drinking Water Database that shows how much the quality of water can differ

by state and city, I learned that our so-called ‘safe” drinking water is contaminated with

heavy metals, pesticides, viruses, organic chemicals, pharmaceuticals, hormones, lead,

pathogens, arsenic and other carcinogens which can pose serious health risks.

For several years, we had a General Electric reverse osmosis water filtration system

under the sink which removed many of the impurities of concern from our tap water,

however, due to the fact that our tap water contained a high level of sediments and

impurities, the filters had to be changed every couple of months and this process was

very complicated, time-consuming, labor intensive and expensive.

 

Later, I learned that reverse osmosis systems wasted a lot of water and were not very

green, in that regard.

 

Also, their filtration process removed a lot of essential minerals from the water.

So when our old water filter conked out and we could not find anyone to fix it,

I began the search for a better water purification system.

 

The Search is On

It was important to me that the new water filtration/purification system:

1. Met or surpassed EPA and ANSI/NSF performance standards

2. Produced 99.9999% pure water without stripping out important minerals

3. Removed fluoride

4. Was easy to set up and maintain

5. Had easy to change filters

6. Produced a enough purified water to meet our family’s daily needs

7. Was environmentally-friendly

8. Used little to no plastic parts

9. Fit easily into my small apartment kitchen

10. Produced clear, good-tasting water

11. Was affordable and cost-effective

12. Was easy to use

13. Was easy to clean

After months spent comparing the features and benefits of water filtration and

purification systems designed for use in home kitchens, I was confused and

overwhelmed, for good reason:

Many water filters on the market may claim to be a purifier but do not meet the

performance specifications required for this classification.

 

In order to be classified as a water purifier,

a water treatment device must remove at

least 99.9999% of pathogenic bacteria (known

as a log 6 reduction in the water treatment

industry) and reduce viruses by 99.99%

(log 4 reduction).

 

When I asked some of my health conscious Facebook friends which water filtration

systems they used and recommended, Berkey Systems were mentioned more often than

any other.

In fact, Berkey users where positively passionate about the benefits of having Berkeys in

their homes.

These benefits resonated with me as well.

I was pretty convinced that a Berkey filtration system was destined to be in my future.

 

How I Found My Royal Berkey

One day, while out walking through my community, exploring the shops, looking for

new healthy, green and natural businesses, I discovered The Molecule Water Store, an

attention-grabbing, new storefront on E.10th Street that sold highly-purified water and

water filtration systems.

I stopped in to ask them questions about the water filtration systems they carried in order

to determine the best system to meet my needs.

I liked that fact that they were local, very familiar with the quality of our state and local water

systems, our aging infrastructure and water pipes and which contaminants needed to be removed.

I listened to system comparisons, weighed the choices and took a few days to think about the

options including reverse osmosis, alkaline water and Berkey Water Filtration Systems.

It was imperative that I made a decision quickly because I did not want to drink our tap water, so

I was lugging gallons of bottled water home each week and that was not a very green or healthy

thing to do.

 

In fact, I later found out that our so-called cleaner bottled water is highly-questionable in quality and

may even contain BPA.

 

It was definitely time to bite the bullet and buy a new, high-quality water filtration system.

After doing my homework and weighing the advantages and disadvantages of several filtration

options, I decided that a Big Berkey System would be the best choice for our apartment.

Plus, the satisfied Berkey users I met online were very influential!

When I saw the gleaming stainless steel Royal Berkey at Molecule, it was love at first sight.

They only had one Royal Berkey on hand that day so I grabbed it before someone else bought it.

At the Molecule Water Store, Rose and Israel made my purchase so easy.

They were so friendly and well-formed.

Rose primed and installed the Black Berkey filters as well as the extra fluoride filters that I required

for our city’s fluoridated water system.

I watched the process carefully so I would be able to replace the filters with new ones in about a year.

The Royal Berkey has two tanks: the top container holds the water filters and the bottom tank

hold the purified water which can be easily obtained by turning on the spigot.

 

Rose explained that after installing new filters, we have fill the top tank with water and let it filter into the

bottom tank overnight, pour out the filtered and repeat this 2-3 times until the water was clear and ready

to drink.

When my Berkey was packed and ready to be delivered to my home, Israel brought it to my apartment

in a bike-drawn wooden wagon.

How green was that!

Now that I am happily using my Berkey Water Filtration System at home, I drink much more water.

I use Berkey-filtered water for all food preparation, beverages, ice cubes and for washing produce.

I carry purified water with me in a glass bottle in my bag every where go so I don’t feel compelled to

buy plastic bottled water.

Thank goodness!

 

Black Berkey Purification Elements: Filtration Specifications

 

According to the Big Berkey Water Filter web site, their Black Berkey Purification Elements

far surpass other water filters in filtration capability as evidenced by their extensive filtration

specifications.

These elements have a specialized purification process that is due to their unique structure.

The element’s filtration media is a combination of micro-pores, which trap harmful contaminants

like bacteria, and revolutionary material with adsorption and ion exchange properties that

essentially attract molecules and viruses to the media, preventing them from passing into

your drinking water.

 

Berkey water filter systems can be classified as a

water purifier because the elements actually

remove 99.9999999% of pathogenic bacteria

(log 9 reduction) and 99.999% of viruses which

greatly exceeds the standards.

 

The Black Berkey filters have been tested by several EPA-accredited laboratories including the

Department of Toxicology and Environmental Science at Louisiana University, Spectrum Labs,

and the University of Phoenix.

This extensive testing confirmed that the Black Berkey Purification Elements far exceed EPA and

ANSI/NSF (Std. 53) protocol.

 

What Berkey Filters  Remove

The Black Berkey filters have been tested and confirmed to remove or greatly reduce

the contaminants listed below.

Viruses: 99.999% reduction

MS2 Coliphage – Fr Coliphage

*Exceeds purification standards

Pathogenic Bacteria Surrogate: >99.9999%

Raoultella terrigena

*Exceeds purification standard (Log 6)

Trihalomethanes: Removed to below lab detectable limits >89.8% reduction

Bromodichloromethane, Bromoform, Chloroform, Dibromochloromethane

Inorganic Minerals: Removed to below lab detectable limits

Chlorine Residual (Total Residual Chlorine)

Heavy Metals: Greater than 95% reduction for most metals

Aluminum (> 75%). Antimony (>97.5%), Barium (>80%), Cadmium (>99.5%),

Cobalt (>95%), Chromium (>95%), Chromium 6 (>99.85%), Copper (>95%),

Lead (>97.5%), Mercury (>98%), Molybdenum (>90%), Nickel (>95%),

Vanadium (>87.5%)

Volatile Organic Compounds: Removed to below lab detectable limits

Alachlor, Atrazine, Benzene, Carbofuran, Carbon Tetrachloride,

Chlorine, Chlorobenzene, Chloroform, 2 4-D, DBCP,

p-Dichlorobenzene, o-Dichlorobenzene, 1 1-Dichloroethane

1 2-Dichlorpethane, 1 1-Dichloroethylene, Cis-1 2-Dichloroethyiene

Trans-1 2-Dichloroethylene, 1 2-Dichloropropane

Cis-l 3-Dichloropropylene, Dinoseb, Endrin, Ethylbenzene

Ethylene Dibromide (EDB), Heptachlor, Heptachlor Epoxide

Hexachlorobutodlene, Hexachloro-, Cyclopentadlene, Lindane

Methoxychlor, MTBE, Pentachlorophenol, Simazine, Styrene

1,1,2,2-Tetrachloroethane, Tetrachloroethylene, Toluene

2,4,5-TP (Silvex), 1 2 4-trichlorobenzene, 1 1 1-trichloroethane

1 1 2-trichloroethane, Trichloroethylene, o-Xylene, m-Xylene

Download a full list of VOCs here : Specs – Volatile Organic Compounds.pdf

Also removes or reduces:

Arsenic (>99%), MBAS (>96.67%), Nitrites (>95%), Selenium (>97.5%), Thallium

(>99.5%), as well as rust, silt, sediment, turbidity, foul taste and odors.

 

Imagine drinking tap water each day with all of those impurities?

I’m so glad to have access to better choices– and that I took action and made

it happen!

 

Suffice it to say, that I am one healthier, happier girl thanks to the fact that

we now have safer, cleaner drinking water at our fingertips.

 

So tell us: How is your drinking water?

Do you have a water filtration or purification system?

What kind of system do you use? How do you feel about it.

Share your thoughts and comments with us.

 

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