When I 'clean' my Berkey filters I push out all the old water with an air compressor and then prime them. Then a (per the instructions in my Berkey) I use one of those green cleaning scrubbers to scrape off anything excess on the outside. Since our entire house is filtered (including the water that goes to our garden), we use the garden hose to prime it. Our filters have remained like new doing this. It's amazing. Now, you might be asking yourself, why we would use a Berkey AND a whole house filter system? Because a whole house filter system does not get out as much as a Berkey. The whole house filter system is great for showers and cleaning. Those are hugely important, too, but we use the Berkey for cooking and drinking.
Thanks for sharing! We don't use the green sponge because we don't buy sponges at all. However, we also have public water that is filtered and chlorinated (reason we use a Berkey) so we really aren't dealing with a lot of cleaning other than iron from the pipes which is not harmful so for us the toothbrush does a great job! Have a wonderful day!
I've watched a few videos about cleaning the filters, and could never understand why none of them mentioned repriming them. So glad to see your video cleaning this way.
@@CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid It certainly appears to be the easiest method, and one which I will be happy to use, especially after confirmation from this video.
Here in Los Angeles, I can also smell the chlorine coming out of the tap - very strong smell. I also have to clean/reprime my Burkee to keep it filtering faster.
I agree pot filler what a fantastic idea. I’m so excited I watch this video. I’m getting a new kitchen and I’m having a pot water filler put above the stove area because I am getting older. Right now I carry my Berkey across the kitchen to save time on refilling it. It’s getting heavy as I carry it across the room. Just waiting for the day when I drop it😱
🤔I’m new at this, so I spoke with Berkey and they said it is still supposed to drip slowly after you clean it. If the water is passing through too quickly it is time to get new filters. I don’t know if they’re just trying to sell more filters which is why i’m checking with more experienced users on TH-cam. 💝
If you want to get a Berky or Alexa pure pr to filter quicker. You need to allow the trapped air from the bottom tank to escape. I recommend the Aqua Flow Max from BP Earth Watch American Innovations LLC. They sell for $20.00 dollars US. Their just a vent that consists of a medical grade plastic tube with a t connector on the top. That comes with a plastic nut and installation and filling instruction. It installs in one of the filter holes in the bottom of the top tank. Just remove one of the plugs and install it in it's place.
You really don't need to prime them a second time, once you do the initial priming ,and you need something more abrasive than a toothbrush. 🤷♂️ btw i own a berkey too
Appreciate your input but respectfully disagree. Been using berkey too many years now to count. They recommend scotch brite sponges which would be a little more abrasive (despite the fact they say to be gentle), however we find that with our tap water the toothbrush cleans them very well. Also, it’s not really that we’re priming it but that we are forcing water through the tiny pores in the opposite direction of filtering which also helps to clean them out. The bottom line is that the flow rate goes back to normal and the filters last for us. I guess there’s more than one way to get the job done 👍
I bought 2 Berkey filter years ago and put them in my doomsday supply room. I'm buying water from Costco but after watching your video may get them out an start using them now. Thanks it was a very interesting video.👍
I would seriously be careful with the water from Costco. We have purchased it as well for parties and such but a few times it had a plasticy taste/smell and we found out that if it sits in the sun the plastic from the bottles leaches into the water. I'm sure it is a better alternative than other water sources but if you have a berkey I would totally use it!
I absolutely love my crown Berkey water filtration and purification system. I normally clean mine once a year in the spring. And if you want to see if your filters are still efficient fill it up and add a few drops of red dye to the upper chamber. If the water filters down into the bottom and has a pink or red tint to it you know your filters are no longer efficient and should be replaced. If the waters coming out crystal-clear then the filters are doing their job still and you're good to go. Probably one of the best investments I ever made in my house as well. And since our reservoir has naturally occurring fluoride we utilize the fluoride filters as well. Thanks for sharing.
I teaspoon of red dye for every gallon of water and fill to the top. Add the dye with the water, not added to the water once it is in the chamber. Pour the water and red dye mix into the top chamber and set up Ball jars of something like that so you can see if the water is coming out pink or clear. A few drops of dye will not suffice.
We need to size the Berkey to our amount of usage, to be emptied and refilled at least once and when refilling be sure to submerge the entire filter in water.
Thank you so much for sharing this "lesson" with us. I'm a new Berkey owner and really appreciate when experienced owners share with newbies. FYI, hello from NYC💞
I first pull the top tank off look inside the bottom tank to see how full it is replace the top tank and use a big water pitcher to fill the top tank simple math if the bottom is half full I put in one pitcher if it is say three inches left in the bottom I’ll put in two if it’s below or even with spout I’ll put in two and a half pitchers of water I don’t Carry that heavy top full of water and dripping all over
I did this exact same thing to my berkey today...only I used a green scrub pad instead of a toothbrush... but I'm going to get a toothbrush for the next time I need to clean it.
Just know that Berkey recommends the green scrubby. It’s just that where we lived we really only had iron to clean off because had public water. If we lived somewhere else the toothbrush may not have worms well.
Thanks for the video it's the most informative cleaning video I have found. My question is after cleaning the Berkey is the flow ever as fast as when you first get it? I have only had mine about 6 months and the extra white filters 4 months (I have the royal Berkey) and just did 3 cleanings and 2 repriming with in days of each other with little flow improvement. Water seems to not flow much out of the bottom half of the black filters. Any ideas on how to improve my flow rate? Thanks for any ideas you can come up with. Other then the slow flow I still love my berkey it is the best filter I have ever used. Thank again
We don’t currently use the white filters and I believe they do need to be replaced more often. But the black ones usually clean up and glow great. If they aren’t I would say maybe your water really has an awful lot of particles to filter out and you may really need to replace them more often as well. Can I ask where you’re located? There are ways you can look up the water in your area.
@@CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid I live in Oregon. I know the white filters need changing more often but I'm not sure if that is the case of the slow down. I will have to look into a water tester to see if that will help me determine if I should replace the white filters already. Also I may try taking them off to see if the flow is faster as a test. Thanks for the help and if you have any other ideas please let me know.
Thats bullshit on how long they last ! I have to get a new filter every year and a half or filters won't drain. No way to clean them to get good flow as they did new. I use about 2 gallons a day year and a half is about little over a 1,000gallons not even close to factory claims.
Wow! Ours definitely last at least 4-5 years, but how long they last does depend on what they’re actually filtering and how often they’re cleaned. That said, at 3-4 years they do filter slower than they did new, but they still work for us.
Thank you posting this video! Super helpful! I just bought the travel berkey and assembled it today. I wasn’t sure if it was filtering properly but after watching and hearing how fast the drip is supposed to be I know for sure now that mines is slow. Thank you.
Due to the style of my kitchen faucet, I cannot use it to clean/prime my Berkey filters. I use a clean 2 liter plastic soda bottle filled with water, turned upside-down and squeeze it into the filter. I also use the fluoride filters in my Berkey. Love my Berkey and thank you for the video! 💕 💕 💕
Well that sounds like a great alternative way to do it, especially for someone who might be using it in the woods camping or something! Thanks so much for sharing that tip.
Whyyyy does my 2 wk old Berkey water taste and smell like garden hose?? We’ve re installed, re cleaned, reassembled. It’s good for 3 days and then garden hose, musty smell and taste again! I’m so sad.
I started using purified water after passing a kidney stone. No problems since. My Berkey saves so much time from trips to buy purified water and it reduces plastic. Thanks for the cleaning tips.
I screw the nut on upside down, put the priming washer on and screw the nut up till it is flush, then I back flush and prime the filter. Make priming a lot easier. Nice video.
we have the big berkey, and I plumbed in water so I would have to carry water to it, last time I cleaned ours, simply washing the filters off with a green pad didn't work so well so I searched the web and berkey said if nothing else works to get them clean is to take a potato pealer and scrape off one layer, of the filter and that you could do this about 10 times , I was skeptical , but I did it, and It worked, thanks for the video
Good video! Just my 2 cents on the priming, depending on the type of spout on your faucet, priming can be a challenge. My kitchen faucet flares out and is not flat on the bottom, so no matter how hard I pressed, the gasket would not sit flush and water went every where but thru the filter. Fortunately, I have a utility sink in the basement with a typical faucet so I was able to prime the filters. Otherwise, I don't know how I would have been able to do it.
I use a $1 condiment squeeze bottle with the tip cut to fill the Berkey filter water outlet. Works great, no need for faucets, pucks, hoses, hand pump or big soda bottles. Why doesn’t Berkey put this solution on their website? Perhaps due to profits from the blue silicon adapter, or the hand pump, neither of which worked for me and both of which I had to pay Berkey separately?
We have the full house water filter thing, it self cleans every night... which is interesting... the Water Softener Cleans itself too. Watching and Supporting, Dropping another LIKE on your video!
Definitely a good idea to filter it! Doesn't matter where you live or where your water comes from. Ours is cleaned by the water authority but our pipes are old and yucky :-)
We didn’t need them at that house. We did buy them for our next house though! And the black filters do filter chlorine. The white filters do arsenic and fluoride and other elements.
Great video!! We love our Berkey!! Cleaning and reusing the filters is AWESOME!! The city water has a lot of chlorine in it, but our Berkey gets rid of it. I've never drunk this much water in my LIFE!!! I LOVE IT!!!
Thank you! We’re currently building an earth sheltered house in the Adirondacks and we still plan on using it with our private well. We will add the white filters too👍 definitely makes the water taste better too!!
Depends where you live and what your water source is. We didn’t need them when we lived on Long Island because they already pre-filtered the water. We only used the Berkey to filter out the chlorine and the rust and lead from the pipes. But now that we’re living on an off grid Homestead with a private well, we will use both the black and the white filters.
Great video, very informative. We use an Alexapur filter in our house and 5th wheel for all our drinking and cooking water. We have a Clear Source three stage filtration system in our 5th wheel as well. It filters down to .2 microns. Then we filter personal consumption water through the .02 micron Alexapur. If you’ve ever been sick from bad water you never want to go there again!
Thanks so much for watching. That sounds like a great plan and we may have to do a double filter in the future as well. You are correct, bad water is NOT good :-)
Thank you so much for this video! I found your channel because this video was recommended to me through TH-cam, and it's exactly what I needed. I just added a Berkey to my home this year and I love it, but my filters are so slow. Now I'll apply your techniques and hopefully increase the filter rate. I can't wait to catch up and watch more of your journey.
Fill a bucket up with water dip filters in and use an air compressor to blow air through the filters, cleans inside and out. Never have to pay $$$ for new filters again.
I live on Long Island too and our water is known for not being the greatest and we have the highest breast cancer rates in the country, so I filter all my water.
Had no idea it made that much noise. I picked up a Royal for cheap over the weekend. Soon as I find space, I’ll put it together. But, I don’t know that I’ll use it frequently so, when I get filters (bought it used), the filters will probably last more than 6 years. BTW, perhaps, you can attach a hose to the faucet to refill your Berkey, once you have it in place. It’s going to become even less fun and accident prone to keep filling it using heavy pots of water.
I actually use an old Brita plastic 2 litre jug with a handle...to fill my Berkey water system with the filter removed, it saves juggling a saucepan. The old Brita filter system removed obviously...
Seems like the website has clear description about washing filter with a scotch brite sponge, that will probably work better. Filters can be washed up to 100 times!!
It does, we tried it, we like this way better and have had success for many many years now😊 still using the berkey daily! **UPDATE they do actually say a stiff toothbrush works 👍 berkey-store.com/en/faq/faq-water-filter-black-berkey/faq-cleaning-black-berkey-water-filter.html#:~:text=Start%20by%20emptying%20and%20disassembling,Reboot%20the%20filters.
It does remove a lot! There are other 'white' filters that would remove more but up until now we haven't felt the need to use them here. We will use them when we move though!
thanks for demo. I think maybe it takes more time overall to clean fewer filters...because you will be cleaning them more often, and the other related work is fixed time per cleaning (more often).
Ours was actually a gift from our children for Christmas one year. I think they got it directly from Berkey though. But we buy the filters from Amazon. There’s a link in the description of the video 👍
Do you ever get a bad smell in the bottom chamber? I just recently bought a berkey so everything is new. After about 2 weeks, we started noticing that every 2-3 days a bad smell would happen in just the bottom chamber. We don’t let the water sit in there for more than 36 hours but most of the time less than that. We have to wash out the bottom chamber every other day to keep the smell out. It smells like swampy egg water. Edit: we did the red dye test, both filters are fine. These are brand new filters too. The water we are using is St. Louis tap water so nothing crazy.
That’s never happened to us. I have a few questions for you: is your water from a private well? Is your area known to have sulfur in the water? I’m pretty sure it’s not from the berkey and has something to do with your water.
I’ve had my Berkey 2 weeks. The water smells musty like a garden hose. We’ve rinsed everything twice and it’s fine for 2 days then the smell -taste is back. Not well water, no sulfur. However a lot of chlorine!
I just love your voice. very reassuring as im old and afraid to clean my Birkey.lol..But I have one question. When You primed it I don't have the tan washer??What to do.
Awe, thanks! No w, a lot of people lose that little piece. You can use a rubber washer from the hardware store that’s about the same size. And actually, if it’s already primed you really don’t need to do it again.
Oh thank you for the reply. My mind’s at rest. Gonna watch the video a couple more times and then I’m going to clean clean clean and be so proud of myself LOL
@@sharonwalters6135 LOL. It's no problem and the first time is always the hardest! Don't overdo it :-) Berkey is one of the best investments we ever made in our health!
Not sure, but I’d think that they would just dry out so they would need to be re-primed and I would flush them really well. I might also run water through with a few drops of chlorine to kill any chance of mold growth. If I was really unsure I would replace the filters.
Sounds like it’s not filtering properly. I would first check to make sure all the white screw are tight and nothing is getting through and then I would check to make sure filters are nice and snug. It’s a problem if any of them are cross threaded. Once you’ve done that if it still occurs I would try the red dye test. They explain it on their website.
It's probably better to scrub the filters with a toothbrush as you are doing. Other videos are using an abrasive sponge, and I think that can damage the filters over time.
I love my Berkey too! First time I filled mine up I flooded water all over the place. Idk why I didn’t realize the water would seep out of the seam of both containers! Nice video!
If it is clogged you will know because the drip is very slow. There is also a red dye test you can do to see if the filters are filtering good - instructions are on the Berkey web site. Lastly, you could always use a water testing kit to see if there is any bacteria present in the water but you would need to be sure not to contaminate the test (they are easily contaminated). The filters do not filter out virus' to my knowledge but you could add the white filters for more peace of mind (if you aren't using them). You could also run some chlorine or vinegar through them. I have not done this but when we move to the mountains where we will be filtering well water I plan to give this a try myself
What exactly is reading 88 rpms? And they do need to be cleaned. How often depends upon the size of the Berkey and how much water you use daily. OOps just realized you meant you just bought it so it shouldn't need to be cleaned. If you explain the rpms to me, I can maybe help you.
@@CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid sorry I meant my ppm meter read 88 parts per million in the water after I ran it through the berkey it's a travel berkey 1.5 gallon
@@loveme9597 Oh, I see. It should definitely be lower after filtering. Are you sure you primed the filter and installed it correctly with the rubber washer on the inside?
@@CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid I did prime it but maybe it wasnt installed right. I'll take it apart and clean and prime it . Then ill let you know the result of it . Thank you
@@loveme9597 I really hope it works out! Also, I am interested to know what tester you are using (I am a Geology teacher) if you would not mind sharing a link with me. I would really appreciate it!
Question and suggestion. I am getting ready to clean our Berkey and am wondering, when you prime the filters(after cleaning them), you are priming them with the yucky tap water you don't want to drink. There should be a way of priming with filtered water. I guess after cleaning the lower chamber and refilling the upper chamber you could put a pot under the spigot, open it and run some water through it to flush the insides of the filter out. That's my plan, unless I come across a better one. Thanks so much for taking the time to post this. Ours is only a 2 1/2 gallon model and we absolutely love it.
Thanks! You could probably do that but another commenter spoke about using a soda bottle to prime with so theoretically you could save the remaining filtered water in the lower chamber in a clean soda bottle to prime with!
I agree Rick. Here's what I do. Once I prime it. I turn the black filter over the way it should be in the chamber and shake it up and down. Careful not to bash it against anything. This makes the yucky water totally come out of them. You'll know when its all out as it won't have a sound!
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One of the most worthwhile items in our home! We will even be using it when we move permanently to the Adirondacks :-)
When I 'clean' my Berkey filters I push out all the old water with an air compressor and then prime them. Then a (per the instructions in my Berkey) I use one of those green cleaning scrubbers to scrape off anything excess on the outside. Since our entire house is filtered (including the water that goes to our garden), we use the garden hose to prime it. Our filters have remained like new doing this. It's amazing. Now, you might be asking yourself, why we would use a Berkey AND a whole house filter system? Because a whole house filter system does not get out as much as a Berkey. The whole house filter system is great for showers and cleaning. Those are hugely important, too, but we use the Berkey for cooking and drinking.
Thanks for sharing! We don't use the green sponge because we don't buy sponges at all. However, we also have public water that is filtered and chlorinated (reason we use a Berkey) so we really aren't dealing with a lot of cleaning other than iron from the pipes which is not harmful so for us the toothbrush does a great job! Have a wonderful day!
Thank you for the clear demonstration on priming. I have watched many videos and now I get it :)
Thankbyou for the demonstration on how to clean a Berkey the easy way.
Thanks for watching and commenting 👍
I've watched a few videos about cleaning the filters, and could never understand why none of them mentioned repriming them. So glad to see your video cleaning this way.
Some say you don’t really have to but we think a good idea and it’s a way for us to verify it’s working properly 👍
@@CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid It certainly appears to be the easiest method, and one which I will be happy to use, especially after confirmation from this video.
A pot filler for the Berkey is an AWESOME idea!!
Lol. Thanks
I agree awesome idea!
Here in Los Angeles, I can also smell the chlorine coming out of the tap - very strong smell. I also have to clean/reprime my Burkee to keep it filtering faster.
Oh wow! They put so much but I get why. It is worth having the berkey!
I agree pot filler what a fantastic idea. I’m so excited I watch this video. I’m getting a new kitchen and I’m having a pot water filler put above the stove area because I am getting older. Right now I carry my Berkey across the kitchen to save time on refilling it. It’s getting heavy as I carry it across the room. Just waiting for the day when I drop it😱
👍Awesome. I appreciate you taking the time to video & post this video. Thank you. 💝
Thank you!
This is very helpful; thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching and commenting 👍
🤔I’m new at this, so I spoke with Berkey and they said it is still supposed to drip slowly after you clean it. If the water is passing through too quickly it is time to get new filters. I don’t know if they’re just trying to sell more filters which is why i’m checking with more experienced users on TH-cam. 💝
They are correct. It should still drip but it should drip faster.
Test new or old filters with the red die test. If filtered water is clear…water is filtered period. see examples on TH-cam.
Best video I've ever seen on the Berkey! Thank you so much. I had no idea that I could clean the filters. I thought I had to buy new ones every time.
Thanks so much! If they are really dirty it’s also suggested that you use a scrubbing sponge. Definitely will save you a lot of money!
The company recommends cleaning them once every 6 months with a green scotch bright pad.
Pretty sure the berkey doesn’t even filter flouride so Alexa pure would be the way to go for good water.
@@tjn2254 It does if you also use the white filters for flouride.
No, it's in the instructions they can and should be cleaned, but I agree this is helpful.
If you want to get a Berky or Alexa pure pr to filter quicker. You need to allow the trapped air from the bottom tank to escape. I recommend the Aqua Flow Max from BP Earth Watch American Innovations LLC. They sell for $20.00 dollars US. Their just a vent that consists of a medical grade plastic tube with a t connector on the top. That comes with a plastic nut and installation and filling instruction. It installs in one of the filter holes in the bottom of the top tank. Just remove one of the plugs and install it in it's place.
Interesting! Does it have a one way valve?
You really don't need to prime them a second time, once you do the initial priming ,and you need something more abrasive than a toothbrush. 🤷♂️ btw i own a berkey too
Appreciate your input but respectfully disagree. Been using berkey too many years now to count. They recommend scotch brite sponges which would be a little more abrasive (despite the fact they say to be gentle), however we find that with our tap water the toothbrush cleans them very well. Also, it’s not really that we’re priming it but that we are forcing water through the tiny pores in the opposite direction of filtering which also helps to clean them out. The bottom line is that the flow rate goes back to normal and the filters last for us. I guess there’s more than one way to get the job done 👍
I agree to force the water in the opposite direction as a part of your cleaning process.
I bought 2 Berkey filter years ago and put them in my doomsday supply room. I'm buying water from Costco but after watching your video may get them out an start using them now. Thanks it was a very interesting video.👍
I would seriously be careful with the water from Costco. We have purchased it as well for parties and such but a few times it had a plasticy taste/smell and we found out that if it sits in the sun the plastic from the bottles leaches into the water. I'm sure it is a better alternative than other water sources but if you have a berkey I would totally use it!
I absolutely love my crown Berkey water filtration and purification system. I normally clean mine once a year in the spring. And if you want to see if your filters are still efficient fill it up and add a few drops of red dye to the upper chamber. If the water filters down into the bottom and has a pink or red tint to it you know your filters are no longer efficient and should be replaced. If the waters coming out crystal-clear then the filters are doing their job still and you're good to go. Probably one of the best investments I ever made in my house as well. And since our reservoir has naturally occurring fluoride we utilize the fluoride filters as well. Thanks for sharing.
That is a good tip - we will be trying it soon! Thanks :-)
@@CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid 👍
I use the red dye test but have each filter empty into a mason jar. That way if only one filter is losing dye, you don’t need to replace them both.
@@maryrenaud6732 a very good idea indeed.
I teaspoon of red dye for every gallon of water and fill to the top. Add the dye with the water, not added to the water once it is in the chamber. Pour the water and red dye mix into the top chamber and set up Ball jars of something like that so you can see if the water is coming out pink or clear. A few drops of dye will not suffice.
We need to size the Berkey to our amount of usage, to be emptied and refilled at least once and when refilling be sure to submerge the entire filter in water.
Thank you so much for sharing this "lesson" with us. I'm a new Berkey owner and really appreciate when experienced owners share with newbies. FYI, hello from NYC💞
I first pull the top tank off look inside the bottom tank to see how full it is replace the top tank and use a big water pitcher to fill the top tank simple math if the bottom is half full I put in one pitcher if it is say three inches left in the bottom I’ll put in two if it’s below or even with spout I’ll put in two and a half pitchers of water I don’t Carry that heavy top full of water and dripping all over
I did this exact same thing to my berkey today...only I used a green scrub pad instead of a toothbrush... but I'm going to get a toothbrush for the next time I need to clean it.
Just know that Berkey recommends the green scrubby. It’s just that where we lived we really only had iron to clean off because had public water. If we lived somewhere else the toothbrush may not have worms well.
Stay with the scotchbrite pad, much better.
Thanks for the video it's the most informative cleaning video I have found. My question is after cleaning the Berkey is the flow ever as fast as when you first get it? I have only had mine about 6 months and the extra white filters 4 months (I have the royal Berkey) and just did 3 cleanings and 2 repriming with in days of each other with little flow improvement. Water seems to not flow much out of the bottom half of the black filters. Any ideas on how to improve my flow rate? Thanks for any ideas you can come up with. Other then the slow flow I still love my berkey it is the best filter I have ever used. Thank again
We don’t currently use the white filters and I believe they do need to be replaced more often. But the black ones usually clean up and glow great. If they aren’t I would say maybe your water really has an awful lot of particles to filter out and you may really need to replace them more often as well. Can I ask where you’re located? There are ways you can look up the water in your area.
@@CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid I live in Oregon. I know the white filters need changing more often but I'm not sure if that is the case of the slow down. I will have to look into a water tester to see if that will help me determine if I should replace the white filters already. Also I may try taking them off to see if the flow is faster as a test. Thanks for the help and if you have any other ideas please let me know.
Good idea trying without the white filters to check the flow.
berkey water filter PF2
Thats bullshit on how long they last ! I have to get a new filter every year and a half or filters won't drain. No way to clean them to get good flow as they did new. I use about 2 gallons a day year and a half is about little over a 1,000gallons not even close to factory claims.
Wow! Ours definitely last at least 4-5 years, but how long they last does depend on what they’re actually filtering and how often they’re cleaned. That said, at 3-4 years they do filter slower than they did new, but they still work for us.
Thank you posting this video! Super helpful! I just bought the travel berkey and assembled it today. I wasn’t sure if it was filtering properly but after watching and hearing how fast the drip is supposed to be I know for sure now that mines is slow. Thank you.
Due to the style of my kitchen faucet, I cannot use it to clean/prime my Berkey filters. I use a clean 2 liter plastic soda bottle filled with water, turned upside-down and squeeze it into the filter. I also use the fluoride filters in my Berkey. Love my Berkey and thank you for the video! 💕 💕 💕
Well that sounds like a great alternative way to do it, especially for someone who might be using it in the woods camping or something! Thanks so much for sharing that tip.
That is a great idea for cleaning out the Berkey if you are camping as well 😀.
Whyyyy does my 2 wk old Berkey water taste and smell like garden hose?? We’ve re installed, re cleaned, reassembled. It’s good for 3 days and then garden hose, musty smell and taste again! I’m so sad.
Wow! That is horrible. Did. you buy real berkey filters? We have never had a taste like that. Does the water smell like that before filtering?
I started using purified water after passing a kidney stone. No problems since. My Berkey saves so much time from trips to buy purified water and it reduces plastic. Thanks for the cleaning tips.
We feel the same way!
Thanks Jerry.. Biggest benefit the plastic bottled water use, cost and trying to recycle.
Pretty sure the berkey doesn’t remove fluoride.
@@tjn2254 I have white filters that take out chlorine and fluoride.
@@lindapearson3411 well if you take the lid off the chlorine will evaporate.
Berkey recommends using a scrub pad not a toothbrush. Toothbrush is not considered the correct way
Key word us recommends. We don’t buy those sponges.
Berkey says that you can also peel the outside of the filters like a potato. Up to 20 times without hurting the filter.
I never heard of that. Will look into it. Thanks for sharing 👍
Is this on their website?
I've seen this as well. Another youtuber showed his email communication with Berkey who expressed this as well, up to 20 times. Thin peels.
won't back flushing the filter with unfiltered water contaminate the inside with what you are trying to keep out.
Briefly until you re-prime.
I screw the nut on upside down, put the priming washer on and screw the nut up till it is flush, then I back flush and prime the filter. Make priming a lot easier. Nice video.
Thanks. Sounds great!
Adding more filters might reduce how often you need to clean them
That’s 100% correct but they’re also very expensive so it’s a trade off
No, filters still need to be cleaned and primed at most every 6 months.
Thank you!!
I also blow my filters OUT with an air compressor! Cleans them perfectly. I reprime them and good to go.
Thank you for your instructional video!
Cool idea!
@@CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid Thank you!
we have the big berkey, and I plumbed in water so I would have to carry water to it, last time I cleaned ours, simply washing the filters off with a green pad didn't work so well so I searched the web and berkey said if nothing else works to get them clean is to take a potato pealer and scrape off one layer, of the filter and that you could do this about 10 times , I was skeptical , but I did it, and It worked, thanks for the video
I’ve heard that before too. We aren’t at that point yet but do plan on trying it in the future. Thanks so much for sharing 👍
How come you don't use the white fluoride filters?
Not a good idea to drink fluoridated water.
Our water is not flourinated. We will use them when we move though
Good video! Just my 2 cents on the priming, depending on the type of spout on your faucet, priming can be a challenge. My kitchen faucet flares out and is not flat on the bottom, so no matter how hard I pressed, the gasket would not sit flush and water went every where but thru the filter. Fortunately, I have a utility sink in the basement with a typical faucet so I was able to prime the filters. Otherwise, I don't know how I would have been able to do it.
Interesting point! Others have commented that they had to use a 2 liter soda bottle to prime.
I use a $1 condiment squeeze bottle with the tip cut to fill the Berkey filter water outlet. Works great, no need for faucets, pucks, hoses, hand pump or big soda bottles. Why doesn’t Berkey put this solution on their website? Perhaps due to profits from the blue silicon adapter, or the hand pump, neither of which worked for me and both of which I had to pay Berkey separately?
Same issue here!
Ran into the same issue. Resorted to using an outside garden hose spigot. Worked fine.
@@maryrenaud6732 best hack EVER! 🙏🏾
We have the full house water filter thing, it self cleans every night... which is interesting... the Water Softener Cleans itself too. Watching and Supporting, Dropping another LIKE on your video!
That is great. In Florida the softener is very important. We really don't need that here.
What about white one? You only use black one?
We didn’t need the white one at that house but here at our new house we do
The crown Berkey cost a lot more money why only use two filters?
Because we fill it less often. Works for us for years now👍 no complaints!
Thats a big water filter. Cool to see how you clean it. Amazing how dirty it gets. I'm gonna start filtering my water too.
Definitely a good idea to filter it! Doesn't matter where you live or where your water comes from. Ours is cleaned by the water authority but our pipes are old and yucky :-)
PS - check out my spaghetti pie video I just uploaded! I mentioned you because you were my inspiration for making it :-)
Great video, but you don't have the clorine/arsenic Berkey filters on your Royal Berkey.
We didn’t need them at that house. We did buy them for our next house though! And the black filters do filter chlorine. The white filters do arsenic and fluoride and other elements.
@@CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid oh, I am sorry. I should have gotten my facts together. Take care.
Great video!! We love our Berkey!! Cleaning and reusing the filters is AWESOME!! The city water has a lot of chlorine in it, but our Berkey gets rid of it. I've never drunk this much water in my LIFE!!! I LOVE IT!!!
Thank you! We’re currently building an earth sheltered house in the Adirondacks and we still plan on using it with our private well. We will add the white filters too👍 definitely makes the water taste better too!!
What’s your opinion on using the white filters along with the black filters?
Depends where you live and what your water source is. We didn’t need them when we lived on Long Island because they already pre-filtered the water. We only used the Berkey to filter out the chlorine and the rust and lead from the pipes. But now that we’re living on an off grid Homestead with a private well, we will use both the black and the white filters.
Thank you for taking time to video this demonstration. Jo Ann in Mississippi
You are so welcome! We appreciate you letting us know and hope you have a great day!
That long island accent 👌🏿
Ugh, I know. LOL
Can they last longer if you take you years to filter 6,000 gallons? Or is 3-5 years it?
They can take longer or shorter depending upon your use.
Lead solder hasn't been legal for decades.
True but a lot of people live in old houses. Ours was built in 1930
Great video, very informative.
We use an Alexapur filter in our house and 5th wheel for all our drinking and cooking water. We have a Clear Source three stage filtration system in our 5th wheel as well. It filters down to .2 microns. Then we filter personal consumption water through the .02 micron Alexapur. If you’ve ever been sick from bad water you never want to go there again!
Thanks so much for watching. That sounds like a great plan and we may have to do a double filter in the future as well. You are correct, bad water is NOT good :-)
I own a 5th wheel too, is it safe to filter and drink the water from the black holding tank in the 5 th wheel or RV?
Thank you Tina, this was really informative and interesting. 💕 NonnaGrace
Thanks!
👍 wow!
Nice video. Thanks for sharing it
Your vdo is awesome and fantastic. 16
Appreciate that very much!
Thank you so much for this video! I found your channel because this video was recommended to me through TH-cam, and it's exactly what I needed. I just added a Berkey to my home this year and I love it, but my filters are so slow. Now I'll apply your techniques and hopefully increase the filter rate. I can't wait to catch up and watch more of your journey.
Hope it works for you and welcome to our channel! We appreciate the support 😊
Thanks!
Welcome!
Fill a bucket up with water dip filters in and use an air compressor to blow air through the filters, cleans inside and out. Never have to pay $$$ for new filters again.
Interesting! Will have to give it a try
What PSI do you set your compressor to? I'm assuming too much pressure can cause some type of damage🤔🤷♂️
Great info. Maintaining you things is a great way to save money in the long run. 👍
We agree!
I live on Long Island too and our water is known for not being the greatest and we have the highest breast cancer rates in the country, so I filter all my water.
So true and scary. I think everyone should filter their water no matter where they live. Better safe than sorry!
You didn't back flush the filters and there really isn't any need to clean the part with filtered water in it.
Great video! Very nice job! Thank you.
Had no idea it made that much noise. I picked up a Royal for cheap over the weekend. Soon as I find space, I’ll put it together. But, I don’t know that I’ll use it frequently so, when I get filters (bought it used), the filters will probably last more than 6 years.
BTW, perhaps, you can attach a hose to the faucet to refill your Berkey, once you have it in place. It’s going to become even less fun and accident prone to keep filling it using heavy pots of water.
It was a temporary solution. We are planning much better in the new house we are building!
I couldn’t prime with my tap 🤪🙄 I poked a hole in a bottle of water and squeezed it in that way! Lol where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Great idea!
Should it not be primed with filtered water?
It really doesn’t matter because it’s filtered as it passes through. Also it needs water pressure to prime it.
Great video, many thanks from a new Berkey buyer.
Excellent video! Thank you very much!!!
Thank you! Glad we could help and hope you have a great day 👍❤️
I actually use an old Brita plastic 2 litre jug with a handle...to fill my Berkey water system with the filter removed, it saves juggling a saucepan. The old Brita filter system removed obviously...
Good idea!
Seems like the website has clear description about washing filter with a scotch brite sponge, that will probably work better. Filters can be washed up to 100 times!!
It does, we tried it, we like this way better and have had success for many many years now😊 still using the berkey daily! **UPDATE they do actually say a stiff toothbrush works 👍 berkey-store.com/en/faq/faq-water-filter-black-berkey/faq-cleaning-black-berkey-water-filter.html#:~:text=Start%20by%20emptying%20and%20disassembling,Reboot%20the%20filters.
That looks like a fantastic system. It’s amazing what it removes from your water.
It does remove a lot! There are other 'white' filters that would remove more but up until now we haven't felt the need to use them here. We will use them when we move though!
thanks for demo. I think maybe it takes more time overall to clean fewer filters...because you will be cleaning them more often, and the other related work is fixed time per cleaning (more often).
True!
How often do we need to change filters?
It honestly depends on how much water you filter
Thank you! Had to clean our Baby Berkey and your video is straightforward and easy to understand.
Glad it helped!
My water started tasting funky so I looked at the water and it was dirty. I looked at my filters and the same red gunk. Thank you!!!
You're welcome!!
When I fill my Berkey with our public water it smells like a pool... Yuck!
Same here! That’s our main reason for using ir👍
I wouldn’t use a paper towel!
I would strongly encourage you to get the fluoride filters. Are there are a few things more corrosive and the sodium fluoride
Yes, we do have them already. Thanks so much 😊
Very nice. I have an Alexapure and I love mine. It is very similar to the berkey.
Never heard of that but I am sure it does a great job!
Thank You were did you buy yours
Ours was actually a gift from our children for Christmas one year. I think they got it directly from Berkey though. But we buy the filters from Amazon. There’s a link in the description of the video 👍
youb should do a berkey commercial onbstop crying . do this
Not sure what you mean
Great information on cleaning it
Thanks!
You use paper towels????
that you have public water IS the reason to filter your water.
Very true but there are also reasons with private well water👍
I'm pretty sure you only have to prime new filters. Or if your filters dried out.
You’re probably right but we like that last push of the water through the filter to make sure it’s clean.
Thank you both!
Have a wonderful day!
Cool thanks
Do you ever get a bad smell in the bottom chamber? I just recently bought a berkey so everything is new. After about 2 weeks, we started noticing that every 2-3 days a bad smell would happen in just the bottom chamber. We don’t let the water sit in there for more than 36 hours but most of the time less than that. We have to wash out the bottom chamber every other day to keep the smell out. It smells like swampy egg water.
Edit: we did the red dye test, both filters are fine. These are brand new filters too. The water we are using is St. Louis tap water so nothing crazy.
That’s never happened to us. I have a few questions for you: is your water from a private well? Is your area known to have sulfur in the water? I’m pretty sure it’s not from the berkey and has something to do with your water.
@@CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid it’s St. Louis city tap water, not well water. It’s not known for having sulfur in it.
I’ve had my Berkey 2 weeks. The water smells musty like a garden hose. We’ve rinsed everything twice and it’s fine for 2 days then the smell -taste is back. Not well water, no sulfur. However a lot of chlorine!
I thought we didn’t need to repurge during cleaning?
You don’t we just like to run the water through
I just love your voice. very reassuring as im old and afraid to clean my Birkey.lol..But I have one question. When You primed it I don't have the tan washer??What to do.
Awe, thanks! No w, a lot of people lose that little piece. You can use a rubber washer from the hardware store that’s about the same size. And actually, if it’s already primed you really don’t need to do it again.
Oh thank you for the reply. My mind’s at rest. Gonna watch the video a couple more times and then I’m going to clean clean clean and be so proud of myself LOL
@@sharonwalters6135 LOL. It's no problem and the first time is always the hardest! Don't overdo it :-) Berkey is one of the best investments we ever made in our health!
Very good review. Thanks
Thank you
Hi, thanks for the Video! What happen when we are abroad for 3 weeks and the Filters were outside the Pot and without water?
Not sure, but I’d think that they would just dry out so they would need to be re-primed and I would flush them really well. I might also run water through with a few drops of chlorine to kill any chance of mold growth. If I was really unsure I would replace the filters.
Ohh thank you very much for your fast answer! I think i have to replace them
@@claumullerder3502 It is probably the safer choice
I’ve had mine for 2 years and I clean them regularly but I see sediment in the bottom chamber. Any idea how i can fix that?
Sounds like it’s not filtering properly. I would first check to make sure all the white screw are tight and nothing is getting through and then I would check to make sure filters are nice and snug. It’s a problem if any of them are cross threaded. Once you’ve done that if it still occurs I would try the red dye test. They explain it on their website.
@@CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid thanks for the info
Very welcome!
ive had mine for 6 years with original carbon filters
I wash the bottom tank with mild dish soap.
In construction we would use baking soda to clean the big water coolers so there wasn't a chance of residual soap.
It's probably better to scrub the filters with a toothbrush as you are doing. Other videos are using an abrasive sponge, and I think that can damage the filters over time.
I believe the instructions say to use an abrasive sponge but we just don’t buy them. The toothbrush works fine for us though. Thanks
Wow how do u have 7 holes for ur berkey filter
We have the largest one they sell
@@CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid wow incredible
I can’t find my little primer thing now what do I do ?
I know exactly how you feel! You can get a rubber washer. Just take the filter to the local hardware store to fit it to the correct diameter.
@@CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid thank you so much 😊
Very welcome! Let me know how it works out👍 Kathie
I love my Berkey too! First time I filled mine up I flooded water all over the place. Idk why I didn’t realize the water would seep out of the seam of both containers! Nice video!
Oh no! So sorry that happened! We do love ours though and even though we’re in the mountains now we still plan to use it with our well water!
How would you know if the insides of the filter had been cleaned and were safe to use? Worried about my filter incase i’m not cleaning it enough
If it is clogged you will know because the drip is very slow. There is also a red dye test you can do to see if the filters are filtering good - instructions are on the Berkey web site. Lastly, you could always use a water testing kit to see if there is any bacteria present in the water but you would need to be sure not to contaminate the test (they are easily contaminated). The filters do not filter out virus' to my knowledge but you could add the white filters for more peace of mind (if you aren't using them). You could also run some chlorine or vinegar through them. I have not done this but when we move to the mountains where we will be filtering well water I plan to give this a try myself
That is why the red dye test is important.
You primed the filters with tap water, won't that run into the new filtered water?
No because that’s being filtered also. Anything that passes through is filtered
I use a tool which enables you to purge the filters, then use it to prime them. It works real good.
Sounds great!
What is the tool?
@@CoyoteCrossingSanctuary 3 years late but it's called the Black Berkey Primer Pump.
@@occupythepresentmoment7025 Hey! Thank you! Better late than never.
my berkey 1and a half galln 2 berkeys in process and paid for. im single for a earth quake 911 system
👍👍👍
My berkey water is reading 88 rpms at first it was 0 I just bought it so I shouldn't have to clean it . Idk what to do please help .
What exactly is reading 88 rpms? And they do need to be cleaned. How often depends upon the size of the Berkey and how much water you use daily. OOps just realized you meant you just bought it so it shouldn't need to be cleaned. If you explain the rpms to me, I can maybe help you.
@@CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid sorry I meant my ppm meter read 88 parts per million in the water after I ran it through the berkey it's a travel berkey 1.5 gallon
@@loveme9597 Oh, I see. It should definitely be lower after filtering. Are you sure you primed the filter and installed it correctly with the rubber washer on the inside?
@@CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid I did prime it but maybe it wasnt installed right. I'll take it apart and clean and prime it . Then ill let you know the result of it . Thank you
@@loveme9597 I really hope it works out! Also, I am interested to know what tester you are using (I am a Geology teacher) if you would not mind sharing a link with me. I would really appreciate it!
Question and suggestion. I am getting ready to clean our Berkey and am wondering, when you prime the filters(after cleaning them), you are priming them with the yucky tap water you don't want to drink. There should be a way of priming with filtered water. I guess after cleaning the lower chamber and refilling the upper chamber you could put a pot under the spigot, open it and run some water through it to flush the insides of the filter out. That's my plan, unless I come across a better one. Thanks so much for taking the time to post this. Ours is only a 2 1/2 gallon model and we absolutely love it.
Thanks! You could probably do that but another commenter spoke about using a soda bottle to prime with so theoretically you could save the remaining filtered water in the lower chamber in a clean soda bottle to prime with!
I agree Rick. Here's what I do. Once I prime it. I turn the black filter over the way it should be in the chamber and shake it up and down. Careful not to bash it against anything. This makes the yucky water totally come out of them. You'll know when its all out as it won't have a sound!