Royal Berkey Gravity-Fed Water Filter System 3.25 Gallon with 2 Black Berkey Elements, 2 Berkey PF-2 Fluoride and Arsenic Reduction Elements

3 reviews for Royal Berkey Gravity-Fed Water Filter System 3.25 Gallon with 2 Black Berkey Elements, 2 Berkey PF-2 Fluoride and Arsenic Reduction Elements

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Bold Consumer – 6 August 2012

   
   My Review of the Royal Berkey with 2 black filters and 2 PF-2 fluoride filters.Everything I drink, especially tea, tastes better after a week or so of using this filter system.Installation was easy for me after I stressed out thinking it would be really difficult. I’m not particularly mechanical and I’m awful at following instructions.Before I ordered the Royal Berkey, I asked my son if he would be willing to put it together for me. I had read reviews of people having problems with leaky spigots and puddles on the floor, etc. He said he would. Good thing, because I had already decided to order it. It turns out that I didn’t need any help.On recommendation of some of the reviews, I bought the glass Royal Imperial Berkey Water Filter Water View Spigot to help me know how much water is in the tank. Apparently if you fill it too full, it may leak through where the top (filter) section sits on the water storage canister. I’m very glad I did order the glass spigot. I’m finding it very helpful.While I was waiting for everything to arrive, I read every review of each model. I got some great ideas! I used many of them. I’ll share some of the ones that helped me most here.I decided to take it very slowly, step-by-step, and do each step correctly the first time. That’s not my normal style, but the slower, cautious approach paid off for me this time. Nothing got broken during the installation.I briefly looked over the instructions that came with the unit and decided to come back to them in a few minutes when I was ready to put the system together.I viewed the YouTube videos of how to PRIME the filters. VERY helpful! Also helpful was one reviewer’s comment about how you will get sprayed with water. I thought I could avoid that if I was careful, but I got semi-soaked. It was kind of interesting watching all that dust and debris rush out of those filters and down the drain.After viewing the YouTube video, I went back to the instructions that came with the unit. It was much easier after having seen it done on the video.Installing the canisters was easier than I thought it would be. It was fairly obvious how to install the BLACK canisters, just just stick their little stems through the holes in the bottom of the top stainless steel tank, but I had trouble finding the instructions on how to install the white ones. I somehow missed those instructions or didn’t understand them. I Googled YouTube again and had an ‘Aha!’ moment. Very easy once you know that they hook on below the black canisters. I was thinking they fit in one of those other slots. There are little ARROWS on the canisters that point up, so it’s easy to know how to connect them.There are 4 slots for canisters, and only 2 black canisters (with 2 white canisters hanging on to them). That leaves two extra empty slots. Something has to be in those slots or the water will just gush through, defeating the whole purpose.It took me a few minutes to figure that out, the hard way, so I filled the tank with water, which just swooshed right into the containment (storage) tank, without ever touching very much of the filter canisters. The water went through so fast it was obvious that it didn’t filter anything. It didn’t even make good contact with the filters.Then I remembered the PLUGS I had read about and had tossed aside earlier because I didn’t know what to do with them. I took the plugs and plugged them into the slots that didn’t have filters attached to them. Then I put water through again. The water didn’t drain straight through. It filled the tank as it was supposed to do. THIS time I could hear the water draining through, but very, very slowly. At that rate it would take a couple of hours, or more, for all the 3 gallon or so of water to filter through. That was what I wanted.When I installed the spigot, very carefully so I didn’t break it or ruin the threads, I tested it by filling the storage canister with water. I noticed just a smidgen of water around the spigot, so I went back in, unscrewed it, and screwed it back. Apparently I hit the “sweet spot” as another reviewer put it. No water seen around the spigot since then.I’m especially glad I got that “Water View Spigot.” It has already been helpful. I can see that it will pay for itself.I moved my filter system around, first on top of a higher ‘bar’ counter-top, but that means I have to get a step-stool to fill it. Then I put it so it would drain into the sink, ‘just in case’, but I couldn’t fit a container under the spigot very easily. I moved it to the edge, so that the spigot hangs right over the edge of the counter, but I didn’t like how it looked. I moved it back on the higher ‘bar’ counter-top. That works fine for me because it’s easy to get the spray faucet and fill it that way or climb up and fill it every couple of days as needed. After using it for a couple of weeks, I’ve found that I need to fill it every 3-4 days.I hope some of my experience will be helpful to someone. I had fun doing this, and I’m the world’s worst at assembling things. If you are like me, an uncoordinated klutz, just plan it out, do it slowly, step-by-step, doing each step correctly as you go. It’s really easy, and fun. I’m really pleased with how it filters the water.

2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   ELCaraqueno – 29 January 2014

   
   So, I spent weeks reading the reviews online of more than 10 different filtration systems, including consumer reports and plenty of youTube videos. At the end I decided to go with the Berkey, despite that is pricey… especially for two silver trash cans on top of each other (There are many videos showing how to build your own berkey system with home depot’s buckets). But, I can tell you that so far the pricey system is worth it.The taste is way different than using brita or pur filters. There is no strong smell of chlorine anymore. I do not have to replace the filters every 2-3 months like the pur. The two buckets actually look quite nice, more fancy looking than any lowe’s bucket. The system filters the water pretty good and the test with red dye food coloring really worked. I have no water spills through my spigot like other customers complained about and I see no glue residue coming out of any of the black filters.TDS will not measure the quality of the filtration system (just the minerals in it) but just for the people who are obsessed with it, my personal experience is this:Philadelphia Tap Water: 217 ppmPoland Spring Water: 28 ppmBerkey Filtered Water:1st time filtered water: 234 ppm (Likely from the white dust that does come out of the fluoride filters for the first time)2nd time: 209 ppm3rd time: 186 ppm4th time: 187 ppm5th time: 181 ppm6th time: 190 ppmIf your tap water is not so good, like mine in Philly (No surprise there)(We were ranked among the worst in the nation among other cities in FL & CA), consider the Berkey, it is pricey but is nice looking.. I know what you think, 150$ worth of silver trash cans that likely cost 1$ to make in China and 5$ to ship across the Pacific Ocean to this FL company…. however the other 150$ is fair for 4 filters (2 black filters and 2 fluoride filters). If you plan to keep it long term, the initial 150$ investment is worth it so far. I will keep you posted if anything comes up. BTW, I do not work for the company and Amazon can verify I am real owner of this thing. I usually do not write reviews… I want to make the decision easier for you than it was for me watching countless youtube videos…. Hope this helps….

3. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Shirl – 4 November 2024

   
   Omgosh this filter is the best, water tastes so crisp and clean