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Some women like to receive make up or handbags for their birthday, but luckily for me, my partner knows me better than that, and is very supportive of my blog and my journey. So when I told him I would like a Berkey Water Filter System for my birthday he barely even blinked! This was a man who was an out and out carnivore when I met him, and is now almost vegetarian, he hasn’t quite started yoga, but there’s still time!
In the UK we are lucky to have easy access to drinkable water, however the water still contains things that can be hazardous to our health including; heavy metals, hormones, pesticides, fluoride and chlorine. Here in the south east of England the water is very chalky and doesn’t taste great either, which is why many people drink bottled water, however now we know how bad plastic is for our planet we need to find another solution! I think the Berkey is the perfect answer, it’s made of stainless steel so cuts out all plastic use and the water tastes so smooth too!
The Berkey water filter system is so powerful it is classed as a water purification system, and it doesn’t just filter tap water, it can purify water from lakes, rivers or even pond water, so it is a great addition for travel and camping. Another bonus is, while it removes all the nasties, it leaves in all the goodness eg magnesium in the water.
This system removes everything bad from your water, and leaves it tasting smooth and delicious. They were originally designed to be used by the military and relief organisations who lacked access to clean water. Later these systems were developed into the Big Berkey Water Filter Systems used today.
I invested in the Royal Berkey which holds 12 litres of water, but I use filtered water for everything; drinking water, cooking, my pets and for my kettle. One of the most annoying things when you live in the South East is the build up of scale in your kettle. I can’t tell you the joy of having a spotless kettle – it’s the small wins sometimes!
Not many kettles in the south east of England look like this inside!
Most families would manage to work with A Big Berkey but the Royal version only works out around £26 more so I thought it was worth getting the slightly bigger model.
Each carbon filter lasts for around 11 years and can be cleaned up to 100 times. The filters are cleanable and need to be cleaned every 12 months – this takes about 10 minutes. This then gives The Berkey the ability to take water from almost any source, and produce fresh, pure drinking water.
The initial outlay is fairly steep but it is an investment, my Royal Berkey cost £279, which may seem like a lot of money, but if I only need to replace my filters every 11 years, it actually works out to be very economical. The total cost of a Brita water filter over 11 years would be over £1000 in replacement filters, or if I drank the same amount in bottled water it would amount to over £10.000!
So the big question is – Do they work? Yes – and they are definitely worth the investment. I think for me the best thing is the taste, I am drinking a lot more water simply because it tastes so good! Even my herbal teas taste better because the water is crystal clear and smoother to drink. I absolutely love the Berkey Water System and can’t fault it at all, it is definitely an asset in my kitchen and I would highly recommend this to everyone!
If you would like to invest in a Berkey water system you can see their full range here.
I first heard of the Big Berkey from Amanda Montalvo, her page My Non Toxic Life is one of my favourites on Facebook, so look her up.
See you soon!
Natalie x