Water Filtration....

[EncoreJoe]

^^^^ That is what we do. One for the house, one for the camper. The Berkey Black filters remove glyphosate. Since we are on a spring, we don't have the fluoride filters for the home Berkey, but do for the camper Berkey. Only challenge with the camper Berkey is that need to keep the filter media wet otherwise we have to re-prime if its been awhile since we last used it. Not a big deal.

Same here. We have an inline filter to stop the big stuff but drinking / coffee water comes from the Berkey. It is an excellent system and not limited to camper use.

TechnoRV has a 40% off sale going on right now on some of their inventory including some Berkey items.

 

[fez111]

We have had this water filter system:

https://www.aquasana.com/under-sink...MI0aaCstO9-QIVkr7ICh1TLwbUEAQYBiABEgL8JfD_BwE

in our last two RVs and my brother has one in his.

Before considering how much better it is to have more canisters, please keep this in mind: The water system in your RV has a certain amount of pressure available at a certain flow rate. That rate is is noticeably better on city-water. However, forcing that water through one or more filtration cartridges is a very large restriction and greatly reduces flow, especially if the filter claims better then average quality or water. The more canisters the more the restriction. We have a header tank (a 3 gallon well pump tank) in our unit so our pump cycles just like a well pump, but the pressure available is still the same as with out the tank.

We drink gallons of brewed Iced tea every week, making 3-quarts at a time. On city water our Aqua Sana two-stage filter can fill the 3-quart pitcher in about 2 minutes. With dry-camping using the pump it takes 3-4 minutes, and we have only a two-stage filter.

This I can confirm: Making Iced Tea with the Aqua Sana makes the tea and ice cubes MUCH less cloudy!

 

[Fsalmy]

We picked up this 2 cannister system in Yuma for something like $35.

View attachment 42442

Regarding the Berkey, Wirecutter has a review of it and some other countertop water filters. They don't recommend it.
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/big-berkey-water-filter-system/

That was a well written, fairly balanced article. I had read the Berkeley test results several years ago. Interesting that even though methods were different, results were not repeatable for organic compounds.

We do use under-counter 3M-Filtrete in the sticks n bricks. Due to our high sediment content, they don’t last very long, but they are NSF certified. I haven’t seen any testing results for glyphosate on the 3M filters. That’s our biggest concern.

The Berkey is kinda of a pain and I wouldn’t mind ditching it for something under-counter in the camper if it works as well or better at removing organic compounds.

Thanks for linking to that article.

 

[TX395MS]

How do you flush a carbon filter after installing a new one?

 

[JM0397]

Fellow Berkey users/owners, a few points:
-A lot of particulate in your water will clog it up quicker, so prefilter your water. Either the single canister in the rig, or use something inexpensive like a Brita (we do this now).
-Don't fill it a little bit here, a little there. This only uses the bottom of the filter and it'll clog up quicker. Drain the water all the way down and then fill it all the way up when you want to refill. This maximizes your filter life.
-The black filters can and should be scrubbed clean occasionally. Per Berkey, you can clean them up to 100x. They recommend scotchbrite pads. Be careful what you use, it could make things worse. I've started using steel wool, gently of course.
-After scrubbing, best practice is to backflush each filter, same way you did to first activate it. Cleaning without backflushing doesn't fully clean it.

This has helped us greatly improve filter speed and life of our Berkey filters.

 

[WhittleBurner]

We picked up this 2 cannister system in Yuma for something like $35.

View attachment 42442

Regarding the Berkey, Wirecutter has a review of it and some other countertop water filters. They don't recommend it.
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/big-berkey-water-filter-system/

I don't agree with their assesment. Been using the Berkey (Royal) for almost 4 months now with Berkey uncertified black filters. We also have 4 external filters and not ever do they or did they get rid of the awful taste of FL water. The Berkey cleaned up the flavor and made the water taste like purified water from a bottle. If having certified filters is important you can buy replacements that are certified. My taste buds are telling me the Berkey filter is a very good one.

 

[reubenray]

I have a side note about these filters. I currently have a two filter setup. What should I do to them in between trips? It may be two or three weeks between the trips.

 

[Riverbug]

I have a side note about these filters. I currently have a two filter setup. What should I do to them in between trips? It may be two or three weeks between the trips.

For our filters manufacturer recommends removing the filters and letting them dry between uses, or replace when the time comes. I'm in the habit now of removing the filters and canisters, setting them to dry a few days, then reinstalling in the canisters so they are ready to go on the next trip.