Broke down and got a Royal Berkey

Believe it or not, a 2000 square foot roof in NC collects 4,000 gallons of water every month. It is not possible to store all the water that comes off'n yer own roof!

I wanna get a good home filter like that. All mine are camping devices.
 
At the farm all the roof water runs into the cistern, never thought about what we do to it before using it, not my department.
 
I have been looking at them for a few years and just never made the commitment. Nice setup though and apparently excellent quality.
 
Few years ago the City of Raleigh added an additional fee for stormwater runoff, based on the size of your property. So we pay for the water we use, what goes down the drain and what lands on the property. ;)
 
Starting to utilize it. Maybe it is just in my head, but the water sure SEEMS to taste better.
My daughter preps the coffee for the next day every evening, so that all I have to do is stumble in about 4.30 or so and flip the switch. She forgot last night and used tap water, but we will see if the coffee is better tomorrow a.m.
 
Starting to utilize it. Maybe it is just in my head, but the water sure SEEMS to taste better.
My daughter preps the coffee for the next day every evening, so that all I have to do is stumble in about 4.30 or so and flip the switch. She forgot last night and used tap water, but we will see if the coffee is better tomorrow a.m.
At 430 am I need caffeine. Not sure I'd tell the difference at least on a work day. I spent 10-12 years traveling up and down the east coast and drank so much motel and truck stop coffee, I'm beyond being a coffee snob. I heat up water in a 24oz insulated mug in the microwave when I get up, throw in a few healthy spoon fulls of Walmart or Maxwell House instant coffee and I'm good to go.
 
At 430 am I need caffeine. Not sure I'd tell the difference at least on a work day. I spent 10-12 years traveling up and down the east coast and drank so much motel and truck stop coffee, I'm beyond being a coffee snob. I heat up water in a 24oz insulated mug in the microwave when I get up, throw in a few healthy spoon fulls of Walmart or Maxwell House instant coffee and I'm good to go.
I understand. My mom and dad drank Sanka instant coffee when I was growing up. I thought it was the nastiest stuff I had ever put in my mouth (lol).
I am a coffee snob. So much so that I went out and bought a BUNCH of unroasted (green) beans so I can roast and grind it myself.

Don't judge me :)
 
Ahhhh....Sanka.

I loathe instant coffee, but I will drink it. We'd take the packs in the MREs (Taster's Choice, I think...) and put it between our lip and gum, like a chew. You still get the caffeine.
 
Ahhhh....Sanka.

I loathe instant coffee, but I will drink it. We'd take the packs in the MREs (Taster's Choice, I think...) and put it between our lip and gum, like a chew. You still get the caffeine.

You can buy coffee in pouches for that purpose. I've never tried it, but should be about 25mg of caffeine a "dip."
 
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At 430 am I need caffeine. Not sure I'd tell the difference at least on a work day. I spent 10-12 years traveling up and down the east coast and drank so much motel and truck stop coffee, I'm beyond being a coffee snob. I heat up water in a 24oz insulated mug in the microwave when I get up, throw in a few healthy spoon fulls of Walmart or Maxwell House instant coffee and I'm good to go.
Now NOW!!!! That explains Alot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
At 430 am I need caffeine. Not sure I'd tell the difference at least on a work day. I spent 10-12 years traveling up and down the east coast and drank so much motel and truck stop coffee, I'm beyond being a coffee snob. I heat up water in a 24oz insulated mug in the microwave when I get up, throw in a few healthy spoon fulls of Walmart or Maxwell House instant coffee and I'm good to go.

:eek::confused:
 
I bought the biggest Berky back in February when i saw the Wuhan thing spooling up. It has been in a box since. I also bought like six spare filters. Those things are expensive. But should i need to take my pond water and make it potable i can. I still have not hooked up a rain water collection system. Mostly because i am lazy.
 
two things:

1. the Berkey i have looks like yours, and is slooow...but that's how it works best.
2. i used to travel, too...and brought home "free" coffee packs from the motels.
although i don't drink coffee (tried to. never "took"), when the stores are out,
someone might barter something for it.
 
We've been using the Imperial Berkey for a few days now to make sure it will work for what we need it for. So far we love it, especially compared to the Pur faucet mounted filter we were using.
 
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two things:

1. the Berkey i have looks like yours, and is slooow...but that's how it works best.
2. i used to travel, too...and brought home "free" coffee packs from the motels.
although i don't drink coffee (tried to. never "took"), when the stores are out,
someone might barter something for it.

FYI, most of them you can add filters to make it faster. Depending on the model. the one i have can have 6 filters on it at once. May speed it up.
 
Make sure you adequately prime the filters before using them. That maximizes flow rate.

Also clean the filters with a green scrubby when the water slows down. We have lots of iron in our well so it blocks the outside and needs to be cleaned off.
 
Love mine, and i agree that the water tastes different. I will also say the filters rarely go on sale, but when they do i always buy a few extra. I've also gotten into the habit of using all available slots for filters during the summer as we drink alot more water.

You can also extend their life cycle by scrubbing them and cleaning them a few times.
 
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Ordered the priming tool from Berkey for $25. I am going to use it to back flush my filters when it gets here. Will post results when I'm done.

Ordered a replacement spigot for my berkey light as well just to have a spare.
 
At the farm all the roof water runs into the cistern, never thought about what we do to it before using it, not my department.
The old house that my daddy grew up in was an old row house in a small town with a metal roof that feed into a cistern. The roof was sealed with lead and it had a cutoff on it that you flipped after it had rained for a bit to clean the pidgin poop off the roof first. Oh boy, bird crap and lead poisoning, ummm good!
 
The old house that my daddy grew up in was an old row house in a small town with a metal roof that feed into a cistern. The roof was sealed with lead and it had a cutoff on it that you flipped after it had rained for a bit to clean the pidgin poop off the roof first. Oh boy, bird crap and lead poisoning, ummm good!
Oh yeah, we had a switch on the downspout too, it might have been the only thing at the farm we didn’t mess with after being told not to mess with it.

Tearing down the old farm house this summer, it’s been there since my family homesteaded. Trying to decide if I should buy the 2.4 acre lot with mature nut and fruit trees surrounded by thousands of acres of deer and pheasant plots.
 
Oh yeah, we had a switch on the downspout too, it might have been the only thing at the farm we didn’t mess with after being told not to mess with it.

Tearing down the old farm house this summer, it’s been there since my family homesteaded. Trying to decide if I should buy the 2.4 acre lot with mature nut and fruit trees surrounded by thousands of acres of deer and pheasant plots.

Do it and don't look back. You are lucky to even have the opportunity.
 
Do it and don't look back. You are lucky to even have the opportunity.
Did I mention it’s in central Illinois? Close enough to where @gunbelt grew up that he probably had relations in the back seat of a car parked in our back 40. But that’s not what scares me, IL is a damn mess with taxes.
 
Forget what I said. Avoid north of the mason Dixon line.:eek:
 
Ordered the priming tool from Berkey for $25. I am going to use it to back flush my filters when it gets here. Will post results when I'm done.

Ordered a replacement spigot for my berkey light as well just to have a spare.

Ok, got the priming tool for the black berkey filters.

Oh My Gosh.

If you have ever primed berkey filters by holding the rubber washer between the filter and the faucet, you know how much fun that is.

I wish I had bought this when I bought the berkey. Priming the filter is so easy. You can also back flush or blow air to empty the filter of water for storage.

If you have a berkey and dont have the priming tool, buy it.

If you are buying a berkey get the priming tool with it.

Just moisten the valves with clean water to make assembly easier.

HTH

CB
 
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Ok, got the priming tool for the black berkey filters.

If you are buying a berkey get the priming tool with it.

Just moisten the valves with clean water to make assembly easier.

HTH

CB

Good to know. I have the big monster berkey and 6 extra filters still int eh box for shtf. Sounds like i need a primer?
 
Do you guys use this for drinking/coffee/tea only? Do yo use it for cooking? What's the output volume?
I have the Imperial Berkey that is advertised as having a 4.5 gal capacity. I've found that 3.5 gal is more realistic, any more than that and I have to clean up water out of my floor.
We use ours for mostly drinking water and coffee, but sometimes use it for cooking also.
 
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