British Berkefeld, Stainless Steel, Gravity Water Filter - Review

British Berkefeld Stainless Steel Gravity Water Filter

I love water!
Despite the glass recycling bin at our house constantly overflowing with empty booze bottles, my favourite drink is water - always has been, and always will be.
Nothing quenches my thirst, or makes me feel as good as drinking water does. I've never felt like drinking anything else when a refreshing drink is needed. Well, apart from tea, coffee, red wine, and last but not least real ale. I have been known to have the occasional sip of these delicious beverages too.
But water is my first love, so I prefer not to drink anything else. As the saying goes, If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

(Barley, our lovely Lurcher makes an appearance in a few of the photos.
Obviously he is not relevant to this blog post, it's just that he thinks everything is for him.
I don't want to tell him the truth just yet - he's still young. ;))

Unfortunately it was broke. By which I mean, that water was no longer quenching my thirst in the usual pleasant way.
Since we moved in to our current house I've been looking for a decent water filter, mainly because the tap water here is absolutely horrible. It is undrinkable, at least for me. Other people may like it. I don't.
The tap water in this house is seriously chlorinated, and unfortunately the local water board also adds fluoride to our water too, which is very bad.

I've always enjoyed drinking tap water, when in Britain, but not here where we live.
The nasty strong stench of chloride hits you as soon as you turn on the tap.
I know that chlorine is added to the water to kill bacteria (apart from Cryptosporidium) and that as soon as the pressure is released from the water; when you turn on the tap, the chlorine is released, but I still don't feel comfortable drinking the water in our house.
Yes, the smell of the chlorine quickly dissipates once I've poured a glass of water, but the taste is unpalatable, and it's not something I want in my body.
I don't want fluoride either. I truly believe that fluoride is very harmful to my health.
Speaking of which, the current government has plans to add fluoride to everyones tap water, or so says an interesting, and very scary, article I read recently in the Telegraph.
But I digress, the tap water in our house is undrinkable, and I have always liked the taste of tap water wherever we've been in Britain, but sadly not where we live now.
It tastes horrible, and I know it's not good for my health.
So, I felt I had to find a way to get access to clean, safe, healthy drinking water.

Google!
Yep, google knows everything, so that's where I started my search for the best water filter to suit my needs, and my budget.
Eventually, after a lot of research, which included reading what felt like millions of product reviews, and watching YouTube videos, I finally decided to purchase a Berkey water filter. Or to give it its proper full name, a British Berkefeld, Stainless Steel, Gravity Water Filter. Or as it is more commonly referred to, the Big Berkey - but that's mainly on American websites.
So I decided to buy a British Berkefeld water filter system, well, that's not particularly accurate, because after all of my research, I then procrastinated for a few months. During this time I felt I had no choice but to drink bottled water, which I wasn't happy doing because I am aware of the dangers of BPA leaching from the plastic bottles in to the water, and the potential health hazards of BPA. Also plastic water bottles are, as we all know, one of the worst things for planet earth, in terms of their disposal. But that's another topic.

So, after much researching, and even more procrastination, one morning I finally asked Mr.R to order the Berkey water filter system for me.
I say I asked Mr.R because I prefer him to order things I want, as I don't trust myself to order the correct item. I have visions of making mistakes and ending up with 100 water filters instead of just the one.
Anyway, as I've mentioned previously in numerous posts we like to buy a lot of the things we want from Amazon UK. It's usually better value than elsewhere, prompt delivery, and we've never had a problem with them. This time however, Amazon wasn't the best place on price.
We found a website that was a bit cheaper, so they got our custom for the British Berkefeld, Stainless Steel, Gravity Water Filter.
I can't remember exactly how much we paid for the Berkey because it was a while ago, but I think it was £95, including delivery. You can check out the website here - Wreckin Water Softeners.
Amazon were asking slightly more than £100, plus £25 for delivery.

Here's the description of the British Berkefeld Water Filter System, that we purchased.

British Berkefeld SS Gravity Water Filter 

• Ideal for camping, emergency situations, Rented Properties and everyday use. 
• For use on municipal or natural water supplies. 
• Saves you money on expensive bottled water. 
• Up to 10 litres of reliable drinking water on tap wherever you are. 
• Filters out: Pathogenic Bacteria (cholera, typhoid, salmonella, E-coli, etc.) Giardia, Cryptosporidium and other parasites, Chlorine, Organics and all types of particle contamination down to 0.5 micron. (When fitted with Doulton Super Sterasyl™ candles). 
• Portable, lightweight, high capacity filter. 
• Easy to use. Simple to maintain. 
• Pour untreated water in the top. Get filtered water from the tap. No power supply required.
• Supplied with 2 Super Sterasyl™ filter candles or can be adjusted to use 4 filter candles for greater flow (more candles = higher flow rate). When fitted with Super Sterasyl™ filter candles, the output of the SS, assuming regular refilling of the upper chamber, will be approximately as follows: 
• 2 candles – 40 litres per 24 hours 
• 4 candles – 80 litres per 24 hours 
• All SS filters have four holes to enable the fitting of up to 4 candles. The holes which are not in use are filled with removable rubber bungs. 
• As standard, the SS is supplied with 2 Super Sterasyl™ candles which are 7 inches long, 2 inches in diameter, with a long mount and a wing nut. 
• For ease of transport, the upper chamber fits into the lower chamber to save space. The capacity of the lower chamber is (10 litres). 
• Ceramic filter candles can be cleaned to extend life. 
• Candle Life 2000 Ltrs 6-12 months Total Height of assembled unit = 485mm with diameter 225mm Storage height = 355mm

I want to purchase the fluoride filters, but they're not easy to find in the UK, and they're quite expensive. I think they cost about £130 for two.
I am of the opinion that you can't put a price on your health, but having said that, that's only relevant if you've got the cash to splash. Splash, water, haha!
Also I have read conflicting articles about the efficiency of the fluoride filters, so for the moment I'm just using the two Super Sterasyl filter candles that were included with the British Berkefeld when I purchased it.
Actually, I'd really like to have a whole house system, because showering in the crappy water we have here is also bad for our health; breathing in the fumes are a known cause of illness. But once again, that's for another blog post, another time.
It frustrates me that we pay a lot of money for our water, and yet it's not as safe and healthy as it could, or, more importantly should be.
I know we're better off than millions of people who don't have access to clean safe drinking water, but that doesn't lessen the point that we are being charged for water that isn't what it's claimed to be. It isn't clean, it's full of chemicals and other harmful substances.
Our government shouldn't be able to poison us, or more accurately medicate us without via permission, via our tap water. It's frightening to think that we are being controlled in this way. Ha! But once again, that is another rant for a future blog post, or have I already written about it? I think I have. It's the tap water, it's messing with my mind.

Right, I'm back on track, I promise.
I've waited a few months before writing this review as I wanted to use the British Berkefeld for a decent period of time before commenting on it.
So, after much rambling, unusual for me I know. Hehe!
What's my opinion on the British Berkefeld, Stainless Steel, Gravity Water Filter?
I like it!
No, I love it! Truly!
It's excellent!
During my research about the British Berkey water filters pretty much all of the reviews were very positive, with the only negative points being mentioned that sometimes the spigot (tap) leaks, that the tap is too low which makes filling your receptacles difficult, or that the water filter takes up too much room on the worktop.
Well, obviously the tap on the British Berkey has to be placed at the bottom of the unit because it's a gravity fed water filter, and if the tap was any higher you wouldn't be able to get all of the water out. All you have to do is either stand the water filter on something to raise the level of the tap, or easier still have the tap at the edge of a unit.
As for the tap leaking, we haven't had any trouble with it.
And finally, space, we have a very small kitchen, but I don't feel the water filter takes up much space at all. We've got it sitting on the corner edge of a unit and it's not in the way.

What else can I say about the British Berkefeld, Stainless Steel, Gravity Water Filter?
The water tastes really good, pure and fresh.
Is it actually as good as it tastes? I don't know.
To know for sure I'd have to send off some water samples to be tested at a lab. And, being the untrusting cynic that I am, I don't think it's worth the expense, because how would I ever know for sure if the lab was truthful. Everyone has an agenda of some sort these days, or so it seems to me, so I'm going to continue to use my beautiful Big Berkey, my British Berkefeld, Stainless Steel, Gravity Water Filter and enjoy the lovely tasting water it gives me, in the hope that it is actually good for my health.
I guess sometimes even someone as untrusting as me has to trust.
So, yes, I am very happy indeed with our British Berkefeld, Stainless Steel, Gravity Water Filter.
I highly recommend it to all water lovers.
Water - I'll drink to that!

What are your thoughts on drinking water?
Do you use a water filter system in your home, if so which one?