Hello Chris
Many thanks for visiting our site and your questions.
Chlorine is easily removed with carbon, so any filter containing carbon will remove chlorine. As far as bacteria and viruses are concerned the ceramic candle normally supplied with the gravity filter will remove 99.99% them (they are not permitted to say 100%). The Big Berkey, Black Berkey or any other similar name is a larger gravity filter especially made for the American market and the candles will not fit the UK version. The black candles will only remove the chlorine viruses and bacteria, they are basically ceramic candles with carbon impregnated into the ceramic and designated "Carbosyl". They used to be made for the UK market but were not well received and to my knowledge are no longer produced, in any event they were not manufactured for gravity filters. There is no magic wand/filter that will remove all contaminants from water, which is just as well because we need a lot of them. Basically if you are taking your water from the town mains you have no need to worry, it will conform to the European Directive for Drinking Water and the Chlorine is there for your protection. As for the Berkefeld Gravity filter, it is especially designed for emergency use. You should be able to use water from any source and filter it for drinking use, providing you use the correct candles for the unit, which is why the manufacturers insist it's sold complete with candles. The best candles for these filters are the ATC Supersterasyl grade.
All the ceramic filters in the British Berkefeld gravity filter will remove bacteria and viruses. You can see the specification of each grade at http://www.avonsoft.com/pages/candle_specs.htm or download the Fairey Industrial Ceramics brochure from our home page. Either will answer your questions. The only candles grades we supply suitable for your filter are the Supersterasyl and ATC Supersterasyl.
With respect to Chlorine, it's added to water to kill bacteria (excepting Cryptosporidium) and as long as the water stays under pressure the chlorine remains. As soon as the pressure is released, like from your tap, the chlorine is released. That is why you can smell it. It dissipates very quickly and if you leave a glass of water for a few moments you should be unable to detect it. For this reason you should only remove chlorine from the water just before you consume it. There is no filter that will kill bacteria or viruses but there are filters that prevent them reaching you. The smaller the filter's pore size the more it will filter out. The ceramic candle has an effective pore size of less than 1 micron so it prevents the bacteria and viruses from passing through the filter and contaminating the treated water. Carbon filters, whilst they remove the chlorine do not kill bacteria. Some carbon is impregnated with silver salts which renders the bacteria impotent and prevents them from multiplying but that’s all. We also sell specialist filters to reduce nitrate, fluoride and calcium hardness, but these are not barrier filters they are media filters, in other words they are filled with a special media that retains the contaminate in the filter and most important, if it's not in your water don’t try to filter it out.
All filters have a life expectancy depending on use, having said that no filter should be left in place longer than 1 year. The only way of removing everything from water is by Reverse Osmosis which is molecular filtration but I would not drink it, it's used mainly for electronic circuit cleaning and washing double glazing panels.
Regards
Tony Jones
Avonsoft Water Treatment Ltd
Black berkey water filter order
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Technik
Re: Black berkey water filter order
I've contacted one of the British filter manufacturers (avonsoft) with some questions on filters, chlorine, black berkey filters, etc. Here are some of the things they got back with. May be usefull to some of you as it was to me and now I'm hesitating in buying the black filters, not that they are not efective but maybe too expensive for waht they do and I think that the ceramic ones, which are 1/5 of the price of the black ones, will work just as well...
Re: Black berkey water filter order
Technik - Thank loads for all of this. The mists are beginning to clear....!
I would also agree that the "normal" filters look sufficient for what would be required rather than going to the expense of the black ones - the benefits aren't relative to the spend in my opinion.
A (hopefully last) question in case anybody knows
, what is the shelflife of an unopened filter or candle ....?
I would also agree that the "normal" filters look sufficient for what would be required rather than going to the expense of the black ones - the benefits aren't relative to the spend in my opinion.
A (hopefully last) question in case anybody knows
, what is the shelflife of an unopened filter or candle ....?Re: Black berkey water filter order
Technik, thats great to go for that info and post the reply up here, thank you very much. I'll definitely be ordering from avonsoft, tho it'll have to be over the weekend now.
Ferricks - don't know the answer to your question, as a noob, but if no one's answered on here, I'll send a query to avonsoft when I order.
Ferricks - don't know the answer to your question, as a noob, but if no one's answered on here, I'll send a query to avonsoft when I order.
Re: Black berkey water filter order
As they are made from inert mateials such as carbon and ceramic, there probably is no 'shelf life' as such. The only problem I see is that eventually unused filters might suffer from any rubber seals or gaskets shrivelling and preventing a proper seal to the body of the filter and allowing untreated water to seep through.Ferricks wrote: A (hopefully last) question in case anybody knows
I'm in Area 7 !
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Technik
Re: Black berkey water filter order
No worries guys.
As for shelf life, I don't know about the ceramic ones but I've asked that question for the Lifesaver filters and the manufacturer replied that it's 5 years so relatively short. One simple way to extend it would be to seal it an a bag, like dehydrated food.
Sorry to confuse you guys even more with the filters but I WILL be getting the black filters from US. You must be shaking your heads right now, thinking what is he on about now.... well it's simple maths:
Avonsoft ATC Super Sterasyl
COST £11.26 (on 20% off offer) each so £22.52 for set LASTS 1500 L each so 3000 L for set LIFESPAN 6 months
Black berkey filter
COST £81 (no offer at the monet) for set of two LASTS 11350 L each so 22700 L for set NO LIFESPAN
Black filter is 3.6 times more expensive BUT filters 7.5 times more water so in the long run it's actually much much cheaper and no need to replace after 6 months, you use it until the 22700 litres of water are filtered through. Also I just learnt that IT DOES fit the British Berkefiled because it's basically the same as Big Berkey, just a different sticker.
My order is going out on Monday as planned
As for shelf life, I don't know about the ceramic ones but I've asked that question for the Lifesaver filters and the manufacturer replied that it's 5 years so relatively short. One simple way to extend it would be to seal it an a bag, like dehydrated food.
Sorry to confuse you guys even more with the filters but I WILL be getting the black filters from US. You must be shaking your heads right now, thinking what is he on about now.... well it's simple maths:
Avonsoft ATC Super Sterasyl
COST £11.26 (on 20% off offer) each so £22.52 for set LASTS 1500 L each so 3000 L for set LIFESPAN 6 months
Black berkey filter
COST £81 (no offer at the monet) for set of two LASTS 11350 L each so 22700 L for set NO LIFESPAN
Black filter is 3.6 times more expensive BUT filters 7.5 times more water so in the long run it's actually much much cheaper and no need to replace after 6 months, you use it until the 22700 litres of water are filtered through. Also I just learnt that IT DOES fit the British Berkefiled because it's basically the same as Big Berkey, just a different sticker.
My order is going out on Monday as planned
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KalPrep
Re: Black berkey water filter order
T, how did you get on mate? I am thinking of getting these for the same reason...
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Technik
Re: Black berkey water filter order
Got them couple days ago. I've ordered 2 sets of black filters plus a glass faucet and emailed them to ask for a combined postage and they agreed. So I only paid £22 total postage from US + £18 customs and other charges so all in all not bad. So now I have enough filters to get me through around 20 years of filtration. I've also ordered from a different source a big pack of coffee filters (to filter any sand, dirt, etc. if tshtf) and 5 ltr of milton fluid (for water sterilisation).
They DO fit the british berkefield filter systems so getting these two seperately and then putting together the system is cheaper than getting a complete berkey. And now they only sell the new design black filters which have a square top and a very sturdy bottom.
Yesterday I've put the system through the ultimate test of any good filter and filtered through a food colouring... thingy and it worked - crystal clear water on the receiving end. Result
They DO fit the british berkefield filter systems so getting these two seperately and then putting together the system is cheaper than getting a complete berkey. And now they only sell the new design black filters which have a square top and a very sturdy bottom.
Yesterday I've put the system through the ultimate test of any good filter and filtered through a food colouring... thingy
and it worked - crystal clear water on the receiving end. Result-
Accidentman
Re: Black berkey water filter order
Can I just ask..
For how many people are you using this filter system, and for what purpose ?
Is is for clean drinking water, and if so for how many people ?
Or for washing, and again the same question.
This confuses me because if water is filtered through material, such as jeans or Hessian, then left in the sun (even on a cold day, it is direct sun light that is important), then filtered again the same way, it is safe to drink.
Ok, not from NBC contamination, but from normal diseases.
It is all well and good to state how great a system is, but you need to put it into context.
Not everyone is here expecting nuclear war, some expect (rightly so) other problems.
So, what do you believe your system would achieve and what other systems do you recommend for other people with other problems ?
For how many people are you using this filter system, and for what purpose ?
Is is for clean drinking water, and if so for how many people ?
Or for washing, and again the same question.
This confuses me because if water is filtered through material, such as jeans or Hessian, then left in the sun (even on a cold day, it is direct sun light that is important), then filtered again the same way, it is safe to drink.
Ok, not from NBC contamination, but from normal diseases.
It is all well and good to state how great a system is, but you need to put it into context.
Not everyone is here expecting nuclear war, some expect (rightly so) other problems.
So, what do you believe your system would achieve and what other systems do you recommend for other people with other problems ?
Re: Black berkey water filter order
Well done for seeing it through, Technik!
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Technik
Re: Black berkey water filter order
Accidentman
I think everyone needs to decide what they are looking for in their system and there is plenty systems out there. For me there are only two - the berkey/berkefiled and lifesaver. But you still have to remember that these are only part-permanent systems because if tshtf then eventually I will run out of filters so then a permanent system needs to be put in place, like for example a well but I still haven't got there yet.
My berkey/berkefield system will filter for 2 people, at the moment just for drinking/cooking. What is important to me in that system is that is dead simple, not much to break, works without electricity, is portable and filters out almost anything.
http://berkeywaterfilterseurope.co.uk/b ... .html#last
The method you have described is basically a UV-C method where the ultraviolet part of the light kills bacteria. It's not a complete method and tt won't work here in Scotland
What do YOU want from a filter?
I think everyone needs to decide what they are looking for in their system and there is plenty systems out there. For me there are only two - the berkey/berkefiled and lifesaver. But you still have to remember that these are only part-permanent systems because if tshtf then eventually I will run out of filters so then a permanent system needs to be put in place, like for example a well but I still haven't got there yet.
My berkey/berkefield system will filter for 2 people, at the moment just for drinking/cooking. What is important to me in that system is that is dead simple, not much to break, works without electricity, is portable and filters out almost anything.
http://berkeywaterfilterseurope.co.uk/b ... .html#last
The method you have described is basically a UV-C method where the ultraviolet part of the light kills bacteria. It's not a complete method and tt won't work here in Scotland
What do YOU want from a filter?