DIY Berky Look-Alike (with pictures!)

My husband is very excited to be a part of one of my blog posts.  :-)  Tonight, he helped me put together our very own water filtration system using Black Berky Purification Elements. Berky is a well-known company for their water purification system, popular for its ability to purify pond water to safely drinkable in seconds without using any form of tablets, bleach, or iodine.  My husband got me their Sport Berky for Christmas one year, and I love it!

Why do we feel the need to filter our tap water? My husband and I are firm believers that our tap water here in the United States is not as "pure" as it should be.  Yes, I am thankful we live in this country versus some places where women are toting buckets of water for miles, and even then it is disease-ridden and toxic in the long-term.  However, most US cities put so many chemicals into our water system that it, too, can bring health concerns.  Without going into too much detail at this time, our tap water has artificial fluoride (a by-product of nuclear waste), traces of livestock birth control, pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals, chlorine, and more.  We did not want to use this as our main means of drinking water.  So, we decided to build our own and was able to do so for $100.

*note we did not purchase the fluoride-removing extension at this time, so the following instructions do not include filtering out fluoride* 

Materials Needed:
*note the sizes and supplies listed will vary depending on the store and products you decide on.  This is what WE did*
- two new, clean, 5-gallon buckets WITH lids
- two Black Berky Purification Elements (for some odd reason, Berky cannot ship these pieces to my state, so we had them sent to a friend and paid them for shipping to us.  We also happened to catch a sale on these and got both for $80.) 
- one liquid spigot
- plumber's putty (optional, in case of leak)
- one bushing to attach spigot to bucket
- one rubber washer (hard to see! Sorry!)
- teflon tape (optional to put on threads of spigot)
- drill
- 7/16" drill bit and 7/8" spade drill bit (not pictured)

Step 1: Drill two 7/16" holes in the bottom of one of the buckets.

Step 2: Line up a bucket lid with the two holes made, and drill two 7/16" holes to line up bucket to lid.

Drilling spigot hole. Hi Lily!

Step 3: In the OTHER bucket, use spade bit to drill hole for the spigot in the side of the bucket, toward the bottom.

Step 4: Put rubber washer around threads of spigot, and place spigot in the newly made hole.  Put bushing into the threads until spigot is tight against the bucket.  Fill bucket with water and let sit to test for leaks.  IF it still leaks, use plumber's putty to fill any gaps around the spigot threads.  We did not have to do this.

Priming filters with rubber gasket

Filters bead water when primed

Step 5: Prime filters according to package directions.    

Step 6: Put primed filters in both the bottom of the bucket with two holes, thread side down, and the lid with two holes.  The filters should stand upside down in the bottom of the bucket.Make sure to screw on the wing nut from underneath the lid and bucket so that the filters, bucket, and lid are now one unit.

Step 7: If the spigot bucket is leak-free, place on a hard surface and put filter-bucket-lid unit on top.  

 Step 8: Drill 2 small holes on the top sides of each bucket for air to escape. We drilled ours just under the lid lip.

Step 9: Fill top bucket with water, and let sit and filter through one cycle.  Do NOT drink this water, as the filter has charcoal and other dust particles to push out of its system.  Dump this water after it has completely finished filtering.  For us, this took overnight.  Note that there will be about 1/2" water in the top bucket that will not get filtered as the filters themselves are set a little above the bottom of the bucket.

Agh! Semi-clean kitchen :-/

Maintenance: 

1) The filters are rated to last 3,000 gallons per filter for tap water, so keep this in mind as you use your new system.
2) It takes 12-24 hours to filter at a normal rate.
3) Filters require periodic cleaning with a green scrub pad. NO SOAP EVER!

Enjoy having clean water to share with family and friends!  
Happy Healthing!