A gas grill is a type of outdoor grill that uses propane or natural gas
as a fuel source to cook food. It typically has a metal cooking grate,
burners, and a hood or lid to trap heat and smoke. Gas grills are
popular because they are easy to use and offer precise temperature
control, making them ideal for grilling a variety of foods, from burgers
and hot dogs to vegetables and seafood. They can also be used
year-round, as they do not require charcoal or wood for fuel. Some gas
grills also have additional features such as side burners, rotisserie
attachments, and built-in thermometers. Gas Grill ,Portable Propane Grill,Char Broil Bbq,Small Propane Grill NingBo AoYue Technology Co., Ltd. , https://www.aoyue-tech.com
Review: I used the Big Berkey water filter every day for the last year and now I can’t go back
One of the ultimate goals for any prepper is finding preps that fit effortlessly into their everyday lives. It's one thing to purchase a product, stash it away, and wait for a major crisis to arise. However, the true magic happens when those preps provide value both in regular times and during emergencies without skipping a beat. Essentially, you're investing in something you'd want anyway for your daily routine, and the prep/insurance aspect comes along for free!
A countertop water filter is a prime example of achieving that dual-purpose advantage, and the **$280 Big Berkey** reigns supreme in this category. To summarize: if you're looking for a countertop filter, purchasing a Berkey is a solid choice.
**Review**: Best Water Filters for Your Home
Many seasoned preppers are already familiar with this concept because it's such a popular idea. However, it bears repeating for newcomers to the community, as countertop filters offer a graceful and impactful way to boost preparedness.
**Value in Normal Life**:
- You get clean, great-tasting water on demand in your own home.
- It looks stylish and doesn't appear strange or overly "preppy."
- Countertop filters last far longer than typical pitcher filters.
- No installation or modifications are required since the filter is standalone.
- No waiting for slow drips—water is filtered ahead of time and stored for immediate use.
- You save money by avoiding disposable plastic bottles and avoid supporting corporations that exploit indigenous water sources.
**Value in an Emergency**: Imagine you're sheltering at home but the water supply is disrupted or contaminated, like during a boil-water advisory. In such situations, you'd need to gather water from natural sources and purify it.
The challenge with plumbed-in systems, such as reverse osmosis, is that they lack an input to accept untreated water. For instance, if you had a bucket of river water, how would you introduce it into the system? Pitchers can handle untreated water, but they're smaller, making it harder to sustain a whole family when it's your sole source.
**Testing Notes**
We extend our gratitude to the team at **BigBerkeyWaterFilters.com** for providing us with a review unit a year ago, during a chaotic period in global supply chains.
A challenge in this industry is that all Berkeys are sold via third-party resellers, not directly by the manufacturer, New Millennium Concepts. While there are some sketchy middlemen around with poorly designed sites just looking to profit, BBWF.com is a legitimate seller.
Initially, we planned a head-to-head stress test comparing the Berkey with other top countertop gravity filters. Unfortunately, we couldn't obtain all the competing products due to inventory shortages caused by the pandemic.
Instead, we've been using the Big Berkey as our primary water source for the past year to understand its daily-life usability and identify any minor inconveniences. This review leans more toward a lifestyle assessment than a technical one.
Once we secure more competitors, we'll update our main comparison article with hands-on testing, such as testing the durability of the stainless steel bodies by dropping them.
**Berkey Basics**
The design is straightforward: two stainless steel containers stack atop each other. The top container is for dirty water, where you simply lift the lid and pour. The bottom container has a spigot and holds the purified water. Filters are placed between the two containers, with gravity pulling the dirty water through the filters and into the lower chamber.
**More**: You can even assemble a similar system using 5-gallon buckets.
[Insert Image Caption: Berkeys come in various sizes, though the Big Berkey is the most common for single-family homes]
The impressive **Black filters** ($120 per pair) are both cleanable and replaceable. We appreciate that they clearly list all the contaminants they filter out on the packaging. Here's a more detailed breakdown of what they protect against.
[Insert Image Caption: What does the Berkey filter out?]
There are slots for up to four filters, but it functions with just one. We've been using two Black filters (without additional fluoride or arsenic filters) in a household of two heavy water drinkers, and the filters have only needed cleaning once in the past year—we estimate they could last at least another year. With a few extra filters in our emergency supplies, this means we can treat enough water to last for years!
[Insert Image Caption: Two filter "candles" attached vertically. The two white plugs are for expanding to four filters.]
Cleaning the body and filters is straightforward. The stainless steel body does collect fingerprints, but it's easier to clean than expected. Removing and scrubbing the filters takes only a few minutes before reinstalling them.
Flow rates are decent, and the dripping starts immediately, though it's not designed to filter water in real-time as you wait. The first time we filled the top container, it took three hours to complete—much longer than the 20 minutes mentioned in the sparse instructions.
However, once the filters were primed, it took about two hours to process a full upper container.
Note that Berkey filters don't work well with water that has already passed through a water softener.
**Aftermarket Stands Are Essential**
Technically, you can place the Berkey directly on a counter, provided it's positioned on an edge like the sink for vertical clearance under the spigot.
We tried this setup for about two days before growing frustrated and switching. We purchased **this $35 third-party 10-inch stand from Amazon**, which made a significant difference. There's also an **official $40 wire stand** available. Now we can position the Berkey wherever we prefer while still having ample space to fill nearly any glass or container.
[Insert Image Caption: I refill the top by extending the nearby kitchen faucet hose]
Elevating the tank not only creates more usable counter space but also enhances the overall aesthetic of the kitchen.
**Berkey Accessories Are More Expensive Than They Should Be**
Given our experience testing numerous products at The Prepared, we have a good sense of when a product's pricing aligns with its value versus when margins are excessive.
In this case, everyone on our team who has used a Berkey feels it's slightly overpriced—a standard Big Berkey plus two Black filters typically costs $50-75 more than we'd ideally expect.
**Review**: Create a Cheaper "DIY Berkey" with Parts from St. Paul Mercantile
It's likely the main reason is that Berkey has dominated the market for so long with minimal competition. However, other companies are investing in alternatives, particularly post-pandemic, and we hope increased competition will help. If I had to guess, I'd say the price remains constant while the quality improves over time.
My main complaint is the use of plastic components. Too many crucial parts are made of plastic, and it's cheaply made plastic at that. A **$25 replacement stainless steel spigot** is available. Still, we believe New Millennium Concepts should include this by default.
[Insert Image Caption: Plastic pieces, like this flimsy spigot, are my biggest issue]
All other accessories are unnecessary, though some people might want to add the extra **$65 fluoride and arsenic filter**. If you're truly preparing for the long haul, consider picking up a **$25 spare parts kit**. The **$25 Primer pump** is useful when there's no water pressure from the grid, but you can likely manage without it in this rare scenario.
**The Sight Glass Spigot Is Helpful but Not Worth It**
Clean water resides in the bottom half of the Berkey since gravity pulls it from the top half. From the exterior, there's no way to gauge how much clean water is available—you have to lift the top half and peer into the bottom half to check the water level.
[Insert Image Caption: Lifting the top half to check the water level below]
The **$55 Sight Glass Spigot** addresses this issue. However, we don't think it's worth it for most people because:
- You can't use the sight glass and the stainless steel spigot simultaneously, and we'd prefer the steel components over solving this minor inconvenience.
- The sight glass can't be used alongside the optional fluoride filters.
- You develop a feel for when the bottom tank is running low as the output flow from the spigot weakens slightly—not enough to be problematic, but noticeable.
- There's a risk of breaking the sight glass since it protrudes from the rest of the body.
The exception might be if you're elderly or disabled in a way that lifting a few pounds from low shoulder level to high shoulder level poses a challenge.