Is drinking more water on your New Year’s Resolution list? Then I cannot recommend enough the importance of drinking GOOD, CLEAN, HEALTHY WATER. Did you know not all water is created equal? It’s not; more on that in a bit.
After trial and error, and a load of research, I wholeheartedly suggest that each household have a Berkey Water Filtration System, no matter how many people, or the lifestyle of the home there is a Berkey for everyone.
Quick Backstory: In my 20s my mother-in-law and brother-in-law both died of cancer within a short time of each other. Up until that point I hadn’t really been touched by cancer, other than knowing it was some “far out there” kind of disease that I thought only unhealthy people got. Man, was I wrong!
Even people who are trying desperately to be as healthy as can be can get cancer, and other diseases (I was plenty familiar with Diabetes, Erbs Palsy, and PCOS, but those were it).
I went through a period of unexplained dizzy spells, along with our journey through infertility, and suffered from heartburn for way too much of my life. The doctors didn’t know how to help me. Generic antacids were my best friend, and then on to Tums when the cheap stuff wasn’t kicking it anymore, and then a prescription antacid from the OB to deal with the reflux through my first pregnancy.
I found out that chronic heartburn (GERD) can actually lead to esophageal cancer. Yikes! I had to get that under control.
I knew that I couldn’t claim invincibility any more just because I was young. I saw too many young people losing their health and had to take charge of mine before it was too late.
Long story short (or short story longer, either way): I came across something one night in my quest to read the whole entire internet before bed, and it talked about the link between water and reflux. Like seriously?! I started asking people about this and basically seemed like a crazy person as no one I knew had ever made this connection.
From there I researched all the different ways to filter water and settled on a $250-$300 Reverse Osmosis system from the hardware store (we’d already tried a Brita and those similar to it, as well as the expensive filter for our refrigerator water dispenser). Don’t do this, friends. Save your money/time and keep reading.
Mr. Awesome graciously agreed to purchase it, it pained him to see me hurting and dragging butt around the house. He watched all the YouTube videos to learn how to install it himself. He’s so good to me.
A couple weeks went by and I had no relief, plus I felt extra EXHAUSTED all the time despite chugging more water than ever before. Nothing sounded as sweet as a nice long nap, so I took them, every chance I had. But I had to be propped up ‘just so’ because of that awful heartburn (and that being propped up led to back pain). Remember, I was in my 20s, everything I knew told me that I shouldn’t have felt so terrible!
So, I did some more research, maybe the research I should’ve been doing before pulling the trigger on that fancy R.O. System with the sleek looking faucet.
That Reverse Osmosis water was actually pulling minerals OUT of my body (and the bones of my precious little children and husband who were consuming the water too). What?! Dang! Yes folks, this is real! There is so much science to back this up that you can research it if you’d like (and I think you should if you’re into that sort of thing).
As I looked further into water purification, I found the best of the best to be a Berkey Water Filter System. I waited for far too long before finally purchasing it off of Amazon. I questioned everything, like the looks, where I’d keep it, was it worth the money, how expensive filters would be (which we’ve never replaced yet, by the way).
You guys!!! Within DAYS I couldn’t believe the improvement in my health and my energy. The water TASTED better and made me feel better.
I grew up on tap water mixed with packets of kool-aid. I don’t know when I became such a water snob, but I’m glad I did!
When we first got the system, we had all of our friends and family do a blind taste test of the different water filtration methods (tap, fridge, RO, and Berkey) just for fun. A couple of them said they could tell no difference at all, but everyone else preferred the Berkey better, and we “quizzed” a lot of people!
Why you need a Berkey:
- First and foremost, this water will be life-giving. You deserve to put good clean water into your body.
- The Berkey will produce the cleanest, healthiest drinking water you can get at home.
- The Berkey is user-friendly.
- It’s attractive. Yes, I’ve actually grown to LOVE the looks of my big stainless steel Berkey.
Which one you should get:
Okay, so Berkey has some great recommendations on their website, but let me tell you this. Go big or go home. Seriously. Let me explain why.
We first bought the Big Berkey for our family of 5 (the kids were so little and we didn’t plan on using the water to cook with at the time, or for our cat). I was refilling that thing all.the.time. I wanted a bigger one almost instantly. Each time I had to fill it I despised that thing because it ran out so fast. It was a good problem to have, I mean, everyone LOVED the water. As a nursing momma on the couch all day with a baby, I was alternating between chugging water, and refilling the filter. Keeping it filled consumed too much of my time, plain and simple.
In the end, we kept the filters we’d already used from it and sold the housing to a friend. I took the advice of an Instagram friend and bought “The Biggest One” I could afford and had room for. I never again wanted to regret getting one too small so I went with the biggest they offer, the CROWN BERKEY.
Zero regrets, friends.
Well, I mean, when the UPS man delivered the box, I was SHOCKED at how big it was and second guessed it for a nanosecond. Actually, big doesn’t even describe the size of the box it came in… Maybe, MASSIVE? HA! Mr. Awesome raised his eyebrows and said I should send it back. Then we set it up just to see how it looked. I half agreed with him that it was too big, but said let’s just dive in and go for it! “I’ll drink more water” I promised him (and I have).
This Christmas I tried to give life-giving gifts. Gifts that focused on people’s passions, or improving their health. We bought my parents the Berkey Light. Yes, it’s expensive, but my parents’ health is so worth it (and let’s be honest, I’ll probably get them something way less extravagant for Mother’s + Father’s Day to kind of accommodate for it in the budget).
The reasons I went with the Light for my parents is this:
- My mom also has struggled with heartburn from drinking water.
- The Light Berkey still uses the same great filters, so the water will be just the same.
Speaking of filters, I think as long as you’re already using the Black Berkey Elements (the long black filters that really make a Berkey a Berkey), you might as well go ahead and add the post filters (these are shorter white filters that install in the lower chamber) and more effectively remove fluoride, arsenic, and several of other contaminants. They aren’t very expensive, so I’d suggest adding them with your initial setup.
- The housing of the Light Berkey is plastic, meaning they can see through it and know instantly when it’s time to add more water (this is something I wish I had the option of with ours. Side note: they do offer a sight glass spigot, but my tribe, well maybe even me, would probably break that thing so fast).
- It holds a good amount of water for two people. I’d say the Berkey Light is good for 1-3 people, based on our experience with the Big Berkey.
Mind you, my recommendations are different than what Berkey suggests, use your own judgment.
The Big Berkey that we had originally obviously can be used by bigger families (my friend that bought ours is currently using hers with a family of 8), but you will be filling it more often. I suggest that one for 1-4 people.
The CROWN BERKEY that we currently have fits our lifestyle the best as Mr. Awesome and I are big water drinkers (just not the week of Christmas, holy cow I drank so much coffee and so little good clean water, my body felt it for sure)! As a homeschooling family our four kiddos are home during the day with me, and always have water bottles by them (I love Contigo’s West Loop bottles if you’re looking for a suggestion. No leaks, excellent warranty, and customer service if you do have problems, and so durable).
We also host a lot of company. I typically don’t even mess around with offering any other drink than water, as I want to nourish my company with the very best. I do often put it in a pitcher with some herbs and cucumbers or lemons though. The benefit of doing this is that I don’t have any sugary drinks leftover after a party, and water is inexpensive and healthy!
I would say the Crown Berkey is for any family with five or more people or 4+ big water drinkers. There is also an Imperial Berkey that is slightly smaller if you are worried about the size. It will still give you a good amount of water at a time, and adding more filters will help to cycle the water through faster.
Do you have a goal to drink more water? I’d love to hear about how you’re aiming to reach that goal!
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