As I write this post, there is currently a pandemic sweeping the world called COVID19 (Coronavirus). It has justifiably caused panic amongst the population, which has come out in some surreal ways. Among other things, we’re seeing people run to Costco and other supermarkets all across the United States and buy huge amounts of  two specific items: toilet paper and plastic water bottles. Not shelf-stable food. Not even prescription drug medicine. Not even soap, the one thing currently proven to help prevent COVID19. Just enough bathroom tissue to TP every house in a one mile radius. What hoarding 100 rolls of toilet paper will do for you when you’ve got a respiratory infection from COVID19, I don’t know.

 

But what I do know, is that people always need clean drinking water.

 

So I do understand the impulse to hoard water. Especially in earthquake-prone California where I live, where a strong quake could disrupt fresh water supply for potentially days if not weeks depending on the severity and location.

 

But what I also know is that plastic water bottles are polluting the environment.

 

So what’s an eco-friendly mama or papa to do? One alternative is to use a water filter instead. There are whole house water filtration systems that you can install, which can filter out toxins, micro-plastics, flourides, you name it. They can be incredibly pricy, and don’t make sense financially to install if you rent instead of own your home.

 

Another alternative is to use a small, portable water filter instead. Brita probably makes the best known version of this kind of filter. It comes in a pitcher that you can keep in your fridge or on your counter. And with a two month life cycle on the filter, it saves you from buying pack after pack of plastic water bottles. However, it is not the most eco-friendly water filter system out there, because while the plastic water filters may be disposable, they’re not recyclable, reusable, refillable, or biodegradable.

And while many cities across the country do offer plastic bottle recycling programs, let’s face it: most do not end up in the recycling bin and go to landfill instead.

 

So is there such a thing as an eco-friendly water filter system that’s affordable and easy to use?

 

Why yes, yes there is! And it’s called a Berkey water filter purification system. By the way, this is not a sponsored post and I am not being paid to promote Berkey. I’m writing this post because it’s an eco-friendly product I use and like, and have personally recommended to many friends. That said, this post includes Amazon Affiliate links which, if you click on them, could potentially earn me a small commission to help pay for the upkeep of this website.

 

How is the Berkey an eco-friendly water filter system?

Well to begin with, the container is made from stainless steel rather than plastic. After a couple years, I had noticed our old plastic Brita pitcher got scratched up from use and the top lid part started to break apart. Because the Berkey is made from metal it is far more durable than a plastic alternative.

 

The Berkey purification system uses a BPA-free filter.

 

Even better than the fact that it’s BPA-free, is that the filter also lasts waaaaaaaaaaaay longer than a Brita or other disposable water filter. The model that I own and that is pictured above is the Travel size version.  It holds 1.5 gallons at a time, and the filter set lasts for up to 6,000 gallons according to the manufacturer. That’s 4,000 refills!

For my family of 4, the Travel size Berkey Water Filter is perfect. We refill it probably every 1-2 days, which means that given how much we use it, the current filter set should last for years and years and years…about a decade in fact!

 

Compared to the Brita for which we were using a new plastic filter every two months, that is a HUGE savings in cost and environmental waste impact.

 

Even though the up front price for the Berkey Water Filter System may seem steep at first glance (the model I have cost about $250), if you look at the cost over time that works out to about 2 cents per gallon.

How much are you paying for bottled water? I bet it isn’t anywhere close to 2 cents per bottle let alone gallon.

 

To put it in fast fashion terms, instead of buying a cheap polyester cardigan that will fall apart after two months of use, you invest a bit more up front in a beautiful-looking cashmere sweater that will last for a decade.

 

By the way, this is called a travel size Berkey so in theory you can take it with you.

 

If you have an RV or are planning to live somewhere temporarily that doesn’t have quality tap water, you could easily bring this along and save a huge chunk of dollars instead of buying plastic water bottles.

 

We keep our Berkey on the kitchen counter next to the sink.

 

There’s a metal stand you can buy separately that it can sit on if you’d like it to rest higher. But I like how ours has the spout hang off the side of the counter, so that my kids can fill their cups with water any time. It’s at their level, and doesn’t require them to lift a heavy pitcher of water to pour.

 

 

You can tell when the water needs to be refilled by the way the water flow starts to taper off from the spout. Then you simply take the metal lid off like you would from the top of a sauce pan, and fill the top barrel back up with water. I have one of those stretchable kitchen sink faucets, so I can just refill it directly that way. And then it takes about ten minutes or so for the water to filter again. Super easy.

 

There’s nothing to clean and no waste water to dump out.

 

And yet it filters out a laundry list of contaminants like bacteria, viruses, heavy metals, BPA, Chlorine, pesticides, and more. You can find the complete list on their website here. You can buy a separate attachment to filter out flouride as well.

By the way, it also comes in a larger size than the Travel version, naturally, but it isn’t sold in California. Personally, I think the Travel size is perfect for a family, and could only imagine needing a bigger size for an office or for industrial use.

 

So while half the country was out buying five flats of plastic bottled water during this current health crisis, I was home filtering water at a rate of 2 cents per gallon on my eco-friendly Berkey water filter system. Not bad for the wallet, and even better for the environment, eh? 

 

 

• BPA-free