A Real Berkey Light Review

***Update 12/31/2011 I can no longer recommend the Berkey Light. The unit has quality issues that make it unsuitable for water filtration. Read my Pro Pur BIG Review for an alternative***

 

Frustrated by the Berkey Light Reviews on the net which are really just people selling the Berkey Light through an affiliate offer? Here’s an honest review and there won’t be any affiliate links. Now for the review. The Berkey Light is a gravity-powered water filtration system. Together with the the other filter models like the Royal and the Big Berkey, the big selling points are power, price and simplicity. Power because of the completeness of the filtering, price because the filter elements are reusable, and simplicity because other than the spigot, there are no moving parts. Everything looks good right? Well…

First a little history, my family and I live in Japan and building codes here are a bit behind the United States, especially with the older buildings. Our apartment for example, used galvanized steel pipe, to serve water to the building. Usually, we have to run the water a few seconds, to clear rust sediment out of the pipes, so using a pair of Black Berkey filter elements, I created my own filter system. The idea with just buying the filters, was to save on shipping which is quite a bit. The filters themselves are the heart of the system and I must admit, it produces the best tasting water, I’ve ever had. We also have typhoons and earthquakes here and so it’s great to keep for emergencies.

Now about the Berkey Light. Looking over Amazon.com reviews, I’ve seen the unit described as ugly. I guess beauty in the eye of the beholder because I find the unit to be attractive—kind of an office cooler look. The Berkey Light is see-through, which is nice because a few times, I’ve filled my old unit, with water, not knowing there was still water in the bottom chamber, which lead to an overflow of the bottom chamber. The Big Berkey and other filters feature a spigot (think it’s an upgrade) that allows you to monitor the water level in the bottom chamber. At any rate, it’s nice to be able to see the water level. Another nice feature is the elevated base.

Now about the not so nice stuff… The Berkey Light feel insanely cheap, which seems like a slap, considering the price ($236). The listed capacity of the Berkey Light is 2.75 gallons. On Amazon, a 3-gallon BPA-free, copolyester bottle retails for $19.99. The two filter elements list for $99 meaning the two halves and base, plus spigot cost, $137. With some creative hacking, you could come up with the same system for around $144 (2x$20+$5+$99). Perhaps there are other manufacturing or labor costs I’m overlooking. Oh and there is a discount code, “Alex Jones,” which nets like 10% off.

Getting back to the insanely cheap thing, despite the high price, the unit is also flimsy feeling. The filter elements for example, are long, roughly 22cm/8.6 inches, fairly dense and heavy, and they fasten to the bottom of the top chamber by a wing nut. This means that once installed, because of the thin plastic floor of the upper chamber, they flop around during installation and pretty much anytime you touch the unit. In my homemade unit, the upper chamber was a large stainless pasta pot and even there, the filter elements wiggled quite a bit, but not as much as the Light. To be fair here, I never had any trouble with the elements, even though they wiggled; it just isn’t confidence inspiring.

And while I’m mentioning the filter elements, a problem I did have was tightening the elements. The part you tighten is a plastic threaded tube. The first time (homemade) I ever tightened them, I tightened too much and popped a thread. The second time  (light), I didn’t tighten enough (trying to prevent a repeat of the first time), and colored water from the upper chamber leaked into the bottom chamber via the installation holes, so it took a bit of tweaking to tighten the wing nut the right amount without over tightening.

The spigot is also made of plastic and continues on with the cheap feel of the rest of the unit. And when I say cheap, I mean CHEAP. Looking online, stainless replacement spigots (meaning intended for coming in contact with liquids for human consumption) ran in the $5.00 neighborhood. Even the standard spigots that are ubiquitous in self-serve coffee places would have been a better choice.

Final negative, the Berkey Light is advertised as the, “Go Anywhere, Glow Anywhere, Water Purifier.” In the sales literature, they state,

The Berkey Light™ system is designed for use during travel, outdoor activities and during unexpected emergencies.

Personally, I’d say that is a little misleading because when broken down, the Berkey light is missing an essential feature that would make the unit portable and thats the ability to store one half inside the other—it can’t. So when broken down, it takes up an 47×23.5x27cm or 18.5x9x11in, space. When you say “travel,” I think suitcase and airplane and those dimensions are close to a small suitcase. I  guess you’re supposed to pack your clothes inside the filter, or dedicate a separate suitcase just for the filter. Maybe travel should be replaced by camping.

In a nutshell, the issues are:

• Seems overpriced

• Feels flimsy (beef up the bottom of the upper chamber, find a better supplier for the spigot)

• Filters need support so they don’t flop around

• Isn’t as portable as advertised

What’s Good?

• Water tastes great

• Can see the water level

• Saves money over bottled water

• Costs less to ship overseas

• Great for emergencies

Ok so this may seem like a negative review for the Berkey Light, but it isn’t. The intent was to provide a real review that would do more than just repeat the selling points of the company brochure. Admittedly, I’ve had no problems come about from the filter elements being able to move around, so maybe it’s a non issue. Personally, I choose the Berkey Light because I like being able to see the water level of the bottom chamber, and to reduce shipping costs to Japan. In hindsight, I think perhaps the Big Berkey would have been a better purchase. Why then even buy any products from Berkey? Like I said it’s the best water I’ve tasted. Finally, a tip for using your Berkey filter. Use a hose clamp and a piece of hose on your faucet to fill the unit. It saves you from having to lift and move a full, top heavy filter. It also save you from having to go back and forth with a pot to fill it up.

Tagged as: Berkey Light review, berkey light water filter, berkey light water filter review