I got my Berkey water filter today. Aside from having a new toy, I'm hoping that the lack of chemicals in the water we drink will make a difference for various health problems we're currently experiencing.
The thing was expensive (as my BIL explained to me at exhaustive length) but since the main filters will filter up to 3000 gallons each we could easily get two years worth of water out of a $50 filter rather than paying $20 for a set of five that are used up within a year. Of course, I may be seriously underestimating the amount of water we drink (which he also said, ad nauseum) but well worth it anyway.
The other filters don't take out viruses, bacteria, or fluoride and chlorine. Those last two were my main concern, along with pharmaceuticals (yes there are pharmaceuticals in most municipal water systems) pesticides and heavy metals.
You see, our water doesn't poof out of nowhere and suddenly appear in our faucets. Water that comes from snow melt goes into rivers and streams that are contaminated by runoff from farms and manufacturing facilities. Even sewage finds its way into our waterways. The water then goes into purification systems, but simply from the volume of water they're working with they can't catch everything. Instead, our municipal water systems focus on a few main problems--particulates (basic filtering), viruses and bacteria (chlorine) and reducing metals like iron and lead. They want to make the water safe to drink by federal standards, not necessarily good for you.
The in-house filter is a hopeful step in that direction. We try to eat healthy as much as possible, not using most pre-processed foods, boxed or packaged meals, etc. But I've become concerned over the years that what we drink isn't nearly as healthy as what we eat. Unfortunately I don't have nearly enough money for a whole-house filtering system (and don't talk about debt--that's as toxic as the junk most people eat) so I saved up and got the Berkey.
There are a lot of good filtering systems out there that have high ratings in removing chemicals, metals, etc. The reason I chose the Berkey is that it is entirely gravity fed--no power. Put the water in the top, it comes out the bottom.
My next toy will be a solar generator, but it'll probably be years down the line. I can't save much at this point.
But when it happens I'll be chortling, just like when I signed for that package this afternoon...
