What is a Water Purifier and Why Do I Want One

If you live in an area which is prone to natural disasters (I’m thinking Florida and hurricanes, but I’m sure there are others) you may want to take a look at our range of Berkey Water Purifier Systems. There are several different sizes, they’re all fully portable and no power supply is needed. You already have a water filter? Let me explain the difference.
Water filters remove the rubbish from water, it’s true, but water purifiers are something else again. We usually attach water filters to the tap and use them to treat water which has already been treated. Water purifiers go further. You can use them to treat water from untreated sources; rivers, streams, even stagnant ponds. They not only remove bacteria from water, they remove viruses, which are far, far smaller.
The essential difference between a water filter and a purifier is the amount of filtration performed. To be classified as a water filter a device must remove over 99.99 of pathogenic bacteria from the water. To be classified as a water purifier a device must remove over 99.9999% of pathogenic bacteria AND reduce viruses by at least 99.999%. Bacteria are one celled organisms, on average around 1,000 nanometers long. A virus is far smaller, somewhere between 20 and 250 nanometers in length and must burrow inside a living cell in order to reproduce. To remove 99.999% of items that small, the Berkey system has got to be good.
If you are setting off on a trip to an area where there is no source of treated water, carrying your own water supply can be quite a burden, in weight and in space. A Berkey water purifier system is designed to occupy a small footprint in transit, yet provide a good flow rate and provide all the purified water you need using only gravity as it’s power supply. There are several versions, from the Sport Berkey, 22oz individual system all the way up to the Crown Berkey 6 gallon system which can cope with groups and families. Even the largest model is only 20 inches tall and 11 in diameter when stored, growing to 30 inches tall in use.
But what if you don’t live in Florida and you don’t do much camping? Is a water purifier still a good idea? Recent problems with the water supply in Boston, where a main water carrying pipe burst, seem to indicate that water purification can be useful anywhere. Residents were advised to boil all their water before drinking as there was a fear of contamination.
Water is one of the essentials of life, a good clean source is something not to take for granted.