Household drinking water

(News & Editorial/Household drinking water)
My solution is discussed below the following environmental fact sheet.

My Royal Berkey
My model, the ‘Royal Berkey,’ is a 9-1/2 inch diameter by 24” tall, stainless steel, two-part, covered cylinder which stores 3 gallons water.
It has a filtration rate of 4 gallons per hour with its standard 2 Black Berkey filter elements (4 elements can be used to increase water production rate).
It was ordered through Amazon.com, the present price is $284.00.
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I had been buying one case per week of 16.9 oz. Aquafina bottled water at a cost of $ 4.98 per case, spending about $260 a year. During the last 1-1/2 years since buying the filter unit, I would have consumed $390 worth of bottled water. I didn’t buy the filter as an investment, but to remove the taste of our Public water and as an emergency back up,  for a ‘just in case’ period;  never-the-less, it has paid for its self and is now ‘saving’ money on my weekly grocery bill.
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*** The 2 Black Berkey filter elements that come with the unit, as part of the cost, will purify 6000 gallons water and can handle a maximum of 12 people basic water needs (based on their filtration rate).
Six thousand gallons of drinking water provide roughly 8000 days (21 years) worth of drinking water for 1 adult (at 3 quarts per day). For a family of four the Black Berkey filters will purify 2000 days, or 5-1/2 years of water.
The big bonus for me, besides having clean, tasty water, was that the filter is always available for use in case of a problem with the water main or in an emergency, where pond, stream or rainwater has to replace the public utility.

For further information on water purification techniques, water pathogens , etc., see the 4dtraveler blog posts titled;
1.  Survival Manual/Social Issues/Death by 1000 cuts/Modern Living, Part V: Infrastructure Deterioration
2.  Survival Manual/3. Food & Water/Water
3.  Survival Manual/6. Medical/b) Disease/Waterborne disease

I also bought the optional:
•  Berkey water level sight glass, $38.00 [See photo at right. Makes it easy to know how much water is  in the unit – for refilling purposes.]
•  2 PF-2 Fluoride filters for Fluoride removal, $49.00/set.
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The Berkey advertisements states:
<http://www.getberkey.com/royal-berkey-water-filter-system-3-25-gallons/>
“The versatile Royal Berkey system is the ideal system for use at home with large families, travel, outdoor activities or during unexpected emergencies.

This powerful system purifies both treated water and untreated raw water from such sources as remote lakes, streams, stagnant ponds and water supplies in foreign countries, where regulations may be substandard at best. Perfect for outdoor activities and a must in hostile environments where electricity, water pressure or treated water may not be available.

The Royal Berkey system removes pathogenic bacteria, cysts and parasites entirely and extracts harmful chemicals such as herbicides, pesticides, VOCs, organic solvents, radon 222 and trihalomethanes. It also reduces nitrates, nitrites and unhealthy minerals such as lead and mercury. This system is so powerful it can remove food coloring from water without removing the beneficial minerals your body needs. Virtually no other system can duplicate this performance….”
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The ‘Black Berkey’ purification/filter elements (a 7 Log device, 99.99999%) remove or reduce the following:
– Pathogenic Bacteria and Cysts (E. Coli, Klebsiella, Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Giardia, Cryptosporidium, Raoltella Terrigena) – Reduced to > 99.999% (100%)
– Viruses (MS2 – Fr Coliphage) – Reduced to >99.999%
– Parasites – Reduced to > 99.9999%
– Harmful or unwanted chemicals such as herbicides and pesticides
– Chlorine – Removed to Below Detectable Limits (99.9999999%)
– Detergents
Organic solvents removal
– THM’s (Trihalomethanes – Bromodichloromethane, Bromoform, Chloroform, Dibromochloromethane) – Removed to Below Detectable Limits (99.99999%)
– MTBE’s (Methyl tert-Butyl Ehter) – Removed to Below Detectable Limits

Table below: Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s) removed:

– Cloudiness, removed.
– Silt, removed.
– Sediment, removed.
– Radiologicals – Radon 222 – Removed to Below Detectable Limits
– Nitrates & Nitrites, Greater than 95% reduction
– Heavy metals: Lead, Mercury, Aluminum, Cadmium, Chromium, Copper  – Greater than 95% reduction.
– Fluoride- With PF-2 fluoride filter, Fluoride reduced greater than 95%
– Iron
– Foul tastes and odor.

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