The Best Water Purifiers for Home, Camping and Emergencies

Let’s all agree that 2020 was a crazy year.  First, there was the pandemic, then there were food and supply shortages at the grocery stores, then there was social unrest, power outages, wildfires, and extreme smoke.  Once it started raining, there were reports that our water would be contaminated by all the smoke particulates in the environment. By then I had just had it!

I’m not gonna lie, having been pregnant and postpartum through all of this, by the time the autumn rolled around I had gone into full-blown prepper-survival mode🤣!  I started getting my things in order – food, supplies, evacuation kit, and water.  I started dreaming of root cellars, big gardens, collecting chicken eggs, foraging for food in the woods, and trapping small critters to eat. I’m kind of kidding, but….I’m kind of serious too and I don’t think I was the only one losing my mind a little bit. It was during these doomsday ruminations that I discovered the Berkey Gravity Fed Water Filtration System.

Aside from putting my mind at ease during the darkest days of 2020, my Berkey has truly become one of my favorite things in my kitchen and I would recommend it to you even if you are not at all anxious about impending disasters.

Berkeys are the Best Water Purifier for Everyday Home Use

10 Reasons Why I Love My Berkey Water Purifier

• The water tastes great!
• It’s easier than the sink for my daughter to use and she drinks a lot more water now that we have the Berkey.
• It filters water quickly. We don’t have to prioritize our filtered water. We cook with it, make coffee with it, even make soda water with it in a 3 G keg. 
• It looks cool on my counter.
• The filters last 4-5 years and are not very expensive to replace.
• If you buy water in gallon jugs (or 5 Gallon jugs), you are probably spending around $1/gallon. With the Berkey, you pay around $0.02/gallon.
• It requires no power.
• It filters out microplastics, trace contaminants, metals, pharmaceuticals, and pathogens.
• It can also filter untreated water for camping trips, vanlife, and off-the-grid living.
• It’s really easy to assemble and use.

If you live in California…

I love how much the State of California cares about consumer protections, but sometimes their regulations just get in the way of a good thing. If you live in California, you can only buy select CA-approved products from Berkey. However, you can buy whichever Berkey Filtration System you want from eBay😉.

The Best Water Filter for Camping and Emergencies

The Berkey is ideal for everyday home use. If you are looking for a water filter for camping or to have on hand for emergencies, I highly recommend Life Straw Gravity Bag Water Filter. I can’t tell you how many hours I have spent in the backcountry hand pumping water into 1-liter bottles and cleaning ceramic filters. Camping gear has come a long way in the last 10 years! With this filter, you simply fill a gallon-sized bag, hang it in your camp kitchen and let gravity do the work. The filter part can be separated from the unit and used as a “straw” for slurping up filtered water from ponds and puddles on your day hike. The whole thing is light weight, packs flat for efficient storage and easy transport and is currently under $50. I highly recommend this filter for camping, backpacking, and your emergency kit.