We love our Berkey! It’s the only water we want to drink now. Bottle water doesn’t cut it anymore!

This product seems to work well. However, the equipment for the priming process was not helpful at all. For a product with this price point, I would expect them to facilitate the priming process and provide specific instructions for the specific model that was purchased.

Use regularly. It’s smaller and great for countertops. This is now my go-to for water and love this!! Best investment.

Great product and works great in our RV. Easy to store and fast to produce the water when needed.

Bought this for my daughtere and her family who live on an Air Force base. Many bases and surrounding areas suffer from low water quality. This is an investment in clean water for my family. The filter lasts a long time so they won't have to worry about changing filters - great for a busy young family. It fits nicely on the counter, not too bulky. No complaints so far and they are extremely greatful for it. It beats all those pitchers out there!

Best tasting water, easy to install and the price is well worth the quality

I watched a few YouTube videos before I had success. Assembling this product was easy once I understood how it went together. Trying to prime the filters was frustrating at first. I tried several methods and the one that was the easiest was using a bottle of water and squeezing the water into the filter using the blue silicone tool provided. Easy peasy and no mess. This method would works perfectly if you are in an off grid situation where you don’t have access to a faucet with running water.My filters filled up and began to “sweat” rather quickly once I had the right method.My well water has a high concentration of iron. The Berkley gave me clean tasting iron free water. I am very happy with this purchase and the simplicity of this product. Easy to keep clean and even if the power goes out I can still filter clean water. Plus the unit is portable. Great for renters.

This thing is wonderful! I've been wanting a more reliable water filter system for quite a while and after a lot of research I decided to try this one, and I'm very pleased with the result. In addition to filtering out "forever chemicals" as well as a whole bunch of other nasty stuff it makes water that tastes great. I thought it pricey when I first started my research but now believe it's worth every penny. I also bought the stainless steel spigot with the water level indicator ball. That adds another $70+ to the overall price but again, totally worth it. It allows you to see how much water to add in without causing overflow. It's very easy to assemble (even if you do need a microscope to read the instructions) it only took about 10 minutes to get it going. The water filters through quickly but it does take a couple of run-throughs for the water to taste it's best. Highly recommend!

I like the size of this water filter and that it was made of stainless steel. However, that being said, there are things that you need to know...Priming the filters were a pain for me. The tools they sent to prime the filter didn't work for me. I had to buy a plastic bottle (for oil or ketchup) to prime the water filter. Also, the spigot was made of plastic; hence, I had to purchase one that was made of stainless steel (extra $28). The rubber rings for the filters smelled so bad...actually, they smelled like petrol that I exchanged them with silicone rings instead. For such a pricey filter, I've expected more (thoughtfulness in details- especially with the materials) from the engineers who created this.

The instructions simply are not good enough. For what this thing costs, Berkey should provide a lot more user-friendly information both in the package and on their website. Thank goodness for the tips provided in Amazon reviews or I already would have given up. (Replacement filters are expensive, too.) Don't know why they tout "simply pour water" into the top on both the packaging and Amazon. Turns out you have to "prime" it, which evidently means rinsing dust that clouds the water out of the filters. After spending a lot of time and water, I am getting to the point where the water is starting to look drinkable. Hope I like it.Now I find out I also need a priming thing and a stand and a special spigot - @#@! Still hoping I will get to the point where I can just draw good water whenever I want and it will be worth the ordeal.

Lets be real, the water is great tasting and the filter cuts micro plastics and other garbage from your life, so that is a PLUS, but, in truth, its $5 worth of metal and cheap plastic and a decent filter. When I saw the cheap plastic spigot instead of the nice metal spigot that shows how much water is in the unit, I was kind of upset, because it a $370 cost, and that is a lot of money.All in all, my wife is happy, and that makes me happy and I have to admit, the water does taste much better, and that is enough for us at the end of the day. Water Filteration and Good Mattresses, those are the BIG TWO....

When I saw other reviews saying the filters would stop up or need cleaning to flow effectively, I was a little worried considering the hard water that our house has, but I haven't noticed any need for it so far. The quality seems good, it works well, the water tastes way better than out of the tap (f*** off chlorine!), and I haven't had any leaking or any other issues with the plastic spigot. I also don't see much point in something like a water level spigot either, since you can tell when the water level is low by the water flowing out of the spigot slowing down. Filling it up at that point gives plenty of time for more water to fill the lower tank before I need any more water. I can also tilt the whole thing forward to get a little more water out of the bottom tank if I'm really thirsty at that point. The travel size is really perfect for me and my fiancee, even being at home in quarantine we only have to fill it less than twice a week.Edit:Coming up on 3 years now, and while the filtering of the last 3rd of the top tank does take a little longer than when new and doesn't get as close to empty as it used to, it still filters quickly initially when filled. We went from filtering water for just 2 people, to filtering for 4 people AND a dog, and it still is working out pretty well, even though a larger capacity would definitely have been better. I went against my previous thoughts on a sight glass and did buy that upgrade (but a much cheaper one than the one sold by Berkey), which definitely makes using the filter with this many people a lot easier. Still highly recommend getting one!

this arrived reasonably prompt and packed well. It looks nice, and the size is about perfect for daily use on the counter. Three stars for that, two off for terrible instructions with faded hard to see pictures, cluttered busy instructions referencing item numbers that dont exist on the picture diagram, colored items that dont exist. They tried to deal with this by inserting a slip to better describe what they want you to do but even that is a hot mess. Priming filters was a learn on the go affair as the instructions were so bad. here it is 10 hrs later and i have still not filtered one gallon of water. Spigot leaks, I have disassembled and reassembled it numerous times. the rubber gaskets just dont fit the curve of the tank. Im leaving it in the sink to drip, tomorrow i will mcgyver better seals. really disappointed in this over priced filtration system. Will not buy again.Update:so i went on utube and found that if i switch the gaskets back they were supposed to go originally (convex gasket on front of tank, not the revised insert instructions where they say to put it inside the tank, the leaking seems to have stopped. will see. i also removed the rubber bottom liner as it just retained water spills and based on many reviews that said the tank rusted under it. i put the unit on an elevated stainless steel trivet instead so it can dry out when needed. i also reprimed the filters as one was not draining at all, using a video tip to use a plastic water bottle with hole drilled in cap to push water thru. they of course never said you needed a flat water tap to do the priming, like alot of folks i have spray nozzle on my sinks.we will see if these fixes do the job. so far its been a pain in the bottom.update: its been a week and its working pretty easy now. fits perfectly on my raised kitchen sink counter so i can place a large glass under the tap to fill. any leaks go straight in the sink but it hasnt leaked once since i fixed it. i use my spray hose tap to fill it up. very convenient. a bit taken aback that you have to use the system alot in order to keep the filters wet. so filtering a tank of water to last awhile of personal use isnt going to get it as the filter upstairs will be high and dry. so now we use the water for cooking and for my husbands tea when i would rather have saved the filters only for straight drinking water.added a star to my review and yes, you need the better tap that has fill level showing as its just a guess now when to fill up.UPDATE 3yrs later:after the initial snafu my travel berkey is still going strong. no problems whatsoever. only leaks i had was when it was overfilled and that was rare because the trick is to totally drain your berkey before refilling. this also ensures that the water is fresh and clean thru out and not collecting solids on the bottom 2in layer. to drain just tip it over slightly once it stops flowing from the spigot naturally. ive cleaned it whenever i dont hear that familiar draining sound it makes when filling an empty berkey, if the sound slows i know its time to give the filters a light scrub with a clean new sponge (the green scrubber side). other cleanings i just wipe down the inside with a clean cloth, wash the lid, spigot i wash without removing from the container as it is fiddly and you want to leave it alone to prevent leaks, see above. ive used the same filter and its still working, but i did just order a new replacement. i can tell the diff in taste if i use tap water and now that micro plastics are everywhere im so glad to have this. i did remove the bottom non skid gasket and put it on top of the lid instead, on the bottom it just collected water and started to create lime marks. its still perfectly shiny inside and out with no marks, rust, lime.

I took this to Russia for two weeks. I do think it saved me from the intestinal parasites or whatever else I normally pick up when I go there. You must prime the filters before use, i.e. force the air out of them, preferably with uncontaminated water. I used the Berkey Sports bottle to prime the filters, but next time I will purchase the little squeeze pump they sell for that purpose. These two methods are to be used when you do not have access to a faucet with uncontaminated water and want to avoid contaminating the filter system. To use the sport bottle, you have to keep the straw fixed in the filter opening, and force the air out. The straw kept slipping off. As a result, I am not sure I primed the filters completely. As instructed, I added natural food coloring to the water (which I had brought with me from the U.S.), to test the system's integrity, and it worked--it filtered out the food coloring.Everything worked fine for the first week, although maybe not at the optimum advertised speed. However, by the second week the filters were barely letting anything through. The instructions say that if you suspect calcium build-up (definitely the case where I was staying) to bathe them in a solution of vinegar. I didn't have enough vinegar to give them a proper bath, so I only achieved minimal and short-lived improvement. I have brought the filters home and will try to clean them again at some point.The filters must be thoroughly dry before you transport them in checked airplane baggage, because the low temperatures can damage them. I brought mine home in carry-on luggage and of course had to explain what they were to TSA staff; I kept the instruction sheet with me just in case, but no one asked for it.