DIY Big Berkey Style Water Filter System with 5 Gallon Buckets (for 1/4 the cost)
Berkey water filters such as the Big Berkey have become the standard in free-standing, home water filtration systems. But with a price tag of $300, I wanted something that was a lot less expensive. So using (BPA-free, food-grade) buckets and the same type of filter elements that the Berkey systems use, I was able to build my own high-capacity water filtering system for 75% less than the Big Berkey costs.
--------------------------------------
Here are the materials I used:
Waterdrop BB9-2 Filter Elements
amzn.to/360yJ9v
Water Cooler Spigot
amzn.to/3qCULH9
Berkey manual priming tool (for priming filter elements without running water):
amzn.to/3I6aw2D
5-Gallon Food-Grade Buckets
www.lowes.com/pd/Encore-Plast...
Bucket Lids
www.lowes.com/pd/Encore-Plast...
--------------------------------------
00:00 - Intro
01:20 - Big Berkey Components
02:26 - DIY Price Comparison
04:18 - Building the Filtration System
06:11 - Priming the Filters
06:42 - Test & Demonstration
--------------------------------------
The Great Lakes Prepping and Great Lakes Kitchen Channel shares our knowledge and experiences relating to all things prepping, cooking, outdoors, and everything DIY. Be sure to check out our original weekly videos and other online content. Please note that we sometimes share links to products or services for which we may earn a small commission, though this does not affect any prices on your end.
Check out our website and social media:
Website: www.greatlakesprepping.com
Facebook: / greatlakesprepping
Instagram: / greatlakesprepping
Twitter: / greatprepping
Reddit: / greatlakesprepping
For decades, we've built our filters in 3 layers - small washed river stones, coarse washed sand, & charcoal, each in its own container, stacked in order with charcoal on the bottom. When the charcoal needs cleaning, we remove its container, back flush it, heat to 400F in oven, & replace. Water tastes great & no one has ever gotten sick. Ancient tech works great.
I'd like to see a video of what you did with your three stage system. Nice
@@kolobkolobkolobkolob Ok. Thanks. I'll get to it.. Basically, it's 3 water-safe wooden boxes or stainless soup pots, all the same size. Also something to catch the filtered water. Make holes all over the bottoms of each, then lay copper or stainless (window screen, if you're desperate) inside to cover the bottom of each. Carefully fill the bottom one to 2-3" from the top with charcoal (from a fire that had no painted or stained wood in it is fine). Set the middle one on/in that & fill it carefully to 2-3" from top with washed coarse sand (builder's supply). Set the top one on/in & fill it carefully with small washed river stones (they're about 1-1.5" across). It's ready. Pour in your water & let it run thru into your catch unit. Good drinking! If you have concerns about bacteria, put bleach in the water before you pour it thru.
@@pahinhwinh3936 please do a video, I need visuals, thanks in advance!
@@shamachelon Ok. Thanks!
@@pahinhwinh3936 thank you , your instructions are clear enough without a video. I would also suggest putting some Shungite rocks in the container that the filtered water is stored in
Very good idea and model. I would like to bring an engineering problem to your attention that will fix your flow rate and also the filtration rate. The bottom container when starting has only air in it. As it fills with water, the air is pushed upwards, and has only one area to escape from, and that is back through the two water filters. The filters are not able to displace the air in proportion to the water flow out of them, and this causes the filters to slow down, and eventually stop. What needs to be done is another hole needs to be put in the system, and a food grade safe ventilation tube needs to be installed. It would need to have a threaded system similar to the filters, and a clear tube that would reach about 1 1/2" short of the top of the water chamber when filled. This will allow air to vent from the bottom chamber receiving water, to the top chamber losing water, which would regulate it. Your filtration rate would increase to its maximum capacity, and the dispensing rate would be equalized by the infusion of air from the top, preventing vapor lock. Overall, great idea, and a easy way to filter bulk water. Alexapure filters rate much higher than the Berkey filters. Keep in mind that whereas Berkey are tall and lean, the Alexapure are fat and shorter. If you use Alexapure, you need to space accordingly. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this video. Brother Levi Matthews
You are correct. I noticed that I had to place a small paper clip to break the seal between the two Berkey filters to break the pressure build up due to the hydraulic effect of the water filling up the bottom chamber and pressurizing it, so that the remaining flow from the top chamber became impeded.
This is a very helpful suggestion and one that I will likely be adding to my build of this model. Thanks Levi!
I’m thinking you could use a wine making air lock to enable the escape of air from the bottom bucket.
Most excellent idea on both . I will have to add this to my stock and supplies
You could also open the lid on the lower bucket, periodically, to let the air out.
My husband built this for me thank you 😊 We now have water without all the nasty stuff.
That's great!
Being a disabled Veteran my budget is small so I can't afford a Berkey but I have enough buckets that I can do this. Thank you
To me, the best part of the design is that other than the filter prep, this can all be built, disassembled and stored. Nest the buckets, put all the materials inside and nest the lids. Ready to deploy when needed.
Thank you for showing this very good idea. I live in Australia and a Berkey filter here costs $800 and close to a thousand for a spare filter and stand. America is showing the way for the future preppers! Thank you.
No, Im here and I get 2 for $200. Did it twice.
Oh wow !!
I’m also in Oz and just got my berkey two filters and two white filters spent nearly 1000. Going to get more filters next.
Ty so much for this! & those in the comments as well! Its soon to be upon us HEAVY. When u stay ready u don't have to get ready. Blessings to all who value freedom over safety ❤
I don't normally rush out and build everything that I see on KZhead, but I am so making a couple of these. Absolutely AMAZING!!!!!! Greetings from Australia 🇦🇺 😀
Thank you!
Same here, but from the U.K, been looking for something like this for a while now and this is by far the best and easiest I've seen, many thanks,👍
I wish all vids on KZhead were this well done, straight to the point.. no filler, you get my thumbs up and subscribe! 👍🏻👍🏻
Thank you Big Al, I appreciate that!
This plan has been around for a long time. I built one about 10 years ago from an internet design and have used it with success since in my off-grid cabin. The bottom bucket needs a very small hole in its lid to relieve air pressure in the bottom bucket as the filters work. One problem is that when the system is disassembled for cleaning of the filters, the bottom lid releases with a jar or sudden pop. This has the potential of breaking the filter candles at their base. Judicial trimming of the bottom lid will alleviate this problem. Filters should be carefully dried between periodic uses to avoid mold growth. Also dry filters need to be "primed" prior to use by gently pressuring water retrograde with a faucet or squeezed plastic water bottle. This removes air locks from the filter pores and increases filter flow rate when the filter is used.
Thank for your input! What filters did you use?
One of those Christmas tree looking step drills work even better making holes in plastic. The $5ish three pack from Harbor Freight is sufficient for pretty much any plastic job.
In one word “outstanding”
Genius!! I love this!! For anyone concerned about the look, consider building a cute "cabinet" around it or some type of attractive enclosure that matches your existing cabinetry.
PLEASE SPARE US "cute"!!
I spent $63 for these filters a week ago and built this. I have been brewing beer for nearly 2 decades (not as much recently) and have several 7 gallon fermentation buckets and spigots. I have had these for quite some time, are food grade as well. Works quite well.
I love this! We have thousands of gallons of water stored on our property for emergency use if we loose “city” water. But none of it is ready to use. It would need to be filtered and or boiled first. This gives us an affordable way to make our water safe for humans! Thanks man!
Thanks Kris. I definitely like the higher capacity of this DIY version. Fill it up at night, wake up to 4-5 gallons of filtered water!
Its smart having bulk supply, when i bought my place was a part of my plan i have 5000 g system well, and live on a 200 acre lake,, can't see going thirsty lol, i like his filter too, good insurance if i need go into lake water
@ Kris Nicholas - I have stored water also that will need to be cleaned before running it through this system. Curious how you would do that? I was thinking of running it through swimming pool type filters first, to remove large particles, disinfectaning it with bleach (6 drops per gallon of water at 8.25% bleach strength) then running it through the filters as the last step. I recall a video I saw where a Berkey rep stated that if a person used barrels of water that ran off the roof, they should use bleach first in case bird droppings were in the water. Please let me know your thoughts if you are willing to share. I also think boiling the water would be just as good before running it thru the filters.
@@plaguevendor6705 You could possibly run it through a solar heating element like in this video kzhead.info/sun/atttostrjJWpmoE/bejne.html . At that point like the video you could also us it to cool your house and only add in then siphon off enough for drinking when needed.
Is boiling the filtered rain water necessary before its healthy to drink
Thank you, thank you. Finished this project today for both my elderly parents and my family. This was my last major prep I really needed to get done. This is really cool and self satisfying.
That's great! Thanks for your comment.
I'm 66 and plan in doing mine too, thanks for video!
I did this exact same thing years ago. Take it to the next level: get a couple 5 gallon water cooler bottles and a water cooler. You can find used cheap. The you can have filter ice cold (and filtered hot water with the right cooler) water on tap 24/7. My toddler kids love it. They get water on demand.
I made myself a Berkey system just like this but used the actual Berkey filters. With the money saved by making my own system I was able to buy a replacement set of the Berkey filters. So far I've been very pleased with the results.
food grade buckets taste like plastic??
@@RealityAudits Not from my experience.
My Berkey came with a white and black filter? I don't know the difference in the black and white but I know this making one only show the black ones? I got the smallest Berkey because of the price. But I need to make one with the buckets. Should I get the white and black or the two black ones. Sorry I'm concerned that there may be a difference between the white and black so therefore need the white one too.? 😁
@@flowergirl8375 White ones are to remove fluoride from the water.
@@averagejoesmiling456 thank you very much I will definitely be using the white as well as the Black! Cuz right now I purify my tap water. But if we ever lose water I will have to purify the pond water I have. And or rainwater. Thanks for your time very much appreciate it
You are a great teacher thank you for this video. Exciting news I will be building one tomorrow. How crazy to be excited about this but this day and age it's a must-have. Thank you again and God bless you for helping all of us
Thank you, I appreciate your comment. Good luck and happy building!
Thanks for the video. I don't know why I never thought of this a long time ago. I have had a big Berkey filtering system for myself for about seven years. I never thought of making one for my friend who drinks rainwater that runs off her roof and doesn't filter it at all. Sometimes it looks yellow. I'm definitely going to make one of these for her.
Your friend is not thinking her water source through. Bird droppings on the roof, air pollution, chemicals in shingles (if asphalt roof). Your kindness should keep her from getting ill.
@@spockmcoyissmart961 that is very sweet of you!
I built mine about a year ago.. 2 Home Depot 5 gallon buckets 3 ceramic candle stick filters and a water valve...$90.. works great
I'm giving DIY Berky sets to my sons for Christmas. Thank you for making this much more affordable
Great idea for gifts!
Update from my guys: "Awesome! Pepper gear AND a craft project!" 😆
Thank you for the idea. I went ahead and built my own. I did some research and made sure to get water filters that had good reviews. In total it cost me $107, and took maybe 5 minutes to build. I was able to filter about 10 gallons of water in 4 hours, so 2.5 gallons an hour is not bad. Since this is so easy to assemble and disassemble, I think this is going to go with me on all of my car camping trips so I can save the backpacking filters for backpacking. Thanks again.
That's great! Thanks Greg
Can you link to the filters you used?
@@willm59 Hi Will, the link is in the video description.
The camping filters are by far, the best there is, lasting 100X longer…. so much better then the Berkeley system. They used a camping-type filter for missionaries when they went to other countries. The only problem is that it doesn’t remove chlorine, that’s why I added a Activated Carbon Fiber on top of the other one …… ; )
Good basic info on how to make it happen. Thanks for posting!
I did this several years ago for a fishing trip in the boundry waters. Had to portage so limited space and couldn't really hall enough water to last. This was a good solution. I used 3 of the smaller dome style filters and we filtered and drank lake water all week (6 grown males). Warning: These filters are good for MANY gallons, BUT they will get slimey filtering lake water and need to have their surface cleaned every couple days or so. Also, I believe these style (maybe all) filters list an enourmous amount of water that can be filtered OR 1 year. So I used them for a week and then had to replace the filters each year. The filters are around $10 each, so it is economical. $12 in buckets, $3 for a sealed spigot and $30 for filters = very affordable peace of mind. I keep 6 filters on hand just in case. Take the spigot off and you can nest the buckets together to make them very storeable and portable as well.
Brilliant idea. Thanks for putting in the time to build and share this.
Excellent tutorial straight to the point Cheers from Pennsylvania Blessings 👍👍👍🙏🙏🙏🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🎚🎚🎚
I have had that container for eight years love it.
Plastic bucket $4.00 Lid. $7 to $8 Stainless pot and lid at Wal-Mart $10 for 12 or 16 qt Same drill bit. Easier to clean.
Excellent video, thank you for being clear, concise,& short with exanation. I'm building this today.
Thanks 👍I made it with 4 filters. Appreciate the part where you explained how to prime the filter 👍
Thank you - you’re helping a lot of people survive - thank you!
I built this same set up 3 years ago, works very well !
Is it still working as well as it did 3 years ago? How often do you use it?
@@Kittieslovetacos The Alexapure filter gets rid of fluoride and lasts for 5,000 gallons
I have been considering a water filtration system and yours looks fine with me,.I like your keep it simple thinking..
Awesome. Simple, cheap and functional. Can't beat that....
Great idea. I set one of these up to use my old Berky filters to pre filter after SHTF.
The fact I cannot give more than a single thumb up need to change. Thanks for this really interesting video
It's an awesome setup. Thanks for posting this
Thorough comprehensive work. Thanks a lot.
I found filters on ebay. 4 for $75. Got my buckets, used once for food from marketplace for $1.50 with lid. Great gift idea. Love the small vent to let air out of bottle. I am sharing with friends.
I appreciate your ingenuity. Thanks for the video.
Thanks Abigail!
Awesome video! Thank you so much! I use a countertop Pur water filter for my drinking water but will definitely add this project to my to-do prepping list :) :)
I plan to add a water harvesting unit to my rain gutters and this would make a great addition to the system. Thank you this was very informative.
Great idea, make sure you put your rainwater through other filters first such as sand to filter out all the debris that will come in with the rain
I did it! I made on of these water filter buckets! I love it! Thank you!
I put one together for my RV. It takes up a fair amount of space but works really well
Good one. Thanks , Paul J.
This a great idea and very well put together video, easy to follow and concise. I will try this at home, thanks for sharing.
I made exactly this a year ago with the same thoughts and motive. I ordered the Berkey filters off of Amazon and utilized some 6 gallon beer brewing buckets that I laying around.
THIS is the type of stuff I want to see on pepper sites!!! Cheap, easy ways to deal with real possible problems. Thank you and.... I'm gonna now subscribe to your channel... 🤗
Thank you Karen! I'm happy you enjoy the channel.
It’s interesting to me the price difference in 8 months. I decided to build my own because of the cost of a Berkey. Searched and yours was the first to come up. Thank you for the instructions.
Thanks Wanda, I'm glad the video helped!
Very, very cool idea. The simple ingenuity and design is great. Heading to a big DIY store today here in Tokyo to source materials.
I built my system today. Only I used some 3 gallon buckets I had laying around that I use to make beer with. Thanks for the video, it saved me a lot of money. 👍
Great tutorial and very informative. 👍
Great video. Gonna do the same with 3.5 gallon buckets and Berkeley filters for SHTF only. Berkeley stainless makes since for daily use.
Awesome. Think I’m going to upgrade to the screw on food grade lids for these buckets on mine.
I find these filters fascinating. My children have these. I have been treating dring water for 31 years. Always read anything on water purification. These work extremely well.
AWESOME! I was srsly considering Buying a Berkey for the travel trailer, but this seems like a much cheaper / better solution. thanks for the great vid!
I still use the one I made 9 years ago…still going strong & works great!
That's awesome!
Just made this and it works great!! Thanks for the guide!!!
Awesome, thanks Jasmine!
I would decorate the outside of the buckets with waterproof contact paper or anything really to make them look nice or match to my decor. 😉
Excellent tutorial.
I got a Berkey ad on this video haha. Will definitely give this a try.
I got the same...lol
Easy and cheap! Great DYI video!
99.99999999... I don't believe it even matters. Keep tinkering my friend.
You nailed it again, great information in a short and understandable format. Thank you and blessings.
Berkeley did a revised test and I believe it filters out 90% . This is an affordable option. I’m not a fan of food grade plastic but this is great to have for emergencies, thanks!
Never having seen a Berky(sp?) until I watched a van-life video before, you’ve explained what it is and demonstrated how I don’t need one all in one video. I distil my drinking water but, if ever the lekky goes, I know what to do now. Thank you. PEACE ;]
Thank you! I have been tempted to buy the berkey, but the hold up has been the price.Now there is a way to get one.
Awesome video! Thank you for sharing.
What about putting in the upper bucket, a small air valve and pumping in some air with a small bike type hand pump? Give it about 10-15 small pumps. That should force the water through a little faster. This could help a family that needs water a bit faster. It works for my setup.
Thanks for the video! I just built two of these yesterday 10/09/2022. It is a slow process. It took four hours to make 5 gallons of water.
I ordered two spickets from Walmart app as well as two sets of berry filters and made our own with lowes 5gallon buckets with backup spicket and filter replacement
Fabulous! Thank you!
Love this, can't afford the cost of berkey or it's competitors.
Just made one out of red Home Depot buckets. Works very nice. Just need to keep the lids not completely sealed so the pressure in the bottom bucket doesn’t prevent more water from filtering in.
Nice! And as far as looks go, grandma could make a kitschy cover for it. 😉
Went thrifting and saw an Aquapure system, similar to the Birkey. Only needed to replace the tap, whomever had put the tap on wrong with rubber fittings in wrong areas! Brand new filter and all parts were there, complete stainlees steel unit. Just faucet put on wrong. Great purchase at $24.99! Faucet assembly for stainless steel replacement was less than $22 with rubber and metal fittings! :) So e tire cost, less than $50.00!!! :)
Great deal!
For the filtered water, you can also use an Igloo cooler bucket with a spigot built in ( I have one) and it holds at least 3 gallons.
Brilliant
How do you do this? Separate it into two parts?
Built mine with a 10 gallon igloo cooler. 👍
We built this one. Works great.
I have a filter system from about 8 years ago that never filtered all the water from the top. Can't remember the brand. I kept it just in case, and now there are alternative filters that look like they'll fit!! Yes!!
Great Great Great Great 👍 Information!! You did your thing!
Thank you Chawncy
Thanks, I'm definitely going to make one of these ♥
Thx man I REALLY APPRECIATE you sharing this. I made one and it turned out perfect!
That's great, Randy! I'm glad yours turned out well, thanks.
@@GreatLakesPrepping Thank you, and I saved a lot of money doing it this way. Iv ordered extra filters and vacuum packed them for the future. It was a fun and easy project! I am looking forward to more of your content! Be safe my friend 👍
I made one, love it, thanks so much for the video and helpful info
Wow !! BRILLIANT IDEA!! I sure wish that I had seen this video just 6 months ago before I bought four Big Burkeys for myself and my siblings. I’m NOT going to calculate how much $ I could have saved. Instead I will just remember this and going forward I will always know how to do it. Thank you.
$880. You could have saved $880.
@@wotmuddingtrolloc savage ;)
That was so nice of you to purchase such an amazing gift for your siblings! They are blessed to have you!
Good Job. Thank You.
Thanks for the great video. I immediately went out to order the Waterdrop filters and saw the full setup for sale for $140. I figured I'd go for it and then they took $40 off when it was in my cart!
Wow, that is great, thank you for sharing and demonstrating how to get the same results for less $$..
You got a sub for that! Crazy awesome.
I made the same thing with stainless steel stock pots and a stainless steel spigot. I made sure I got the real Berkey filters.
@Anonymoussilurian Anonymoussilurian I am Canadian and I ordered everything from amazon. The stock pots were about $30 each and the spigot was about $15. I had to get a step drill bit which makes the hole bigger the more you drill. I kept drilling until the tip of the filter would fit through the hole. You also need tin snips to cut the middle out of the bottom lid.
@Anonymoussilurian Anonymoussilurian yes, they stack perfectly, but the lid of the bottom pot has to have a big hole cut out of it so that the tips of the filters, which are in the top pot, can drip into the bottom pot.
@Anonymoussilurian Anonymoussilurian I found the video of the exact same water filter I made. The youtube channel is called 'Off grid homesteading with the boss of the swamp' and the video is called 'how to make your own Berkey style water purifier'. I didn't do the part where he puts tape on the lid to hold it together because it stacks very securely.
@Anonymoussilurian Anonymoussilurian I think I said I used a step drill. You need the lid on the bottom pot because it isn't stable enough to have the top pot sitting in the bottom pot when you fill the top pot with water and the bottom pot is empty. So you cut out the middle of the lid for the bottom pot and just leave a ring that the top pot sits on.
@@HeatherRose_ how big are the stock pots because if they're not bigger than the Berkey you might as well have spent the money on 1
Great idea . Had to share this with all my friends
Think I will go with your system as it's less daunting to drill than the steel containers or flower pot systems. Besides I am having this as a standby to the spring water from grocery store. I worry about the heavy duty medicine drugs & pesticides said to be in tap water. Thanks
What a great video - thank you!
Thanks!
Great idea & video! You’ve got to love a DIY solution that’s not only cheaper, but higher performance/capacity.
I built one of these months ago. It works pretty well. Aftermarket filters do have some sediment/dust they let off the first 10-15 gallons or so. I also have hard water so it doesn't really help with that, but for having good clean drinking water, this works quite well. My build is identical with the exception that I used a gamma lid on top, and a metal spigot. I think if I have some spare cash in the future I'll definitely add 2 more filters because like you said it DOES slow down significantly after the water level goes below the tops of the filters.
Awesome vid, thank's for your time and help. As i speak to you I'm in the Nevada High Desert and there is a controlled water system by account by the county. However the water has a lot of minerals in it. Again thank you and for the links you provided.
Well Done!!
thank you, love it!!!!!!.
More filter has replacement for 48 buck and they work pretty good. Good video this is really all we need in a emergency or any day use for all that matters 🙂
Many colors for the bucket and so easy learned a lot thanks.