.

.

Since Berkey filters run at over $200.00 and the title is "I have $500..." I would definitely not recommend a Berkey, although they are great filters. Sales tax and shipping will easily eat up over half this budget. There is nothing wrong with a boil & bleach method, and at 2 drops per liter, you can hardly notice the taste. Add some powdered drink mix and you wouldn't notice it at all. Besides, as good as the Berkey is, you eventually will run out of filters and left with the boil option anyways. As far as charcoal filters, they would be great for harvested rain water. I doubt that a relatively clean tarp used to collect water would add anything that would kill you.
Some advice from lots of experienced preppers....KISS...Keep It Simple, Stupid!
Prepping is expensive enough without having to spend tons of money on the fancy equipment. I suppose if you were to drag your family out into the wilderness and plan on filtering pond water to survive, a Berkey would be a worthwhile investment...but I don't recommend that course of action.

You can get a Berkey "sport" water bottle with filter that has the same filtering qualities as their larger systems. They are good for up to 640 refills in clear (not clean) water and up to 160 with turbid (sediment) water before having to replace the filter. You can get them for $26.00 and replacement filters are $20.00. In really bad situations you can also add a few drops of Chlorine to the water, wait 10 minutes then drink. The filter will remove the chlorine. A great piece of kit.

Water Filtration
go to 'instructables.com'
search for Berkey, Berkly and water filtration

there are some design plans for as little as $25-$35, some very simple too.[/quote
There are vids on youtube as well if you want a video format.
The problems with the DIY versions are not the containers but rather the filtering medium used. Many use a standard charcoal filter from home depot or something, so it is comparing apples to oranges. A single Berkey filter is $50 and could be used in the system as long as you have the right nuts and sealing washers. Just because water looks clean does not mean it is not teaming with bacteria. Berkeys can filter red food coloring out of water, that is how good the filters are. In fact thats how you are supposed to test them. I also have the PF2 filter for fluoride and arsenic.
Try one but know the filters you use and their limitations is all I am saying.

Hey Gravy..
why not think others actually know about water and filters as well as you do, or better actually?
So.. before the bla bla bla..
I did water testing for a while, know tons but hey still open to learning even more,
have a water/beer store near me and he can order in oodles of proper full filters, not just the carbon taste good filters.

Your right you can expect to spend 35 dollars and get the best filter for that price and there will be no difference, I will be a fly on the wall and leave the bla bla bla to myself. Bye.

Denob,
go to a place and get some more tops, they sell them or give them away when you buy purified water at a water station.
I will create a separate water Topic, with some links that I have used for reference and for purchasing filters in the past.

That way this $500 topic will not be taken over by water posts info and ummm other stuff!

Water seems to be brought up a lot so here goes;

Berkey! yup great system but a trifle on the $$$ side
There is a fellow who joined here with some info on Berkey systems, search through and find his informative posts, seemed like a nice fellow.

Denob wrote:
Well AMF, there you have it...two opinions on water, both will provide clean, safe drinking water.
My biggest point is to be able to gather and purify water on an ongoing basis, as you will only be able to store so much.
Hope the difference in opinions here hasn't turned you off the forum.
There are well over 1000 members here and these differences are inevitable.
Keep asking questions...you'll get lots of answers, but the final decisions, well, only you can make.

So many difference of systems, info and needs!

Storing Water
Filtering Water
Large Volume water filtration
portable water filtration and systems
Harvesting Rainwater
re-using grey water (not too drink hopefully)
irrigation

WildE wrote;
Water Filtration
go to 'instructables.com'
search for Berkey, Berkly and water filtration
there are some design plans for as little as $25-$35, some very simple too. The filters cost $35 the other materials such as re-using the 3 and 5 gallon jugs are found equipment and not counted in the price

Water bottles;
the little .5l bottles are very cheap plastic, designed to break down very quickly
2lt pop bottles, slightly better and some are level 1 plastic (lasts longer)
3 gal some are level 1 some are level 2
5 gal most are level 3 (long term storage and very little plastic break down over time)
BHP Free! look for these labels for long term health
Big Blue/Green/Grey/Red?Rouge? look like Terra Cotta but I am a guy that is not great with colouring names.
Most of the bigger 15-55 gal barrels can be used for water storage
Some of the larger 700lt and above totes with or with ought the wire cages can be used for water storage
(since most of us get them used, look for ones that were used for either food/veggie oil or drug storage and transportation) Human/Dog Friendly (yes cats too! 🙄 )

One of the best systems I ever saw was a setup of 2 or 3 of the blue barrels in a rack, the top one fed down to the bottom one using hoses! Great system and by using the water from the bottom barrel you are constantly flushing the system. If you need to flush the system for those 6 or 12 month changes, just open up the bottom valve and Voila.. 3 barrels empty at once, brilliant!

Filters;
Berkey filters $50 and up thanks to Gravlore for info
Berkey filters are specific to their systems
Other Filters from 3M and other companies are similar priced or less expensive depending on the company and mark ups they wish to maintain.

Here are a few sites listed below with some Water information contained on the pages. Water is so important there is always something to learn.
http://foundlocally.com/oshawa/Food/Food-WaterFiltersForYourHome.htm
http://www.aquapure.com/
http://www.canada-shops.com/Stores/ecopurewater/c11074.2.html

and End Times Report - some very good water info here including field systems, survival situations and general knowledge about water
http://www.endtimesreport.com/waterarticle.html
edit; another page there as well
http://www.endtimesreport.com/water.html

Next section such as were to buy less expensive full system filters for do it yourself types.
http://www.canada-shops.com/Stores/ecopurewater/c11074.2.html - yes posted again, as they inform and sell filters and systems
http://goodwaterwarehouse.com/ - so many filters and choices here it is incredible! and Canadian too!
http://www.stillwatertreatmentsystems.com/ - in the Durham Region and where I order most of my filters and parts from, great customer service and good pricing on water systems and parts.

Ceramic Filters and systems;
The Grand Daddy of all those systems is the Katydine systems, both filters and ceramics

My own system is a Ceramic system from the US, they took systems that were for Dialysis and purification of blood and created Water filter systems. Will post when I can find their site again, sorry lost the link but not the filter.

Other people had great ideas about freezing water in pop bottles and other things to keep the fridge/freezer cold during a black out! Great ideas.
Do the same thing when you go camping as well, much cheaper than buying those bags of ice

JustABear posted
You can get a Berkey "sport" water bottle with filter that has the same filtering qualities as their larger systems. They are good for up to 640 refills in clear (not clean) water and up to 160 with turbid (sediment) water before having to replace the filter. You can get them for $26.00 and replacement filters are $20.00. In really bad situations you can also add a few drops of Chlorine to the water, wait 10 minutes then drink. The filter will remove the chlorine. A great piece of kit.

Gravlore had posted something similar but removed his post so can not add it in here, was a good post about a system from Berkey that I did not know of.

Lifestraws - this system is so small and light also inexpensive about $15 per straw. Stick into pond or stream suck up the water.
thinking if you made a connector you could use it like a regular filter in the field as well, so drop water into it, being purified into a container. So light it is amazing the technology nowadays.
http://eartheasy.com/lifestraw
similar product
http://aquamira.com/preparedness/aquamira-frontier-filter/product-technology Aquamira Frontier Filter
and
http://aquamira.com/ the Home page with some misc info

http://internationalpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=1437&start=30
I have $500: Tell me what to do - post has some great info on Water/containers/systems and how to as well.

http://www.raymears.com/ http://www.raymears.com/
Ray Mears has a ton of info to teach anyone. In one of his segments, he shows how to use Peat Moss to filter water, with I had know that in the Army! That would have been so much better than drinking the Iodine and Bleach/javex water.. can you say YUK..

Yuk but effective as well for cleaning water Iodine and Bleach - topics on their own
will add in more later or someone else can

Here is a company who offers water testing equipment and supplies
http://www.canada-shops.com/Stores/ecopurewater/c206435.2.html
Note; most municipalities allow you to get your water tested either Once or Twice a year for free, some of the tests though are not 100% conclusive and do not cover all the containments in or to your water and water sources.

Now take a break so here is
Ron White Your Can't Fix stupid part one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6f2yBCTNmN0&feature=channel
click on all videos from site owner, there are the other 2-6 comedy routines

Just for some fun, wee all need that sometimes! 💡

Rainwater Harvesting;
here is some info on Rainwater Harvesting
http://www.windowcleaningresources.co.uk/html/rainwater_harvesting.html
as well there are some good Instructables.com and some YouTubes on different and similar setups.

I have done some tests on Rainwater after the 2-3 min air clearing period, see above for details. Using my TDS Meter, the tests were in almost all cases .000ppm (parts per million) that is pure water. Live close to me in the Durham Region, I will lend you one of my TDS / PPM testers so you can see it for yourself!

Some more on Water Storage
http://www.emergencyfoodwarehouse.com/water-brick.html?TheSurvivalistBlog-ad2 Now they look neat and all but really pic shows under the living room table, me thinks you can find other places for that. Where would you put all the magazines and remotes with all that water there?

I think part of knowing what kind of system you need to have is knowing your local water quality.

For those that are interested in the science behind Canadian water, here is a link for Canadian Association on Water Quality (CAWQ). The Canadian Association on Water Quality is a non-governmental, non-profit organization for scientists, engineers, technologists, administrators, practitioners and students engaged in or interested in research on water quality or on the control or treatment of water pollution. The objectives of the CAWQ are to: promote research on the scientific, technological, legal, economic, and policy aspects of water quality and of the control and treatment of water pollution, further the exchange of information and practical application of such research for the public benefit, and promote the goals and objectives of the International Water Association (IWA) in Canada.

http://www.cawq.ca/en/

It is a lot of reading but it discusses the quality of water we use/live with and how they are working to improve.

Here is a link to the Government of Canada water quality.

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/water-eau/drink-potab/index-eng.php

Merged some related posts from another topic.