Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsleaks, terrible instructions, over priced, pretty, update, second updated review, its perfect
Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2020
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.
