Black Berkey® water filters used in Berkey® purification systems are entirely capable of filtering collected water.

However, certain precautions are necessary. For instance, ensure that there is no contamination by a specific pollutant that might be absent from the test results conducted by Berkey®. Also, take care to limit the contact of animal feces (birds, squirrels, etc.) with your water or chemicals used on roofs. The water should be pre-filtered before being introduced into the purifier to avoid excessive suspended matter, which could quickly block the filters and they would need cleaned more often.

Some of our customers have built rainwater filtration systems consisting of multi-stage capture processes (up to 5 stages in some systems) equipped with several Black Berkey® filter elements (from 4 to 8). The water is filtered in a number of stages and stored in adequate containers.

Even though Black Berkey® elements are water purifiers, it is advisable, for this type of use, and if, for example, there is a risk of high contamination by E. coli, add a few drops of (unscented) chlorine-based disinfectant at the first stage of filtration.

See this topic on filtering water from sources other than tap water.