BerkeyImperial Berkey Water Filter System, 4.5 Gallon Gravity Filter
4.5-gallon stainless gravity filter that expands to six elements and up to 16.5 gallons per hour.
$451
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Usability
Usability
The Imperial is the first size where throughput stops being the complaint. Six elements and 16.5 gallons per hour is a different appliance from the 2.75 you get out of a Travel Berkey, and it is the reason to step past the Royal rather than the extra 1.25 gallons of storage. The catch is that the elements you would need to get there are the ones nobody can currently buy.
- Expands to six elements for up to 16.5 gallons per hour, far beyond the Big or Royal ceiling
- 4.5 gallons of storage suits three to eight people, offices and pet households
- Runs on gravity alone with no electricity, plumbing or water pressure
- 6,000 gallons per pair of elements, so a six-element Imperial holds 18,000 gallons of capacity
- AISI 304 stainless construction with no plastic in the water path except the spigot
- Lifetime warranty on the stainless chambers and hardware when bought through the authorized dealer
- No NSF certification for any filtration claim; all performance data is manufacturer-commissioned lab testing
- Standalone Black Berkey replacement elements are out of stock industry-wide under an EPA stop-sale order, so the four- and six-element upgrades are not currently purchasable
- At 26 in. tall it will not fill under most kitchen faucets
- Ships with only two of its six element slots populated, so out-of-box flow is well below the headline figure
- Priming six elements is a long job and the most common first-use complaint across the line
- Heavy and awkward to move once the lower chamber is full
The Imperial Berkey holds 4.5 gallons across two AISI 304 stainless chambers and is the first size in the range that accepts six Black Berkey elements rather than four.
It ships with two, which give up to 5.5 gallons per hour. Four take that to 11 and six to 16.5, so a fully populated Imperial filters faster than any Berkey below it by a wide margin. Up to six PF-2 elements can be fitted below for fluoride and arsenic reduction.
At 26 in. tall and 10 in. across it needs a dedicated spot and a tall faucet or a bathtub tap to fill comfortably. It is generally sized for three to eight people, small offices and households with animals.
Additional information
Specification: Imperial Berkey Water Filter System, 4.5 Gallon Gravity Filter
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Questions answered from our data
What does Berkey filter out?Across the 11 Berkey systems we list, the makers claim reduction of 20 contaminants.
Do water filters remove fluoride?82 of the 296 systems we list claim to reduce fluoride.
Does Berkey remove PFAS?Nine of the 11 Berkey systems we list claim to reduce PFAS.
Do water filters remove lead?120 of the 296 systems we list claim to reduce lead.
