I never used to think about the water we drank.
In fact, I thought most people who worried about whether their water was filtered were a little high maintenance. I was a self-proclaimed “tap water girl.”
It was only once we were preparing to leave Okinawa a few years ago that I started to take a second look. A friend of mine explained how being a military base, a lot of chemicals had been buried into the ground or leeched into the ground from chemical spills and that it’s nearly impossible to get out of the water.
I stood there silently as I recalled going through my entire second pregnancy and a year of breastfeeding while drinking the potentially contaminated water.
Not a soul ever said I shouldn’t drink the water.
And as recently as May of this year, Japanese officials have continued to warn local nationals NOT to drink the water surrounding Kadena Air Base due to unsafe levels of contaminants. Even the Washington Post covered this big controversy.
After digging deeper into some of the water issues at Camp Lejuene and bases in South Carolina, it became obvious to me that this was an issue I was no longer willing to take a chance on.
Adding fuel to the fire, was a recent article that detailed numerous military bases that tested too high for dangerous water chemicals.
Here’s the hard part.
Halting the use of dangerous firefighting foams and switching to “safer” options is a start; however, the remnants of past chemical contamination remains. Once it’s in the water table, it’s not all that easy to get out.
Three Colorado communities are looking at an 11 million dollar bill to clean up their water due to firefighting foams used at Peterson Air Force Base.
Many military bases tout safe water.
I get it.
The drinking water might be safe.
But, I’m no longer willing to play Russian roulette with my drinking water, only to find out two decades later that it contained contaminants known to cause cancer and organ failure.
There’s another problem for military families with any water contaminants near military bases: It is very hard to prove.
With military families moving every few years, it’s difficult to know which water source may have contributed to disease. A disease that may not show up for 10-20 years.
To go back and say, it was this base that we lived at 15 years ago is a hard thing to do.
Regardless if the water is deemed safe or not, we do not drink the tap water.
For a while we were purchasing water from a reverse osmosis water station and filling four 5-gallon jugs once every week to week and a half. We would pour it into a water dispenser and used it for everything from cooking to drinking to making coffee.
The only problem with the jugs is they are heavy, and when we ran out of water, we would need to make a trip to the water station and get them refilled. On top of that, reverse osmosis does not reduce volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) or endocrine disruptors.
At home water filters like a Brita or PUR, aren’t enough. They offer basic filtration by reducing chlorine, but are not effective at removing VOCs, heavy metals, endocrine disruptors or fluoride.
(Side note: If fluoride has any benefit, it would be directly to the teeth, as drinking the fluoride has not been statistically shown to increase oral health at all. Additionally, fluoride has been linked to thyroid problems and other disorders when consumed internally.)
To read more on water filtration options and see all the pros and cons, check out this post on water filtration options from Wellness Mama.
Here’s what we use now:
Berkey recently gifted us a water filter and dispenser, and we will never go back.
The Berkey filter gets out…
- Fluoride – Removed to greater than 99.9%.
- Viruses – Removed to greater than 99.9%.
- Pathogenic Bacteria – Removed to greater than 99.9%.
- Lead – Removed to greater than 99.9%.
- Arsenic – Removed to greater than 99.9%.
- Iron – Removed to greater than 99.9%.
- Mercury – Removed to greater than 99.9%.
- Chlorine – Removed to greater than 99.9%.
- Trihalomethane(THMs) – Removed to greater than 99.8%.
- Bisphenol-A – Removed to greater than 99.9%.
- Chloramines – Removed to greater than 99.9%.
- Pharmaceuticals – Removed to greater than 99.5%.
- Petroleum Contaminants – Removed to greater than 99.9%.
- Methylcyclohexane-methane – Removed to greater than 99.9%.
- Pesticides – Removed to greater than 99.9%.
- Heavy Metals – Removed to greater than 99.1%.
- Coliform and e-Coli – Removed to greater than 99.9%.
- Atrazine – Removed to greater than 99.9%.
- Uranium – Removed to greater than 97.0%.
- Gross Alpha emitters – Removed to greater than 98.7%.
When it comes to filtering water in your home, this is the best you can get. You can read more about the Berkey test results here.
It’s really easy to use.
All you do is add more water in the top. It goes through the filter and into the bottom reservoir. Then viola, place glass or pitcher under spout and dispense. It’s easy to take with us if we are going camping or traveling somewhere with the car. Just take along and filter as you go. It saves on buying bottled water and the plastic waste that goes along with all of that.
Berkey has all different types and sizes of water filters, but the one we have is the 1.5 gallon Travel Berkey.
Here are all the features that come along with the Travel Berkey…
- Great for 1-3 People
- Comes Standard with 2 Black Berkey Filters at $249 (4¢ per Gallon!)
- 2 Black Berkeys Filter Approx 6000 Gallons of Water
- Storage Capacity: 1.5 Gallons (5.7 Liters)
- Height: 19″
- Diameter: 7.5″
- Portability: The upper chamber nests within the lower chamber for transport and stands only 12″ in height
- Weight: 8 lbs (2 BB Elements)
- Max Filters: 2 Black Berkeys (upper) + 2 PF-2 Fluoride Filters (lower)
To help give back and spread the word about Berkey filters, I’ve partnered with Berkey to giveaway a 1.5 gallon Travel Berkey to one of YOU.
In order to enter, all you need to do is two things:
- Comment below about how you consume water – via the tap, a filter, a water station or something else.
- And include in your comment if you’re thinking about making a change.
This giveaway will be open for one week (closes Aug 10, 2019) and I’ll name the winner in the comments and email the winner to get the shipping information. The water filter and dispenser will arrive to your doorstep directly from Berkey!
Want more on military life?
- The Reality of Surviving a Surprise PCS Move
- 13 Totally Awesome Military Spouse Facebook Groups You Didn’t Know About
- To My Military Spouse Friends…You’ll Never Know
- 21 Best Deployment Quotes for Military Spouses and Significant Others
Alyssa
I currently use a Brita filter or buy bottled water! I hate to waste all the plastic so I try to avoid buying the bottles. We’ve been trying to figure out what the best option would be because I’ve heard nothing but terrible things about the water here!
Brianna
We use a faucet filter, but I’m definitely looking for a change. This sounds like a great product for our family. We’ll definitely be researching it further.
Marie
We drink tap water but I recently came across articles explaining how our groundwater is contaminated with carcinogens from fracking. I have been exploring healthy alternatives but I have yet to find one that fits our needs.
Kelly
We use a filter on our fridge, but your article has given me something to think about.
Stephanie
We’ve always used a brita filter, but our new base housing has a fridge spigot, so we’re using that filtered water currently. I’ve been looking at switching for some time now, and I’ve been eyeing the Berkey for a couple years! But the price….
Traci Vasquez
Currently drink from a Brita filter or tap, but have been looking to change to a better filter.
Nikohl Wulfsberg
We’re currently stationed in South Korea & living in off post housing. Literally every.single.one of the apartments or homes that we were shown included a countertop water filtration system. We all thought it was just something to tempt Americans but considering the history and our fairly rural location (Pyeongtaek, not Seoul – lots & lots of rice paddies), this article has me thinking maybe they know something we don’t ?.
We’ve always been tap drinkers, but had an in-house reverse osmosis filtration system in our house in TX & used Brita filters in OH & nothing when we were in NM…..
We just had our 1st baby, so now we’re DEFINITELY looking for a clean water option that is controllable by us & consistently available!
Lindsey M
We currently use a brita filter for water we consume bit I’ve been looking into other options. This looks awesome!
Michelle Kessler
We just moved to Naples Italy and were told the tap water on base was okay to drink but did have some extra calcium and wasn’t all the greatest tasting. We were told not to drink water out in town. We have 7 people in our family and drink a lot of water. We have been using the zero water filter but are considering getting jugs to refill at the one base here where they have a reverse asking us a system. With having five kids and moving around to different places we definitely are concerned about the water we drink and are discussing what we want to do differently. Thank you for your post we Are open for options.
Andrea Frieling-Ford
We drink from filter on tap but we want a better solution to really filter all the potential nasty stuff since we live on base and we already had health due to severe mold in base housing.
Melissa Keith
We currently live at Fort Campbell and drink tap water using a Britta faucet filter, but I had no idea that wasn’t enough! I’m currently breastfeeding my 9mo, plus we have a 4yo and we all drink water daily. I hate thinking I’ve been putting them in danger with our water consumption – something that’s supposed to be good for us! I definitely would like to make a change, and as much as I’d LOVE a Berkey system, it is SO FAR out of our budget right now. But it’s definitely a short term savings goal now, because we need something better than just hoping and praying our water is safe to drink!
Emily Bonilla
We used to buy water bottles, but I hated wasting all of the plastic so we use a Brita filter now. However, I’ve been skeptical for awhile and I think I’ll be looking for a change after reading this!