Katadyn Water Filters
Copyright © September 2, 2024 by Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E.
All Rights Reserved.
Introduction
I decided to write this article and post it on my website because of the gradual but systematic decline in the quality of the municipal water that is being processed in many parts of the world, including the USA. For example, in the year 2024 the quality of the municipal water in a subdivision that I lived in from 1981 to 1998 had to be boiled before it could be consumed by the residents of that county.
If you live in an area that recommends boiling your tap water then you should determine exactly what is wrong with your tap water. A water filter system may not be enough to fix the problem and you may need to actually boil your water before you consume it, or you may need to purchase bottled water to drink.
Some water filter systems require water pressure for the system to work correctly. During a hard times event you may lose the pressure on your water system. Therefore this is not the type of system that can be depended on during a hard times event.
Some water filter systems work using gravity. They are called "drip" systems. This is the type of system that could be depended on during a hard times event. Gravity water filter systems will be discussed in this article.
Some gravity water filters will only process a few hundred gallons of water and then the filter has to be replaced. These are the types of water filters that are sold at Walmart, at hardware stores, and at home improvement stores. There is nothing wrong with these filters. But they are not recommended for a long-term hard times event because you would need lots and lots of them, and they would require lots and lots of storage space, and they would cost lots and lots of money.
Berkey Water Filters
Now that I have laid a foundation for this article, I need to say that I realize that almost everyone who offers hard times survival advice recommends the Berkey (Berkefeld) water filter system.
I purchased a "Big Berkey" water filter system in 2002. The system I purchased was a good system and in the year 2002 the system I received was well made.
However, the quality of the Berkey water filters gradually began to decline. This should not be a surprise to anyone who has seen the quality of products gradually decline with the passing years.
For example, in 1991 I was certified as a "Boeing Advanced Quality Systems Instructor." In 1991 the quality of a Boeing commercial airplane was remarkable and Boeing had sold and received advance payment in full for every commercial airplane that they were going to make from 1992 to 1994. Today, in the year 2024, many people are very reluctant to fly on a Boeing commercial airplane because of the number of Boeing commercial airplane accidents.
In the year 2012 I became very disappointed with the quality of the Berkey Black Water Filters and I stopped recommending all of the Berkey water filters on my website. A black water filter is shown on the right.
The reason I stopped recommending Berkey filters was because I had taken the time to read all the customer reviews for the Berkey Black Water Filters on Amazon. Following is a very brief summary of the many negative customer comments that I found on Amazon:
- At least one-third of the filters are defective. And there is no way to know which ones are defective until after they have been put into use.
- Approximately 42% of the Berkefeld customers have experienced a problem with a filter gradually coming loose from its base and allowing unfiltered water into the lower water compartment.
- Berkefeld has been aware of this problem since 2010 but they have not corrected this problem as of October 2013. However, they have assured their dealers and their customers that this problem was resolved in 2011 when they changed the type of glue they were using.
- Complaining directly to Berkefeld by phone or by email accomplishes nothing.
- The dealers who sell these filters are very much aware of this serious quality problem but they continue to sell Berkefeld filters to anyone who will buy them.
- The six month warranty begins on the date the filter was purchased.
- Berkefeld will not replace a defective filter but they will prorate a defective filter and sell you another filter that has the same quality defect. This generates a lot of repeat business for Berkefeld.
- Many of these filters are purchased in advance of their being needed, or they are purchased for use during a future emergency when a family will be depending on their water filter to remove harmful microorganisms from their water so they do not get sick (or die).
- The "Laboratory Report" on the performance of these filters was fabricated and its lack of authenticity can be verified by contacting the individual quoted in the report.
- There is no micron rating or performance information about these filters that can be verified.
- An independent home test on the safety of one of these filters revealed that the filter allowed Coliform Bacteria to pass through the filter.
- An independent home test on ten of these filters revealed that the average life of a filter is approximately 360 gallons before it has to be replaced. This is not even close to the 3,000 gallons as advertised by Berkefeld.
Creating a fictional Laboratory Report is lying. Saying that a quality problem has been corrected when the quality problem has not been corrected is lying. Saying that the filters will process 3,000 gallons of water when they will only process 360 gallons of water is lying. Is a company that tells these types of lies the type of company that you should trust?
In the year 2024 most people worldwide do not believe everything they hear from their government leaders, or from the media, or from the companies that make and sell products and services. Today most people realize that ethics and integrity are not as highly valued as they once were, and that lying and dishonesty is the new norm. Therefore people are not surprised when they discover that they have been lied to by the media, or by their civic leaders, or by the marketing departments of huge corporations.
The above customer complaints are easy to ignore because Berkey has an amazing advertising and marketing department. And almost everyone on the internet currently recommends the Berkey water filters because almost every other internet website recommends the Berkey water filters. Therefore, either the Berkey water filters are truly amazing or almost everyone on the internet has become deceived by the "herd mentality."
It should also be mentioned that many people purchase a water filter for a future emergency and these people post their opinion about the water filter based on its appearance, and on how fast it was delivered, and on whether it arrived in good condition and it was not damaged during transit. These people will not know that their water filter does not work correctly until one day in the future when they get really sick, or die, because their water filter is defective.
In the year 2024 the Berkey "Black" Water Filters are now made in the USA. The Amazon web page that sells two of these authentic Black Filters for $349.99 has 4,411 ratings and 7% of those ratings are a "one" which is the lowest rating possible on Amazon. Berkey still makes the British Doulton Sterasyl Water Filters and the Amazon web page shows that 6% of their Amazon customers rate the white Sterasyl filter as a "one." I personally have not purchased a Berkey water filter since the year 2002 but I hesitate to trust a company that misrepresented (lied) about their water filters for several years.
Tank Capacity: A "Big Berkey" stainless steel water tank contains 2.25 gallons of water. An Aettechgd stainless steel water tank contains 2.9 gallons of water. A bigger tank means you do not have to refill the tank as often as a smaller tank.
Filter Capacity: Berkey water filters are current;y advertised to process 6,000 gallons of water. Katadyn water filters are advertised to process 13,000 gallons of water. More gallons per filter usually means a lower cost per gallon of water processed.
Processing Speed: Some people purchase a Berkey water filter because it can filter one gallon of water in 20 minutes, or three gallons per hour. This means that the water passes through the Berkey filter rather quickly. For comparison purposes a Katadyn filter will only filter about 1/3 gallon of water per hour. In other words, a Berkey filter is nine times faster than a Katadyn filter. This implies that the actual pore size of a Katadyn filter is much smaller than a Berkey filter. Therefore, in this type of situation, slower is better.
I do not mind if you purchase a Berkey water filter. And if you wish to find lots and lots of people who will praise you for buying a Berkey system then you can do a simple internet search on the "best gravity water filter system" and you will find all the favorable Berkey comments that you desire to hear.
However, if you are interested in a different perspective on water filters then please continue reading this article. In the remainder of this article I am going to recommend the Katadyn water filters and I am going to explain why.
I should mention that I do not receive a fee or a commission for any product that I recommend and I do not receive any compensation if you click on a link in this article.
Katadyn Water Filters
Katadyn water filters are made in Switzerland.
My first experience with Katadyn water filters was in 2002. I purchased a Katadyn Water Filter System with a water tank, and I also purchased a portable Katadyn Pocket Water Filter. I was extremely pleased with both products. Therefore I recommended them on my website.
Switzerland is a relatively small country and it has always been concerned about the quality of the products they make. In the 1950s and 1960s a Swiss watch was expensive but it was considered to be the best watch made anywhere in the world. At the current time in the year 2024 the two best quality watches currently being made are "Rolex" and "Patek Philippe" and those watches are made in Switzerland and these watches sell for a significant price premium worldwide. "Logitech" computer and media products are also made in Switzerland and they have a quality and performance reputation that is recognized worldwide.
In February of 2024 I purchased a new Katadyn Water Filter Gravity Drip System that was made in Switzerland. It contained 3 Katadyn Ceradyn Filter Elements and a plastic water tank. On September 2, 2024 this entire system costs about $430 on Amazon.
I was very satisfied with the 3 Ceradyn water filter elements that came with this system.
But I was not impressed with the plastic water tank that came with this Katadyn system. Plastic will absorb a wide variety of nasty stuff and the stains cannot be removed from the plastic. Almost all plastics will do this, including plastic cutting boards that are made to be used in a kitchen. Because the Katadyn system comes with a plastic water tank I cannot recommend this system and therefore I am not providing a direct link to the Amazon page where this system is advertised.
As I just mentioned, I was impressed with the three Katadyn Ceradyn Water Filter Elements (picture of one filter on right). Each element has a 0.2 micron (0.0002 mm) silver-impregnated ceramic filter that can be cleaned. Each filter will process about 50,000 liters or 13,000 gallons of water. All three filters combined will process about 150,000 liters or 39,000 gallons of water. The Katadyn Ceradyn water filter in the picture on the right shows the bottom part of the filter that attaches to the water tank using a wing nut (not shown). A black o-ring washer is shown in the picture but the washer is not included with a replacement filter that is purchased by itself.
On September 2, 2024 a Katadyn Ceradyn Filter sells for about $70 on Amazon plus it has an additional 5% off coupon (about $3) if you click on the coupon before you add the item to your cart. The Katadyn Ceradyn Water Filters can be purchased on Amazon at the following link:
Katadyn Ceradyn Replacement Filter Element
In February of 2024 I purchased three more of the Katadyn Ceradyn Water Filters. My personal experience, and the experience of one other Amazon customer, was that one of the three filters broke during shipment. Amazon shipped a replacement filter to me immediately but Amazon asked that I return the broken filter using the prepaid shipping label that they emailed to me. (Note: All ceramic water filters are fragile and all ceramic water filters should be handled with care.) (Note: I gave those three extra filters to members of my extended family.)
When purchased individually as a replacement filter, the price of a Katadyn water filter only includes a new filter element and nothing else. The product box does not contain an o-ring washer or a wing nut. But you will need a food-grade o-ring washer (12.5 to 13 mm inside diameter) and a wing nut (12.5 mm fine threads) to install the filter into any type of water filtration container. (Unless you are replacing a filter in an existing container that already contains an identical Katadyn filter.) Fortunately, you can purchase a spare parts maintenance kit that contains 3 washers, 3 ring nuts, a rubber hole plug, and a C-gauge (47 mm) for the Katadyn filters for approximately $23 at the following website:
Katadyn Spare Parts Maintenance Kit
Some hardware stores sell a stainless steel 12.5 mm fine thread nut that will work on the Katadyn Ceradyn water filter element.
As I mentioned previously, I was not impressed with the plastic water tank that came with the Katadyn system that I purchased. But I was able to find a lot of stainless steel gravity water filter system tanks on Amazon for about $100 and the price usually included some type of generic water filters. (Note: Since most of the filters were made in China I did not attach much significance to the advertising claims that were made for those water filters.)
A stainless steel water tank will not rust and it will not absorb anything from the water that is put into the water tank. This means the inside of the water tank can be easily cleaned if you put contaminated water into the top water tank. The water filters will remove the contaminants from the water that is allowed to flow down into the bottom water tank.
I selected an "Aettechgd" 2.9 gallon gravity drip system with holes for 3 filters (picture on right). Aettechgd is an independent brand and it is not sourced or affiliated with Berkey. On September 2, 2024 it sells for about $129 on Amazon plus it has an additional 5% off coupon (about $6) if you click on the coupon before you add the item to your cart. It has 2 carbon filters (chlorine and lead and 6,000 gallons) and 2 fluoride filters (1,000 gallons). Aettechgd is made in China and the stainless steel tank is really nice. But I have doubts about the "true" effectiveness of the four filters even if they were tested by an "independent" laboratory. However, I bought the system for its stainless steel water tank and I did not buy the system for its filters. The stainless steel water tank has a good water spigot, a water gauge above the spigot that contains a floating red ball that indicates the water level inside the lower tank, and a strong four leg foundation that supports the water tank and elevates it high enough so that water can be easily dispensed into a cup or glass.
Amazon has several Aettechgd water filter systems for sale but the best value is the following unit (in my opinion):
Aettechgd Ultra-Filtration Gravity Water Filtration System
My Katadyn filters fit into the openings in the Aettechgd water tank and this combination resulted in the best quality stainless steel water tank, the best quality Katadyn water filters, and two spare carbon filters (if they are ever needed), and two spare fluoride filters (if they are ever needed).
In summary, I recommend the following water filter system that consists of the following parts:
$201 = Cost of three Katadyn Ceradyn Filter Elements (cost includes a 5% coupon) (13,000 gallons per filter or 39,000 gallons for all 3 filters).
$23 = Cost of three o-ring washers and three wing nuts for three Katadyn filters.
$123 = Cost of Aettechgd Water Filter System (stainless steel tank and 4 filters) (cost includes a 5% coupon).
$347 = Total Cost of the entire system before tax on September 2, 2024. This system will filter 39,000 gallons of water.
The above system includes a stainless steel water tank for a total system cost of $347 and this is a better system than the Amazon Katadyn 3 filter system with a plastic water tank for $430. In my opinion, a stainless steel water tank is a good choice if you also purchase 3 of the Katadyn Ceradyn Water Filter Elements. The most important part of any water filter system are the water filters and the above Katadyn Ceradyn water filters are made in Switzerland. Switzerland has a quality reputation that is recognized worldwide.
Flow Rate: A single Katadyn Ceradyn Water Filter will process a maximum of about 1.3 liters (or 1.4 quarts) of water per hour, or about 32 liters (or 8.4 gallons) of water per day. Depending on the size of your family, you may only need to install one (or two) water filters in the stainless steel water tank and those filters will filter enough water for the daily needs of your family. This would allow you to save the extra filters until they are needed after the current filters are used up. A simple C-gauge comes with the spare parts maintenance kit so you can measure the diameter of the filter to verify that it is still big enough (at least 47 mm) to correctly filter water.
Initial Setup: Rinse the inside of the top and the bottom Aettechgd stainless steel water tanks with clean water. Rinse the Katadyn Ceradyn water filters with clean water. Place a food-grade rubber o-ring gasket around the threaded post and push it snug against the bottom of a filter. Place the threaded end of the filter through one hole on the inside of the top water tank. Screw a wing nut onto the bottom of the threaded filter that extends down through the top tank until the filter is hand-tight (but firm) against the inside of the top tank. Do not put excessive pressure on the rubber o-ring gasket. The o-ring gasket will be inside the top water tank and the wing nut will be on the outside of the top water tank. Put a food-grade rubber plug in each of the empty holes in the bottom of the top water tank that do not contain water filters. Install the spigot on the bottom water tank. Put the top water tank on the bottom water tank. Fill the top water tank with water. Discard the first 4 liters (1 gallon) of water that has been filtered into the bottom water tank. This will remove any harmless ceramic dust that may have been present inside the water filter (due to the normal manufacturing process). The water filter system may now be used to filter water.
Cleaning: If the flow rate from a filter decreases then you can gently clean the outside surface of a filter with an ordinary Scotch Brite cleaning (or scouring) non-scratch pad that does not contain any type of soap. Do not use any soap or detergents. Gently rub the cleaning pad around the entire exterior surface of a filter and then rinse the filter with clean water.
Minimum Filter Diameter: After cleaning a filter use the C-gauge to check the outside diameter of the filter at several spots on the filter. If the C-gauge will slip completely around the filter at any spot (47 mm or less), then the filter should be replaced with a new filter.
Life of a Filter: A single Katadyn Ceradyn filter will process about 13,000 gallons of water. If one person requires one gallon of clean water per day, then one filter will provide enough clean water for one person for 13,000 days or 35.6 years (13,000 / 365 days per year). One filter will serve a family of four people for 8.9 years. How much would one Katadyn Ceradyn water filter be worth to you if a long-term hard times event were to devastate the normal trade between nations for several decades?
Some Additional Related Information:
Note 1: A Katadyn Ceradyn water filter contains silver and silver has been documented to neutralize pathogens. The Katadyn filters do not contain any carbon. Carbon helps to improve the taste of bad tasting water. Therefore people buy carbon water filters because they can taste the difference in the water. But you cannot taste pathogens and you will not be aware of the pathogens until you get sick. If your water does not taste good then you could purify the water by using a Katadyn filter and then use an activated carbon water filter to improve its taste. Almost any activated carbon water filter will improve the taste of water. It should also be mentioned that silver costs a lot more than carbon and that is another reason why the Katadyn filters contain silver.
Note 2: Katadyn also makes a Gravidyn carbon core water filter than has a life expectancy of about 6 months. I recommend the Ceradyn water filter so please do not purchase a Gravidyn water filter by mistake.
Note 3: There are different types of activated carbon water filters. Usually they will remove chlorine, odors, pesticides, herbicides, many volatile organic compounds, and they usually improve the taste of water. Some will remove between 60% to 99% of the lead in water. A carbon water filter will not remove salt, or radioactive contaminants, or small microorganisms (bacteria, coliform, and viruses).
Note 4: If your water does not appear to be clear when put the water into an ordinary glass container then the water contains impurities. If the impurities are dissolved in the water then pre-filtering the water will not remove the impurities. If the impurities are suspended in the water then you should filter your water through several pieces of tightly woven cloth (such as blue jean material) to reduce the water's turbidity before you put the water into the top of your gravity drip water filter tank. There should be a space between the pieces of tightly woven cloth and the pieces of cloth should not touch one another.
Note 5: The most reliable way to test the effectiveness of your water filtering system is to have the filtered water tested by a laboratory. The water department in your county may do this for you, or they can tell you where it can be done. There are two types of tests. There is a test for harmful pathogens in the water, such as E-coli. There is a different test for minerals in the water, such as lead and copper. Both types of tests are important and you should have both tests performed on your filtered water to determine if your water filter system is effective. "Home test kits" are also available but they are not as reliable as a laboratory test.
Note 6: If you collect rainwater in a safe way before it comes in contact with anything (such as your roof), and if the rainwater does not contain smog, pollen, radioactive particles, or volcanic dust, then the rainwater will probably be free from pathogens and you may not need a water filter system.
Note 7: For some reason Amazon has added a "Power Source" information line to some of their product descriptions. A gravity water filter does not have a power source but Amazon is currently showing "AC/DC" or "Electric" as the power source for some filters. This is incorrect and it was probably added automatically by an AI system to the product pages.
Conclusion
If you already own a stainless steel water tank made by a different company then you could purchase some Katadyn Ceradyn Water Filter elements and install them in your water tank to convert it into a dependable, reliable, world-class water filter system.
Your life and the life of your family members are very precious to God. In my opinion, it would not be wise to gamble with your lives.
Any water filter system that you select should protect your family from ingesting harmful or deadly pathogens. The most important part of any water filter system is its filter elements. Would you prefer to trust a water filter that was made in Switzerland or a water filter that was made in the United Kingdom or in China?
Please give this issue some thoughtful consideration.
Respectfully,
Grandpappy.
2 Footnotes:
Footnote 1:
Beware of imitation products or knock-offs. Before you buy a water filter make sure it is a genuine filter made by the parent company.
Footnote 2:
A homemade water filter system is described on my website at the following link. Aquarain filters are no longer in stock at Amazon but you can use one Katadyn Ceradyn Water filter inside the homemade water filter system and the filter will process 13,000 gallons of water instead of 10,000 gallons. In the year 2024 the current cost of all the components is more than $75 due to inflation.
How to Build a Water Filter System for About $75 (cost in the year 2012).
Grand pappy's e-mail address is: RobertWayneAtkins@hotmail.com