The drinking and cooking water at our off-grid cabin is filtered through the gravity fed Berkey water filter. Many homesteaders and preppers know Berkey water filters for their high quality and ease of use. Our bulk drinking and cooking water is stored in an underground 1000 gallon cistern at the top of the valley where we will be building our house over the next two summers.

The 1000 Gallon Water Cistern

In the picture below you can see the green plastic risers for accessing the buried underground 1000 gallon rectangular cement box cistern. You can also see the white PVC pipe poking above ground level. This is for an electric pump setup or wires. For the 900 square foot house that will be built where the car currently is, we will make a trench from the cistern to the house to lay an underground pipe for water delivery. The majority of the cistern is 4 feet below ground level to prevent the water from freezing in the winter.

Pump and Power Shed Plans

Beside the cistern I will be building a large shed. On the shed roof will be all the solar panels for the house electricity. Inside the shed will be the solar power battery array, battery charger, and power inverters. Backup gas generator to charge the batteries will be sheltered beside the shed. Underground wires carrying 120 volt electricity will be laid from the power shed to the new house build. The house will have standard 120 volt household wiring. The solar panels will not be installed on the roof of the house for many reasons. House insurance companies require that the solar panels are installed by a certified installer - I'm more of a DIY guy and have no plans to get certification. My new house roof will slope down to the north, so the install would require lots of additional hardware. Solar panels are also very difficult to clean snow off of when the are on the roof of a house.

Twice a Year Water Delivery

A water truck delivered 1000 gallons of drinking water to the cistern a couple weeks ago. According to our calculations we will require two truck deliveries per year. If the water trucks ever stop or the water quality becomes questionable we will fill the cistern with rain water to filter with the Berkey and use for drinking and cooking.

Cistern Water - Truck Delivery - Click either GIF to watch the full video.

After the water delivery we added the appropriate amount of bleach to prevent green algae and red bacteria growth.

"Add 1/4 teaspoon (16 drops) of bleach per gallon of water if the water is cloudy and 1/8 teaspoon (8 drops) if the water is clear." - Source: Emergency Water

In the picture above you can see the green plastic cistern riser and cover. For drawing water from the cistern, I have not yet set up the hand pump for easy above ground access, or the electric pump for the house water feed. I haven't decided on an electric pump for the house, and the cast iron hand pump is on back order.

For now, twice a week, my son and I bring a wagon load of clean bulk water containers to fill with a bucket by hand. My son cuts the job time in half by holding the water funnel as I pour buckets of water into the bulk containers. In the picture below you can see the cover removed from the cistern access riser.

Berkey Gravity Fed Water Filter

In the picture below you can see the Berkey gravity fed water filter.

Water Goes in the Top

Water to be filtered goes in the top chamber of the Berkey after removing the lid. In the picture below the lid is removed and you can see inside the top chamber where there are two large black filters that came with the Berkey. The is gravity fed through the filters then drips down to the lower chamber where it can be accessed at leisure from the spigot.

Additional filters are available from Berkey including a filter specialized in removing fluoride from city water. Visit their web page for more information about their water filters: Berkey Filters Web Page

Filtered Water Spigot at the Bottom

In the picture below you can see the spigot that came with the Berkey has a water level sight to easily see how much filtered water is available.

Rain Water for Cleaning

Rain water is collected and boiled for washing dishes, clothes, showers, and bathing. Adding an outdoor gravity fed cold water line to be used with the existing rocket stove boiler's gravity fed hot water line. A post is coming soon for the new outdoor plumbing setup.

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Have a great day!

Off-Grid: Berkey Water Filter and a Full 1000 Gallon Cistern of Drinking Water