Where I live the water is untreated and comes from an unapproved surface source and is not safe to drink. There are warnings that the water poses a health risk and contains disease causing bacteria. A Brita filter in this setting would be completely useless. I use a Berkey filter because it is simple, there are no moving pieces or parts to break, and it is easy to set up an use in a rural setting with very little infrastructure. All you have to do is fill up the top and let the water drip down. The only complaint is that it takes FOREVER for the water to filter through, and if I don't remember to fill up the top portion I will run out by the end of the day. The filters are also expensive, but in this situation the price doesn't matter. Even if they were $1,000 a filter I would still buy them without hesitating.
One of my coworkers took samples of water into town to be tested. I haven't looked at the results, but he said he was told the raw water was really bad and that you probably shouldn't even shower in it (which everyone does). The water that went through the Berkey filter came back ok. I'll see if I can get my hands on the actual test results and post them here.
One of my coworkers took samples of water into town to be tested. I haven't looked at the results, but he said he was told the raw water was really bad and that you probably shouldn't even shower in it (which everyone does). The water that went through the Berkey filter came back ok. I'll see if I can get my hands on the actual test results and post them here.