Save $180 on a Berkey water filter!

I have recently been enlightened to what is in our water supply.  It concerns me, to say the least.  We've been using a PUR faucet mounted water filter until we can afford a better solution.  Our biggest concern is flouride.  These common filters do not remove flouride. 

Side note:  From what I understand, Berkey filters do not remove flouride, either.  However, their filters are superior at removing contaminants and they have additional filters you can purchase which DO remove flouride and also arsenic.  See the video below.


I have already switched our family to flouride-free toothpaste and am looking into switching to a dentist who will not use flouride on my kids (among other things), but more importantly, one who will NOT give me a hard time for choosing this.  My current dental office is already giving me a hard time for not wanting unnecessary x-rays.  I can only imagine how they'll react when I tell them, "No more flouride."  It's time to move on.

Another side note:  This is the last thing I will say about flouride right now.  It is a personal concern of ours and for many others.  Many people are learning that flouride has not been proven to be beneficial, but instead may be a trigger for diseases such as cancer, alzheimers, and bone diseases.  You'll need to do your own research on that as this post is intended to be more focused on water filters, but here are just some interesting articles on the topic of flouride.


I'd love to say this is a post on how we BUILT our own Berkey water filter.  But it's not.  We're still not there, yet.  But, in the meantime, I have found several websites and youtube videos on the subject and just wanted to share them with those of you who are interested in such things.  I did not think of this money-saving idea on my own.  I just happened to stumble across a video and thought, "Duh.  Why didn't I think of that?"  It never ceases to amaze me what other people invent.
The idea is to purchase the filters from Berkey (or another source) and build your own containers from old "Ozarka" type bottles or 5 gallon buckets, etc. to save a lot of money.
This fellow saved nearly $180 building his own Berkey!  His site has a pretty good tutorial on how to do it.

Here's another at Green-Trust.org.

And here's a short, helpful video showing a simple and inexpensive set up.  This video does not walk you through the building process, he just tells you how he did it and shows you the finished product.

This is something we WILL be doing in the future.  We just have more pressing projects on our plates at the moment.


I would love to hear what you have done for your family concerning filtering water!  Do you own a Berkey?  Have you built your own?  Care to share any advice on the matter?

I will definitely update this post when we build our own system.

Week 1 Book Review: The Best Life Diet by Bob Greene

OK, so I know I posted I was reading something different last week. I'm still reading that book. But, I was already reading The Best Life Diet and finished it first, so it gets reviewed first!

I also know this book has been out a few years and so you all may have already read it. I had not. So, I finally did.

My husband and I decided this year we would make the switch to eating whole foods. No more fast food, processed foods, sodas and all that yucky stuff. So, I set out to find some good books to read that would have some great healthy recipes in them.

Off we went to Half-Price Books (my favorite store!) and what do you think I found??? A stack of great "diet" books in the clearance section for $1 a piece!!! Holy moly, was I excited! I promptly snatched them all up and proudly showed my hubby my great finds :) Of course, he loves it when he can get out of that store only spending a few bucks! We buy oh-so-many books :)

The Best Life Diet was a really good read. If you are looking for information on cooking healthier and just making better food choices, this is a good one to read. Surprisingly, Bob doesn't want you to start out immediately changing your diet. He wants you to get moving first to see if it makes a big improvement in your weight/health. We were both already exercising and ready to change our eating habits, so we aren't waiting.

After you come to a point where you are not seeing any more progress, then he has you change your diet. They are good changes, too. We have been eating very well! My hubby was afraid he would be eating rice cakes and feel hungry all the time ;) Not so! In fact, last week we had the Beef Fajita and Guacamole recipe from Bob's book and it was absolutely de-lish!

The Best Life Diet is a no-nonsense, practical guide to eating healthy. It just makes sense.

You just have to be ready to change what your doing.

We were ready.

Are you?