How should I store my Black Berkey™ Purification Elements and how long is their shelf-life?
It is best to empty both chambers before storing because anytime water is still it becomes stagnant, which means it can produce bacteria. You may consider washing your chambers with soapy water before leaving them to dry. If you have used your elements, you should fully dry them before storing. We offer a tool to assist in both priming and purging. This tool is called a Black Berkey Primer™. The benefit to purging the Black Berkey™ Purification Elements is that they are dried very quickly and cleaned at the same time. Another option for drying your elements is to leave them on a window sill for one to three day and allow them to air-dry. The key is to ensure they are bone-dry before storing them, to prevent any bacterial growth.
For long term storage, we recommend sealing the purification elements. This can be done with a storage bag such as a sealable sandwich bag. The elements are extremely powerful and can absorb odors and smoke from the air. By sealing them in a storage bag, they will not absorb any odors from the air. When you are ready to use use your elements, they will need to be re-primed by scrubbing them clean with a scotch brite pad or stiff brush. In theory, the shelf life of the elements is indefinite.