We’ve had our Berkey for 10 years and love it! But, when the filters recently needed replacing, we decided to try out ProOne G2.0 water filters instead. We’ll give our full ProOne filter review and why we are loving them!
This review will be more practical than technical. There’s other more thorough and researched technical reviews out there. But if you’re wondering how the swap has been to ProOne filters for a growing family, then you’re in the right place!
It’s worth noting that ProOne was formerly named Propur and you’ll still find a lot of references out there to Propur.
Why have a gravity water filter?
Gravity water filters are comprised of a top chamber where unfiltered water is poured into and then passes through a filter. The filtered water is then collected in a bottom chamber where it is ready to be dispensed.
When we purchased our Berkey 10 years ago, gravity style filters had not yet hit the mainstream. Berkey was a main player and few other options existed. Since then, gravity style water filters have grown immensely in popularity and many companies now offer them—ProOne being one of them.
So why the increased consumer demand for gravity water filters? Here’s why we like ours:
Simple Design
Water filtration in general is a big industry and many different systems exist. There’s whole house systems that are expensive and complex. Other systems require plumbing work or extra water lines. But a gravity system simply has a top and bottom chamber and runs on, well… gravity. So it even works if the power goes out. It doesn’t get more basic and accessible than that!
Family Sized
Many water filters are small and fine for the occasional water glass fill up. But when our family of 6 all need to fill up their water bottles before heading out or even just throughout the day, you need some serious capacity. You can find gravity water filters that hold anywhere from 2-6 gallons to accommodate any family size and usage needs.
Natural Filtration
The crunchy crowd can really appreciate what gravity filters have to offer. We love the fact that the Berkey and ProOne filters will both filter out harmful metals and toxins that can creep into water, but leave in many of the beneficial minerals that are naturally occurring in water. And we also appreciate the stainless steel design of ours with minimal plastic components to not leach other toxins into your water.
Long Lasting
I’ve often described our Berkey filter as an heirloom quality product. This meaning that I’m confident I’ll someday be able to hand our filter down to our children or grandchildren. The stainless steel construction is that well built. Beyond this, the water filters themselves usually last years—not weeks or months like is typical in many other water filters.
Portable
When we purchased our Berkey 10 years ago, we weren’t quite sure what our future plans were. But, we definitely knew we weren’t living in our forever home. Since buying our Berkey, we ended up moving three times. Had we invested in an expensive whole home system we would have been out that cost. Whatever your situation—new home, vacation travel—gravity filter systems move with you at the drop of a hat!
Great Taste
Having grown up on city water, I’ve grown to appreciate the pure taste of water from our Berkey that still maintains its mineral profile without any manmade additives. We’ve even had visitors with very refined pallets comment that they’ve never had such natural tasting water!
Yes, gravity water filters have some minor downsides. Like they take up some space on your counter and you need to stay on top of keeping them filled—just not too full so it doesn’t overflow!
But, in our opinion, they’re the best bang for your buck when it comes to water filtration and they leave you with the best tasting and healthiest water option in your home.
ProOne vs. Berkey
We love our Berkey! We’ve been believers in their products from day one and often promoted them to family and friends.
But a couple things caused us to look into other options before just pulling the trigger on standard replacement filters from Berkey.
First was that we had heard some potential reports of Berkey’s filters not actually filtering out everything they claim to. There was also confusion on whether or not Berkey was actually NSF certified with their filters even though they had previously claimed to be.
We’re not out to spread rumors, nor push people away from Berkey. These things may or may not be accurate. But we personally felt that we had heard enough to question the reputability of Berkey and consider looking into alternative options.
We also have seen Berkey grow as a company over the years. For us, we were a lot more drawn to them when they were a small company whose products spoke for themselves through word of mouth instead of relying on large marketing budgets and campaigns.
ProOne, on the other hand, is a small water filtration company based out of Michigan. We heard of them through other naturally minded groups and communities we are a part of that had switched to using ProOne filters in their Berkey’s.
Their website offers a lot of straight forward information on the performance of their filters, lab test results, and their products stand behind both NSF and ANSI certifications. We’ve also had a really positive experience with their customer support, along with the ordering and shipping of their products.
In all, we found a lot of the quality, transparency, and no-frill traits in ProOne that drew us to Berkey many years back.
Why We Chose ProOne Replacement Filters for our Berkey
The ProOne G2.0 gravity filter offers an outer ceramic shell with a carbon based inner filter core. They also carry the the NSF/ANSI-42 certification.
If you check out the lab tests their filters were put through, the results are impressive. They reduce over 200 contaminants including heavy metals, fluoride, pesticides, herbicides, chlorine, bacteria, and much more.
And for those concerned with fluoride in their water, did you catch that fluoride is included in that list? ProOne’s filters have all-in-one technology that allows them to pull nearly all fluoride out of water without the addition of an extra fluoride filter.
They also boast fast flow rates, are easily cleanable, and don’t need to be primed initially like Berkey filters do.
ProOne’s filters have a 2.75” diameter—a bit beefier than Berkey’s filters. But from our experience they still fit just fine. The G2.0 filter comes in lengths of 4”, 5”, 7”, and 9” to fit in many different gravity filters.
ProOne Filter Review – How are we liking ProOne G2.0 water filters?
We purchased four 9” ProOne G2.0 replacement filters for our Berkey. After using them for a while now, here’s some of the pros and cons we’ve seen.
Pros
Perfect Fit in our Berkey
I fully expected the ProOne website to not actually claim that their filters will work in a Berkey. But I was surprised to find that they do actually advertise they are “compatible with competitor systems.” Some of the reviews I read confirmed that this included Berkey along with several other brands of popular gravity water filters. Our new ProOne filters seem to work and fit just as well in our Berkey as our original Berkey filters did.
Same Great Taste
We loved how the water from our Berkey filters tasted. So far, the ProOne filters are right on par. ProOne filters provide a great, natural taste for filtered water.
Fast & Even Filtration
ProOne advertises improved flow rates and they live up to that. When fully filled, the top chamber will filter through in under and hour. And unlike Berkey filters, the flow rate does not reduce as the water level drops in the top chamber. This is a huge advantage when you need water fast—like when you have a big family or are hosting a gathering.
Affordable
ProOne filters have a lower retail price than Berkey. And they were on sale when we purchased them making them even more affordable. ProOne filters become an even better deal if you’re needing to filter fluoride from your water. Berkey requires a separate fluoride filter that needs replacement yearly while ProOne’s fluoride filter capabilities are built in. If you factor in the lifespan of ProOne filters (which we’ll talk about in the cons), Berkey may still be a more affordable option, but it’s very comparable.
Great Filtration
It would be hard to find a filter that removes more contaminants than the ProOne filters. Not only is the list of everything they filter out extensive, but the percentages of what they remove will typically match or exceed what other filters on the market remove. Including 100% of lead! I was very impressed looking through their lab results!
No Priming Needed
With ProOne filters, you don’t have to worry about properly priming your filters before use like you do with Berkey filters. This may be a minor thing, but your ProOne filters come pretty much ready to go besides giving them a quick cleaning before use.
Cons
Filter Lifespan
There’s no getting around the fact that Berkey filters have an incredible lifespan and can go years without being replaced. This is one of the things that drew us to Berkey initially. The ProOne G2.0 filter is rated at 6 months of use per filter. So our four filters should last us at least 2 years. The need for replacement is also based on usage, so we’ll see how long they actually last.
The filters lifespan also plays into the overall cost of owning your water filter. I’ve read that Berkey claims their filters cost around $.02/gallon as compared to around $.05/gallon with ProOne. This cost likely becomes close to evening out if you add yearly replacement of additional fluoride filters on top of your standard Berkey filters.
Larger Size
This isn’t a con as much as it is something to be aware of. The 2.75” diameter ProOne filters feel big within the upper chamber of our Berkey. They also somewhat impact how much water that upper chamber holds. So, we find ourselves refilling the upper chamber more frequently but at lesser quantities. But, the higher flow rate more than makes up for this.
Our Recommendation on the ProOne Filter
So far, we are very happy with our purchase of ProOne replacement filters for our Berkey.
There doesn’t seem to be any compromise in quality from what we had come to expect previously from our Berkey filters. And we can rest easy knowing our family is drinking reliably safe and healthy water every day with filters that meet the highest standards in the industry.
If you’ve been using Berkey’s filters, you might try starting with just 2 ProOne filters initially and see if the increased flow rate meets your needs. But we’ve also been happy with maxing our Berkey out with 4 new ProOne Filters.
Whether you’re looking to replace the filters in your Berkey, or to get started in gravity water filter systems, we would happily recommend the G2.0 filter from ProOne.
Was it easy to install ProOne filters in our Berkey?
Yes! We put off replacing our filters in Berkey for way too long because it felt like a daunting task. But with the ProOne filters, it was super simple! Be sure to default to ProOne installation instructions, but here’s what we did.
We started simply with pulling the components of our Berkey apart, removing the old filters, and giving everything a thorough cleaning with soap and warm water.
Next, we prepped the new ProOne filters by running them under cool water for about 2 minutes while scrubbing down the exterior with the rough side of the included scrubby sponge. Remember, don’t use soap on your filters and no priming is necessary!
From there, you place the included rubber washers on your filters and then screw them into the upper chamber of your gravity filter. You don’t want to over tighten the nuts—just snug it up.
ProOne does recommend you discard (do not consume) at least the first 2 cycles of water to run through the filters. After 2 cycles, we noticed a decent amount of sediment that accumulated in the bottom chamber. After rinsing everything out good, we ran another cycle or two through the filters until we were sure the water was clear.
And then you’re all set for drinking!
Does ProOne make a gravity water filter system?
Yes! ProOne offers the Big+ Gravity Water Filter (3 gallons) and the Traveler+ Gravity Water Filter (2.25 gallons).
We have not used their gravity water filter systems, but they seem very comparable to what Berkey and other competitors offer in terms of quality, materials, size, and capabilities.
One thing I like about the ProOne water filter systems is that items like the spigot come standard as metal. Berkey includes a plastic spigot and the metal option is an additional cost. ProOne also includes a metal stand for the filter to sit on which is a nice touch.
And if you’re not a fan of the shiny polished finish, ProOne also offers a less mirror-like brushed finish option. Another subtle difference is that the ProOne water filter systems only accommodate 3 filters while Berkey’s can fit 4.
If you’re looking to get started with a gravity water filter system and working on a budget, here’s a couple options to consider.
First is that both ProOne and Berkey offer scratch and dent options for their water filter systems at reduced prices.
Second is that used options do pop up a fair amount on sites like FB Marketplace and Craigslist. We actually recently got a backup water filter used for a very reasonable price.
If you do pick up a used one, you’ll likely want to get new filters for it. But after giving the chambers and components a thorough cleaning and installing new filters, you’ll up and running with a like-new filter!
What other products does ProOne make?
ProOne has their roots in water filtration. They offer a full line of whole-house water filtration systems if you are looking for something a bit more all-encompassing than just your drinking water. For point of use options, ProOne also has several countertop or under counter filter options.
They also offer several options for shower heads with built in filters.
And my personal favorite (which I may look into more down the road) is their ProSoft Saltless Water Softener and Conditioner! Not having to buy bags of salt every month would be nice.
Which filter is right for you?
In all, ProOne has developed a reputation of delivering great value and customer service while being dedicated to top-notch water filtration.
Many fine options exist in the gravity water filtration sphere, but we’re happy we went with ProOne replacement filters in our Berkey!
We’d love to hear from you! What water filter do you use in your home? Or what questions do you have about ProOne filters? Drop us a comment!
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