---
product_id: 5179286
title: "Black Primer for Use with Gravity-Fed Water Filter Systems Equipped with Black Berkey Elements"
brand: "berkey"
price: "9290 som"
currency: KGS
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
category: "Berkey"
url: https://www.desertcart.kg/products/5179286-black-primer-for-use-with-gravity-fed-water-filter-systems
store_origin: KG
region: Kyrgyzstan
---

# Hand-powered priming pump Backflush purge function Universal fit for Black Berkey Elements Black Primer for Use with Gravity-Fed Water Filter Systems Equipped with Black Berkey Elements

**Brand:** berkey
**Price:** 9290 som
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Summary

> 💧 Unlock peak filter performance anytime, anywhere — don’t let air slow your flow!

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Black Primer for Use with Gravity-Fed Water Filter Systems Equipped with Black Berkey Elements by berkey
- **How much does it cost?** 9290 som with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.kg](https://www.desertcart.kg/products/5179286-black-primer-for-use-with-gravity-fed-water-filter-systems)

## Best For

- berkey enthusiasts

## Why This Product

- Trusted berkey brand quality
- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Key Features

- • **Extend Filter Life:** Backflush purge clears debris, reducing drying time and preserving filter integrity.
- • **Portable & Tool-Free:** Compact, hand-powered design for on-the-go priming and maintenance.
- • **Optimize Filtration Speed:** Eliminates trapped air pockets to maximize water flow and purification efficiency.
- • **Effortless Filter Activation:** Prime your Black Berkey Elements anywhere—no pressurized water needed.
- • **Trusted by Experts & Adventurers:** Essential for off-grid, emergency, and everyday water independence.

## Overview

The Black Berkey Primer is a hand-powered pump designed exclusively for Black Berkey Elements, enabling quick and efficient priming without the need for pressurized water. It saturates filters to remove trapped air, boosting filtration speed, and also functions as a backflush tool to purge debris, extending filter lifespan. Ideal for off-grid, emergency, and everyday use, this compact device ensures your gravity-fed water system performs at its best wherever you are.

## Description

Berkey Water Systems is the leader in gravity-fed filtration systems and trusted choice of adventurers, preppers, off-grid homesteaders and families for over 20 years. Berkey Systems were originally designed for extreme use for emergency preparedness and off-grid activities, and are also now used every day in millions of homes around the world by discerning, health conscious consumers who have declared water independence. Berkey systems provide economical, long-lasting water filtration for just pennies a gallon. No electricity, tools, or plumbing required. Berkey gravity-fed water systems are available in 7 sizes and are ideal for use at home, camping, fishing, RVing, or during unexpected emergencies and disaster scenarios. Enjoy delicious, refreshing water for just pennies per gallon.

Review: Works well! - My sink faucet does not have a smooth surface (it's a spray head) so it could not make good contact with the priming button. So, I ordered this primer. It worked beautifully. Both filters were primed and ready to go in about 15 minutes. Another advantage to having this on hand is it will work without running water (in case of an emergency, etc.). Putting the primer together can be tricky, and the instructions are not very good. I watched a YouTube video that explained how to put it together (link at end of this review). Here are the things you'll want to know while assembling the primer. The parts consist of: 1 bulb with different size holes on each end, 2 identical plastic tubes, 2 identical "valves", 1 hexnut and 1 one "angle piece" (this is where the water exits the primer). The little "valve" parts (2) have a smooth side, and a ribbed side. They have to be attached in a certain way so the pump works correctly. Working left to right, this is how the pieces all fit together. I laid them out in order then assembled the tube sections first and connected them to the bulb last:: Hexnut > tube > smooth end of valve A into tube > ribbed end of valve A into LARGER hole in the bulb > smooth end of valve B into smaller hole in bulb > ribbed end of valve B into 2nd tube > angle piece into 2nd tube. Get a container that is deep enough to where the filter can be completely submerged, and fill it with water. Screw the hexnut into the filter and place the filter into the water (it will try and float initially as it's full of air). Don't worry about it being fully submerged while you're pumping as it will gradually sink as it fills with water. Begin pumping. It took me about five or six minutes to fully prime. A bit of water came out at first, and then just air for quite a while. Part way though I did notice there was a suction issue (it took a long time for the bulb to "re-inflate" so I made sure a little bit of the filter was above water and loosened the hextnut just a bit, and that worked. It was not creating 100% vacuum at that point but it worked and I was able to prime the filters. My only gripe about this is that the rubber bulb STINKS like nasty rubber. It's getting stored at the back of a closet because I am very sensitive to chemical smells. However, the filter functioned perfectly so I'm still giving it five stars. I did not have a problem inserting the pieces into one another like other reviewers mentioned (just remember the bulb has two different sized holes). I think the hardest part was inserting the hexnut into the tubing, but that just took a few moments. The primer comes unassembled because you can reverse the direction of the valves if you want to purge water from the filter. Here is the link to the assembly video on YouTube that helped me: [...] If the link does not appear in this review, you can search YouTube for the video titled: Using a Black Berkey Primer, Part 2
Review: Really helped to clean my black filters. - I bought this to clean my Black Berkey Filters and just used it the other day. It cleaned the "junk" off of them, by taking it off the filters, not scraping it off with a vegetable peeler like is suggested by Berkey. It pushes the junk out of the filter, so it washes away, while priming it for the next go round with filtering water. Our water is "city water" and full of so much stuff it is amazing when you first take the filters out, how much, what appears to be mud, is on them. I washed them off, then used this to push the other mud out of the filters that was being sucked into the filters as I used it to clean my water. I know that when I refill my Berkey, it sure does filter faster and that is good for me. I only have a small Berkey, as there is only two of us, but sometimes I find I need more water than usual and since cleaning out my filters, I can get it filtered again, in about an hour I would estimate. Well worth the cost and so easy to use. Glad I saw a video on Youtube on this, as I feel it will save me a lot of money in the long run, by not Peeling the filters as is directed by Berkey and the filters will last a lot longer.

## Features

- The Black Berkey Primer is a hand-powered priming pump that allows you to prime your system’s Black Berkey Elements almost anywhere without a pressurized faucet or hose connection.
- Priming Black Berkey Elements saturates the filters with water prior to use, removing any pockets of air trapped inside the filters which can slow down the filters' ability to produce clean water. Black Berkey Elements must be primed before first use to insure proper operation.
- Easy to use—with a Black Berkey Element properly immersed in water and attached to it, the Black Berkey Primer creates a simple pressure gradient which draws water into the center of each Black Berkey Element. Once the Black Berkey Element is completely saturated with water, the water passes through the Black Berkey Primer and squirts out of the opposite end.
- The Black Berkey Primer can also purge, or backflush, Black Berkey Elements using air instead of water, clearing the compressed carbon filter wall of water debris that has accumulated with use and reducing the time and effort needed to dry the filters prior to storing them.
- For use only with Black Berkey Elements.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #46,896 in Sports & Outdoors ( See Top 100 in Sports & Outdoors ) #86 in Camping & Hiking Water Filters #1,112 in Water Filtration & Softeners |
| Brand | Berkey |
| Customer Reviews | 4.2 out of 5 stars 1,825 Reviews |
| Item Form | Hand-powered priming pump |
| Package Information | can |
| Package Type Name | Box |
| Product Benefits | Enables offline clean water production, saturates and purges filters |
| Skin Type | Dry |

## Product Details

- **Brand:** Berkey
- **Product Benefits:** Enables offline clean water production, saturates and purges filters
- **Item Form:** Hand-powered priming pump
- **Skin Type:** Dry
- **Package Information:** can

## Images

![Black Primer for Use with Gravity-Fed Water Filter Systems Equipped with Black Berkey Elements - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41K3lvDatiL.jpg)

## Questions & Answers

**Q: Are there better options?**
A: I haven’t found any better options. The bulb tends to collapse but it just takes patience.

**Q: I dont understand the need to prime a filter. Is it to just get it Saturated before use? If so, could I just soak the filters in a bucket before use?**
A: We found that it was far better to have the black berkey primer to completely saturate our replacement filters.  On the first set filters, we just soaked them - and it took a long time to filter the added water every day.  When we replaced the filters and primed them - it was like magic - the water filters so quickly.  We won't do it any other way now.

**Q: Can this be used for the fluoride filters?**
A: We just with through completely cleaning our Black Berkey filters and replacing the PF-2 Fluoride filters. The instructions said it wouldn't work with the fluoride filters. You have to fully wash the outside of those with soap and water anyway, and we accomplished priming on the PF-2's by using the faucet. Maybe, you could rig something up as the previous poster described but since it's safe for it, I found the faucet faster on those particular filters.

**Q: I lost the little tan colored washer for priming my black filters.  Do I still need it with this?**
A: I just used the black washers that keep the filters from leaking. Placed it on the filter, pressed a garden hose up against it and voila. I will be getting the primer, but need to think about how to make a SHTF primer. Berkey does say that the filters can be soaked for 12 hours to get 50-75% capacity. Before I did anything to prime my dry filters, 2 filters were processing 1.5 gallons in about 4 hours. If it works, it works.

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Works well!
*by A***R on April 24, 2016*

My sink faucet does not have a smooth surface (it's a spray head) so it could not make good contact with the priming button. So, I ordered this primer. It worked beautifully. Both filters were primed and ready to go in about 15 minutes. Another advantage to having this on hand is it will work without running water (in case of an emergency, etc.). Putting the primer together can be tricky, and the instructions are not very good. I watched a YouTube video that explained how to put it together (link at end of this review). Here are the things you'll want to know while assembling the primer. The parts consist of: 1 bulb with different size holes on each end, 2 identical plastic tubes, 2 identical "valves", 1 hexnut and 1 one "angle piece" (this is where the water exits the primer). The little "valve" parts (2) have a smooth side, and a ribbed side. They have to be attached in a certain way so the pump works correctly. Working left to right, this is how the pieces all fit together. I laid them out in order then assembled the tube sections first and connected them to the bulb last:: Hexnut > tube > smooth end of valve A into tube > ribbed end of valve A into LARGER hole in the bulb > smooth end of valve B into smaller hole in bulb > ribbed end of valve B into 2nd tube > angle piece into 2nd tube. Get a container that is deep enough to where the filter can be completely submerged, and fill it with water. Screw the hexnut into the filter and place the filter into the water (it will try and float initially as it's full of air). Don't worry about it being fully submerged while you're pumping as it will gradually sink as it fills with water. Begin pumping. It took me about five or six minutes to fully prime. A bit of water came out at first, and then just air for quite a while. Part way though I did notice there was a suction issue (it took a long time for the bulb to "re-inflate" so I made sure a little bit of the filter was above water and loosened the hextnut just a bit, and that worked. It was not creating 100% vacuum at that point but it worked and I was able to prime the filters. My only gripe about this is that the rubber bulb STINKS like nasty rubber. It's getting stored at the back of a closet because I am very sensitive to chemical smells. However, the filter functioned perfectly so I'm still giving it five stars. I did not have a problem inserting the pieces into one another like other reviewers mentioned (just remember the bulb has two different sized holes). I think the hardest part was inserting the hexnut into the tubing, but that just took a few moments. The primer comes unassembled because you can reverse the direction of the valves if you want to purge water from the filter. Here is the link to the assembly video on YouTube that helped me: [...] If the link does not appear in this review, you can search YouTube for the video titled: Using a Black Berkey Primer, Part 2

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Really helped to clean my black filters.
*by #***N on February 2, 2020*

I bought this to clean my Black Berkey Filters and just used it the other day. It cleaned the "junk" off of them, by taking it off the filters, not scraping it off with a vegetable peeler like is suggested by Berkey. It pushes the junk out of the filter, so it washes away, while priming it for the next go round with filtering water. Our water is "city water" and full of so much stuff it is amazing when you first take the filters out, how much, what appears to be mud, is on them. I washed them off, then used this to push the other mud out of the filters that was being sucked into the filters as I used it to clean my water. I know that when I refill my Berkey, it sure does filter faster and that is good for me. I only have a small Berkey, as there is only two of us, but sometimes I find I need more water than usual and since cleaning out my filters, I can get it filtered again, in about an hour I would estimate. Well worth the cost and so easy to use. Glad I saw a video on Youtube on this, as I feel it will save me a lot of money in the long run, by not Peeling the filters as is directed by Berkey and the filters will last a lot longer.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ One of the best water filtration systems.
*by C***R on July 27, 2023*

It is important to read all of the multiple sheets of instructions for all of the individual parts. When done well the system is installed correctly, it works great. It is important to prime the filters and remove all shipping plugs from the white fluoride, etc. I neglected to remove the bottom plugs and the water couldn’t flow through the filter. I reread the instructions, re-primed the filters and realized that I had overlooked removing two blue plugs! I’m really happy with the unit now and plan to take it with me on an annual 2 week vacation so I don’t have to buy bottled water in glass bottles to get healthy water to drink.

## Frequently Bought Together

- Black Berkey Primer
- Genuine Berkey Stainless Steel Spigot
- Berkey Authentic Berkey PF-2 Fluoride and Arsenic Reduction Elements (Set of 2 Elements)

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*Product available on Desertcart Kyrgyzstan*
*Store origin: KG*
*Last updated: 2026-03-12*