Verbo, a berkey sits on the counter and takes up significant real estate in a kitchen. The question is no different than the 100 times someone has asked for help in locating a microwave. A Berkey takes more thought because of it's unusual dimensions.

As always, open-minded, humble and helpful.

I have a Big Berkey and I bought a custom wrought iron stand from Etsy to raise it to the right height for my water kettles and reusable bottles. It is pretty darn tall and there is not room for shelving over it. It is well over 3 feet tall on the stand. Plus, I fill it with my half gallon pitcher and need to be able to dump the water in.

Just for general knowledge...Berkey water filters are amazing for the reduction of pretty much any chemical in municipal or well water. I bought mine for several reasons...my family's health, my house plants ( I have at least 50 that were all developing brown tips), my hermit crab vivarium and my fish tanks. The Berkey generally removes pretty much all heavy metals, antibiotics, drugs, chlorines etc from water. There is a huge list. I also feel strongly that the abundance of chlorines and chloramines in drinking water is absolutely terrible for gut bacteria. We are learning more about the correlation between the microbe mix in the gut and numerous diseases and frankly, using water with residual chlorine that kills the good microbes in our gut is not a good idea. Further, with the current state of the world, I want to guarantee access to safe water indefinitely.

One set of filters works for 6000 gallons and lasts approximately 5 years for the average family. It is way cheaper than any of the pitchers used or reverse osmosis and can be bought in numerous sizes depending on volume needs. They are basically a tall stainless steel column that sits on the counter on a stand or the 6 gallon one which usually people put in a corner like any other dispenser. It is by far, the cheapest and most low maintenance way to guarantee pure drinking water in large volumes other than a whole house system. It is just another tool that people have in their kitchen, no different than a toaster, coffeemaker or air fryer.

@cleo

I agree with all you say about the Berkey. My Big Berkey sits on a stainless steel stand on the counter. It looks fine to me. I find other things like giant range hoods to be much more obstrusive.

I have the Berkey Light (the clear one) in our home that uses rainwater and doesn't have reliable electricity for other systems. It comes with a 6" riser, and I keep it on the edge of the sink. It would be hard to design a cabinet since it needs to be filled from the top.

I have no idea about the advantage to this type of water filter so maybe for myself explain the need to have this sitting on the counter . My water filter is in the basenmet with a water tap on my counter no need to have the filter on the counter so please educate me.

Countertops usually work the best.

Your question is mine regarding the upper cabinets, although I don't want my Berkey next to the kitchen sink. We are designing a beverage station with a small sink and I want my Berkey there. I need help designing the cabinetry that will accommodate the height of the Berkey and have room for coffee makers, and a bar sink. My wall for this station is 6 feet. Any suggestions for the upper cabinets? I like the idea of glass doors or an open shelf for coffee mugs.

Did you create a good-looking functional space for your Berkey? I will be doing a complete kitchen renovation and am facing a similar dilemma; where do I put the Berkey.