7.5 Inch Berkey Sight Glass Spigot for Travel Berkey and Big Berkey Gravity Fed Water Filter Systems—See Your System's Water Level Instantly

Just received today for my Big Berkey. It's great little spigot and wish I had ordered it from the beginning. Actually I agree with others that it should be standard equipment. The flow rate is great.For those having trouble with leaks. I found the thin washers provided a little lacking, so I used the washers from my original spigot. I rub a little olive oil on the outside washer. Do not tighten it so tight that the washer becomes out of shape. I find that tight enough is me holding the inside nut with my fingers and tighten that way.When checking for leaks after install fill your bottom holding tank all the way up so there is water pressure applied to the washers. I discovered this when I only put enough water in to cover the spigot on the inside. I thought everything was fine and had no leaks until I filled the entire holding container with a full 2 gallons of water, that's when the leak appeared. Just tightened a little more and was good to go.I wish someone would produce one made entirely of stainless steel with no plastic. I would most definitely be the first to purchase one.

Despite all of the questionable reviews that are given about leakage, etc.I decided that having the site glass was a necessity as constantly having to lift up the top section of the Big Berkey to check the water level in the lower section really sucks. I received the sight glass packaged in a nice brown bubble lined envelope. After washing and thoroughly drying the sight glass/spigot I proceeded with the installation.It was VERY straight forward, just like the original spigot provided with the Big Berkey. You put the conical washer (cone side in towards the Berkey) then put the threaded portion through the hole and then add the big rubber washer followed by the nut. Turn the spigot 90 degrees and hold it there to the left while tightening the nut as much as you can with your fingers. Once you have gotten the nut as tight as you can, simply hold the nut in place while gently turning the spigot/sight glass 90 degrees so it's facing up to get the proper torque seal. No leaks, no mess! Having this sight glass is awesome, i can easily check the currrent water level so i know exactly how much water i need to add to the top to keep the Big Berkey full and ready.

Would be a 5 rating if the product had a metal rotary valve like the one I purchased for our larger Berkey. The plastic tilt valve works well, but … . We no longer have to guess the fill level of our Travel Berkey or remember when we last topped it off. The sight glass removes all doubt. Good product and simple to install.

I remember that with the original spigot, flow was slow because it was so small. This is way bigger, even when it's the size specified for your particular Berkey (mine is the Big one). There are fewer issues with leakage than with the original spigot. Just be sure not to tighten the nut too much or too far along the bolt, because the washer will get completely squeezed out of place. I guess if I could offer advice, I'd say once contact is made, tighten until you see the washer move and then unscrew a couple turns until it's back to normal (you have to overtighten a bit in order to see what's correct). Also, the internal thread of this spigot is much, much shorter than the original, which worried me at first, but once everything is in place, just don't worry. The plastic is strong, and the sight glass itself is made of steel and glass, very good quality.So, flow is much faster and it's convenient not to have to lift the top reservoir to check water levels in the bottom reservoir every few hours.Interestingly, the top of the sight glass is open, so that if you have a full bottom reservoir, a little water spurts out the top of the glass. It only happened once when I plopped the top down too hard. (At the beginning I used to compare the sight glass reading with the actual water levels, but have since stopped disturbing everything to check.)Another great Berkey investment. As I said in my review for the Big Berkey, it was the best $300 I've ever spent.

I've read a number of 1- and 2- star reviews, with most complaints about not being able to install it becaus the tank component is so short that it couldn't be installed, or that it leaked a lot after it was installed. Mine installed quite easily, in fact the tank component was long enough that I was able to use the original thick cone-shaped washer on the outside instead of the thinner one that came with the sight glass, and still there were had 4 threads showing after installation. My experience was so different than the 1-2 star reviews that I wondered if there might be different vendors for this, good and bad. Mine doesn't leak around the hole in the tank, but if I overfill it by filling the top when the bottom is already half full, the excess filtered water comes out of the top of the sight glass.

Bought this for our Big Berkey. This is a life saver and a mess preventer! Much easier to read the gauge to know the level of filtered water available rather than lifting the lid and peering into the top reservoir. We also marked the gauge at two points; the first point or lowest on the gauge reflects what level the water is at after filling the reservoir with one 1-gallon pitcher. Once that filtered through, then I added a second 1-gallon fill into the reservoir and marked the next point on the gauge to represent the higher point reflecting 2-gallons of filtered water ready to go. Takes a little time in the day to complete the markings but worth it in the long run to accurately know how much water to fill into the top reservoir and avoid overage in the bottom reservoir. Now anyone in the house can refill the Berkey accurately, using the gauge and water level markings.