Berkey Water Filters Exposed! The Truth About The Berkey
Berkey Water Filters
One of my most valued items in recent years has been the Berkey Water Filter, which I consider to be the best water filter available when it comes to producing clean drinking water.
I’m sure you already know that most municipal tap water generally has high levels of all kinds of junk in it. Everything from chlorine and fluoride which are intentionally put into the drinking water supplies, to hormones, antibiotics, prescription drugs, and other chemicals that get into the water from various sources along the way from the water treatment plant to your tap.
It’s not uncommon anymore to run into people who only drink filtered water. I am one of those people, and I know many other people who try their hardest to avoid plain tap water and drink only clean filtered water.
The thing is, most people think that simply running their water through a regular Brita filter or some other cheap water filter is good enough to remove all the junk. Unfortunately, most of the filters on the market are only subpar and don’t take out a lot of the dangerous crap found in tap water.
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When I learned this, I switched to drinking only reverse osmosis water. Then I found out that too much reverse osmosis water can actually cause your body to suck some of the important minerals out of your body because we usually get them from the water we drink. I also learned from experience that a lot of reverse osmosis water can lead to terrible heart burn on a regular basis.
I found that most water filters on the market are incapable of removing fluoride from the water, which is one of the key things I wanted to avoid. So I started doing some hardcore research on the best water filters for fluoride and I discovered the Berkey (British Berkefield). The Berkey is by far the best water filter on the market today, and I’ve been using mine for over 2 years.
The water it produces is properly pH’d and it tastes fantastic. The only water I like better is Fiji brand (yeah, the stuff that comes in those cool square bottles). The Berkey is the most advanced passive water filter available, which means you don’t need to plug it in or give it power for it to work. As long as there is gravity, the Berkey will be able to filter any kind of water and turn it into delicious, clean, drinking water.
It removes pathogens, bacteria, cysts, chemicals, herbicides, pesticides, foul tastes and odors, and it reduces heavy metals without removing the healthy nutritional minerals that your body needs. This is why I chose the Berkey Water Filter for me and my pets.
How To Filter Fluoride
Of course, I added the additional PF-2 filters which are designed to remove fluoride and arsenic to the regular “black berkey filters” that make up the basic filters in all of Berkey systems. The combination of these two types of filters makes the Berkey stand out above the rest of the water filters I’ve seen on the market.
No other filters are powerful enough to filter untreated water from sources like lakes, streams, rivers, and ponds… But the Berkey water filters handle untreated water with ease. Producing a great tasting and safe to drink water supply, no matter where you are.
My Berkey filter is made of stainless steel and was very easy to assemble. The great design has made it the choice of thousands, including missionaries, campers, home owners, emergency agencies and the preparedness community.
The system consists of two chambers that join together so it is easy to move, even while it is filtering water. It comes packaged with two Black Berkey purifying elements and sets up in minutes. Just screw in the filtering elements and the spigot, put the chambers and base together and you are ready to filter some delicious drinking water! And the great part is that these filters work by gravity, so there’s no need to plug it in.
For those of you who only have city water available, this filter is a great way to get rid of the excess chemicals and dead bacteria found in your water as a result of the chemicals. And for those on farms or who have access to well water, it is a great way to remove impurities and any funny tastes or odors.
I highly recommend that everyone gets a Berkey Water Filter for their home. I love mine, and you will too!
Learn more about the Best Water Filter
Berkley Water Filter
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{ 44 comments… read them below or add one }
My family absolutely loves Berkey water filters and we’ve been using them for years. I haven’t tried Fiji water but the Berkey water does taste better than any other water I’ve ever tasted.
but does it remove fluoride????????
Yes Michelle. See the writer’s comments about the ‘additional PF-2 filters’. That is something the Berkey is good at and why many of us buy them.
I have used a Berkey water filter for a week.
My coffee is so much better.
My ice tea is better.
I have removed soft drinks from my home.
Just drinking clod water taste good now.
I also purchased the Berkey shower filter.
After a week my hair is soft after a shower without using conditioner.
I truly love my Berkey products and will buy them for my close friends this Christmas.
Mark Gaylor
Really Mark? I am now excited to get my own Berkey products. I hope this is available in my place. I will surely look for it. If none, perhaps I can purchase it online.
Dear Mitch, I’ve been researching the Berkey system and it’s filters. Do you know anything about any possible negative effects of the black/ceramic/PF2 filter elements on our water and us? I know the PF-2 fluoride filter can leave tiny aluminum oxide residues, although it is said to take out more than it leaves (and I understand through my research that one wants less than 100 ug of aluminum/L of that before neurological damage can occur). Also, in looking into Berkey’s, I came across a “new” system called the ProPur that seems to be very similar (e.g. propurusa.com and http://www.berkeywater-filter.com). What do you make of those? Kind regards, Elke
Mark, I have had my Berkey Lite for 9 whole years and have cleaned my tap water for that long constantly. My filters are original and I have cleaned them only 5 times in 9 years. They are filthy when I do clean them but I dont worry that they don’t continue to work perfectly when I don’t. I am so happy with my Berkey. I tell everyone about it. I love pouring water in the upper chamber and it stirs up everything again and the water is so cloudy and murky on top, but that is tap water. Below is a totally opposite story, I never clean the bottom chamber and I can say that it is as clean as the day I bought it. Good to hear your Berkey story.
” Michael
February 4, 2011 at 11:29 pm reply?
If you read all the documents on this page, you will see that it says not to use the PF2 filter with well or spring water UNLESS you have had your well water tested and it’s clear that you have high fluoride levels in your water. This is only because most well and spring water is very low in fluoride and does not require the extra filter. On the other hand, cities and towns across America add this poison to the water, and it needs to be removed. In your case where you have said that you do have high levels of fluoride then there would be no reason not to use the PF2 filters. It’s just their way of saying not to add the extra filter if you really don’t need it.”
Ehm bullsh*t. Well water usually has high concentrations of calcium fluoride. Much less toxic in trace amounts than sodium fluoride (a synthetic neurotoxin) but @ high levels still very unhealthy. The Calcium (mineral) atom is bound to the Fluorine (neurotoxin) atom and over time accumulates in the bones, kidneys, pineal gland, and bodyfats disrupting the endocrine systems glands, the thyroid, harming the liver, and making it difficult for the body to retain a healthy blood PH of 7.38 to 7.42. ALSO, many “Fluoride filters” are made out of a neurotoxin AlO2 or alumina or activated aluminum (the element and it’s compounds cause neural necrosis) aka alzheimer’s disease. The fluoride content is reduced (not eliminated) with aluminum compounds in the water as well. A healthier would be steamed bovine bone char for reducing fluoride compounds. As for referencing these facts, try a source that won’t be making any money off of your health.
Please take some more time to research ALO2. Youre sadly mistaken.
This is by far the worst water filter I have ever purchased hands down, The components constantly break down on it ( the filters come unglued constantly and the spout also breaks). In addition the customer no service is a joke!! Buyer beware you are getting a nightmare if you purchase a Berkey!!
you must not have bought a berkey, since there is no glue, and the components have never broken for me.. Ive been using mine for over 6 years anow and it’s fantastic. I’ve never had a single problem with it and recommend it to everyone I talk to.
Customer service would depend on where you ordered it from.
You must be pretty rough with your filter if you constantly break it.
Actually there is glue which connects the filter itself to the plastic housing and screw socket . I have had a filter become unglued but the rep that i had used was kind enough to replace it for me. I e-mailed him pics and that was good enough for him. While the filters are no doubt very powerful, I am surprised at the workmanship of that particular part of the filter. I have gone through several replacements over the years and all seem to have excess glue around that edge which I think could be remedied with a sturdier design.
I totally agree with Lana Tank. I bought a Big Berkey in 11/2010. Within a month the spout broke. Two months later the black filters came apart at the base. Those were replaced by the company. Now the filters have stopped filtering (failed red dye test). Apparently the filters need to be replaced every 6 months (not the 3,000 gallons that was stated in the information regarding Berkey). I can’t afford $200+ yearly for new filters! I am SOO angry and disappointed. Doing a google search for “Berkey filter problems” shows I am not alone.
I know from personal experience that the black filters were glued to the candles that screw into the bottom tank. I have veified this with the Berkey customer service rep when I called them about it. My filters failed; they came unglued and did not filter the water. Filters made 12/2012 until just recently had a manufacturing problem with silicone glue they used. They offered me a prorated rebate, but when I called when I bought them (pleasant hill grain) they immediately sent new filters free of charge and a box to return the old ones postage paid). Now the filters are made in a different way and no glue is used.
where are you buying your Berkeys from ? Website address? I know there are many counterfeits… so we need to know your source and if they’re the real deal
Thanks!
Love!!! the taste of my water now that I purchased a Berkey a year ago. One problem for me – the filters keep coming apart from their collar – 3 different new filters! A hassle because of the postal time lag & shipping costs. Berkey has been very helpful when I contact them, so I hope their distributor comes up with a stronger design. (FYI – I am being very careful when I refill the top tank so as not to disturb the filters/connections with any force of pouring water.) ???
Hi, I’m learnng about Berkey after having used Nikken for close to a year. I’m comparing now, pros and cons of both
Regarding Fiji I’d like to give you a heads up about that company I saw in this video
the story of bottled water
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se12y9hSOM0
just so you can reference the company and find out if you’re drinking what you feel you are drinking
Steve,
Be very cautious of even your info provided by The Story of Stuff for it’s funded by the Tides Foundation which has very manipulative tactics and gives a very inaccurate portrayal of all the facts of bottled drinking water. Remember there is usually a monetary reason for reporting the information the way it is. They have done all sorts of videos and are implementing this garbage into the school systems to further indoctrinate our children into believing what they want us to believe.
Hi! I currently have a Berkey Water Filter, and it has both the black filters on top and the white ones on the bottom. My question is, does this filter out copper? I have been told I have high copper in my body and want to avoid drinking it.
Thanks for your help.
There is a great dyi for making a berkey filter with 2 food grade buckets on youtube. MUCH cheaper. Sorry I don’t have the link, just search berkey dyi on youtube.
Seems like Mitch wants to save the Berkey name – maybe he protests to much – given the number of negative remarks about the filter quality perhaps he should just accept the comments of others as being valid
All I am saying is I haven’t had a single problem with my filter and ive been using it for several years. I’m not saying the previous comments are untrue, I’m just saying that mine has been great, and I have 3 friends I know personally who have had theirs for over a year and have had no a single problem with theirs.
Perhaps Brad should stop trolling.
Indeed, and I don’t believe that One comment, one that ironically matches Many others comments, would be considered “trolling”. Especially when most of us are clearly thinking the very same thing.
There seems to strangely be two types of comments, nearly everywhere – .i.e;
My Berkey is perfect, and,
My Berkey comes apart and/or breaks continually.
I’m surprised at the sarcastically combative comment. Without question, based on the many near identical comment,s both here and elsewhere, you definitely deserve an apology.
It’s seems it’s functional design and fabrication qualities, are enemies, apparently making the best filtered water, but in time found to be poorly made. This is unfortunate because aside from it’s poor manufacturing quality it appears to be the better filter.
As ridiculous as it sounds, I plan on looking closely at my friends broken valve and delaminated filters to see if I can design upgrades to these issues, with access to plastic injection molding equipment. Perhaps I’ll sell the designed upgrades to Berkey..if not, I’ll sell them to all who bought a Berkey unawares.
Somewhat off topic..keep your eye on the symbolism on every product you buy to understand the producers true goals.
If this statement means nothing to you, ignore it.
Shalom
No wonder they only give 6 months on the parts. I thought about buying the filter but I am thinking twice about buying it. I don’t have money to throw away.
Two things:
1. Berkey filtration is inferior to distillation and reverse osmosis period. The filter does not remove many toxic elements and merely gives you a false sense of security. You can attain the same quality results through building your own filter with sand, copper piping, and some cotton.
2. The jury is still out on the health effects of drinking RO and Distilled water. The only dangers would be if you were not replenishing minerals through your diet. Switch to natural salt as opposed to standard table salt and you effectively negate the “problems” of drinking clean water.
If you were wholly concerned with water, look into the history and habit of drinking urine. It is not as disgusting as you have been taught to believe.
what gravity-fed RO system exists?
also, RO has mold issues and diaphragm replacement issues and is expensive… so a few more things than just (2)
Like any product, the negative comments are 100/1. I have just started using mine so we will see. If I do not come back here you know it is working for me.
Have had berkeys for several years now. Never had a problem other than the plastic nuts for screwing on the filters are only good once. If you take gem off you can’t use again as they strip and won’t stay tight any more.
I got my Filter 2 years ago… and yeah one time the Filter fell off and one time my old man walked into the Spigot and knocked it off… so Guess What I did… I screwed the filter back on and I put the Damn spigot back on… other then those 2 isolated incidents (and the glue problem Emily Summer mentioned that is NOW Fixed) This is the Greatest Filter There IS! I’m not talking about the anything but the ACTUAL FILTER! Nothing Removes Unwanted Anything Like a Berkey Filter! I can Pepsi Challenge Any filtered Water with a 10 out of 10 success rate! **Lana Tank** You literally Called the best filter the worst… either your some crazy Troller or partially Retarded! I give the Berkey Carbon (+Fluoride) Filter 3 Thumbs up for 6 Stars!
Same here. I’m probably on 3rd or 4th set. One time I had a problem with black filters. Don’t even remember what now. Think they weren’t filtering properly. But they were replaced promptly and have never had another problem.
I, too, want to complain about the Berkey. We brought ours 7-2011, and the first filters (2) failed in April 2012 — they both fell off their bases. Had to PAY to get them replaced and paid extra shipping to boot!
Now, in July, another has just failed – fell off the base again. Glue clearly not well done. This was a filter that originally passed the red-dye test in May.
I refused to keep PAYING Berkey to replace clearly inferior products. I will start buying ceramic filters from other vendors.
Berkey clearly does not stand by their product. They had defective filters twice in the last 2 years and refuse to do a recall. I will not trust my health to them anymore.
Wow, close call, I was about to order one…
Thanks for the heads up.
In the beginning our water from the Berkey tasted really good. Then a couple months later it started tasting bad and also leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. I’m almost on the verge of going out and buying bottled water again. As it is now I don’t drink any more water than I absolutely have to cause it is so bad. Thank you.
Have been using the Berkey water purifier personally for 9 Years and have been very happy with them.
7 years ago I became an authorized dealer for the berkey products. http://www.airandwaterpurifier.com
In the last year after Fukushima things got a little crazy. The demand for the Black Berkey skyrocketed and we have had an increase in sales and some problems with the filters and the glue.
New Millennium was under a lot of stress supplying all those filters. Still the Percentage of warranties is very low.
They have had time to gear up and they are aware of the problem They also have been very good about their warranties
The product is still an exceptional buy. If you are having problems with your supplier You can deal with the manufacturer directly.
Max\’s latest article..Levels Of Arsenic In Drinking Water
I bought mine in Nov. 2011 put it together, well husband put it together in early December 2012. I have had no problems until late and it’s just filtering slowly. I took the entire thing apart today, rinsed, purged, took the 3M Scotch pad to the two black filters as advised by Berkey, soaked them in distilled water, washed everything and put it back together and it’s not working. Have had no problems with any of the four filters, this is something that I have done wrong with putting it back together without the instruction manual. My guess is that the two Fluoride filters were screwed on too tight? The filtered water has always been good and my city water is full of everything including Fluoride!! No complaints at all.
Greetings all, I bought my Big Berkey along with the PF 2 filters in 2005 after researching everything on the market. We had been using the Pur pitcher and the faucet filter since the early 1990′s. It was important to me to remove not only all the impurities, but the fluoride and arsenic as well. After learning about the effects of fluoride, and feeling like we are being mass drugged without consent, I decided to be in charge of what goes into my and my husbands body.
I’ve replaced the PF 2 filters every 9 months or so and the black filters still pass the food color filtering test, so I’ve not replaced them yet. I do take it apart periodically, like when we would go out of town for several weeks and we’d break it down to take with us, when we moved, and of course when I clean it.
I need to replace my PF2 filters early this time because my husband put them on too tight, screwed them all the way up to the top, and broke the screen inside.
The water here is questionable as it has a yellowish look to it in the sink, commode, and water pitchers, so I think I’m going to have it tested. I won’t feel confident with our water until I get the new PF2 filters. Guess I should do the food color test with this water to make sure they are still working up to par so if needed, I can order them together.
BTW, the water has always tasted great, makes the coffee so much better, and I’ve never had any problems with the filters or the plastics when putting it back together. No breakage of anything, no leaking.
One thing that’s not true about the above article is that reverse osmosis or any other water devoid of minerals is unhealthy. Actually it’s quite the opposite. Distilled water is the best water and most hydrating as well as the most purifying because of it’s LACK of minerals. That said, I’m in the market for a Berkey or ProPur as distillers are all electric and not very portable. They are important to have for sure! Just don’t fear the pure waters due to lack of minerals. If you want some highly assimilable minerals, eat some green leafy vegetables! And never use bottled water! Not just to avoid BPA’s but the solvents that are present from the bottling process. They are a true health nightmare!
i too brought a berkey filter, also had problems with the glue on the black Filters breaking, but had no problem getting free replacements and quickly. i also brought a distiller, when using tap water in the distiller a few times, the distiller is very hard to. clean but, if i distil the berkey filter water a few times i only get a light white scum which simply washes out with a few light rub arounds to clean, compared with the 20 mins breaking a sweat with tap water… also had problems with the screw tap on the bottom of the black filters to prevent the driping from the top. it wotked but dont think the thread will take any more
Berkey water filtration company has not being certified by NSF or any other third party companies. How can we be sure we are getting what they promised us.
How do you know that Berkey filters out flouride? Is there something to test the water?
Interesting. I’ve had mine for.. I don’t even know how long now.. At least 5 years? And I haven’t had any problems with replacement parts.
Perhaps I got a lucky lot.. Or you got the unlucky lots! Either way, they are very fine quality filters that I very strongly recommend to everyone.
Strange that you, Emily and Lara have had such bad luck.. Im on my 3rd set of filters and haven’t had an issue.. My filters last nearly 3 years at the rate I use water (just me and my cats and 1 christmas cactus get water from the berkey)
Which company are you guys ordering from specifically? I’d like to know because perhaps they are not using the same parts as the place I order mine from (morethanalive).
I’ve not had a single problem with my filter in what must be close to 5 or 6 years!
I’m sorry to hear of your problems, but the clean water is in my opinion worth at least double what I’ve paid.. (DONT GO RAISING THE PRICE NOW YOU MANUFACTURERS!)
Interesting.. I think it depends who you are ordering your filters from. I havent had a single issue with my Royal Berkey in approximately 6 years. 3rd set of fluoride PF2 filters, and 2nd set of black berkey filters and some of the healthiest drinking water ever!!