Someone tested their Berkey filter in an actual lab
Posted by Dustdown@reddit | preppers | View on Reddit | 35 comments
I know Berkey is a popular choice among preppers so this video should be of interest. The unfiltered water tested in the filter wasn't as bad as it ideally would have been to give it a really good challenge, but it's still a good video to watch since she touches on a host of points important about water filtration.
Liteworker444@reddit
Distilled water with added minerals is the safest way to go, IMO.
-Raskyl@reddit
People just need to remember that burky filters are for getting out metals and solids and some chemicals, great for filtering shitty tap water, or sulfury well water. But is NOT an actual water purifier, it is just a filter, like you use for coffee, just has smaller holes. It will not remove bacteria or other water borne illnesses.
Dustdown@reddit (OP)
Actually, they claim they remove 99% of bacteria. (link)
That said, the filter needs to be replaced(and cleaned) regularly in order for it to do that job and I've yet to see an independent test of water with bacteria vs a Berkey. My dream is to run a torture test on a Berkey to see how it holds up against a real SHTF situation.
As of now I agree with you; Berkey seems best for making city water more palatable and as an addition to a larger filtration system if you're on well water.
-Raskyl@reddit
Yes, they do claim that. But the tests they had run were done by third party labs and didn't meet actual NSF testing protocols. The NSF requires 6000 gallons of water be passed through the filter BEFORE a testing sample is passed through and tested. One of the three tests that Berkey underwent only passed a two litre testing sample through, nothing else, and claimed efficacy. Another ran less than 1100 gallons of water before the unit failed and was not passing purification tests. And another full on admitted that the tests they put it through did not meet NSF, ANSI, or EPA standards for purification testing. But Berkey claims that they exceed the standards..... so put it through actual testing.... prove your claims Berkey.
_delta329_@reddit
I previously worked for one of the major certifying & testing bodies and it’s shocking how many products on the shelves fail. So many of these brands are produced in China and fail the testing horribly, specially NSF 42 (extractants). Often the filters will remove enough random contaminants to get a certification for the removal of ______ but fail extractant testing because the housing or body leeches harmful compounds into the water. Brita & Pur are as they market and I’ve always been impressed with their results. If they out a new product and it doesn’t pass for whatever reason they tweak and improve it until it does. Berkey, ZeroWater, and some of the newer brands make claims regarding NSF 42/53 with reports from Envirotek. Looking at the results I’m extremely skeptical; and the lab looks like some guy testing in his basement to his own protocols. I’ve reached out to some contacts still in the industry, specifically asking about Berkey & Envirotek. I’ll circle back when I hear back.
bbbbrg@reddit
Did you ever hear back and do you think the phoenix grabify filter could work? My skin and hair are constantly getting rashes in London and I have em been drinking out of glass bottles (Voss or a random British brand) but heard that contains plastic too would love ro find something to shower/ cook with
fluffysnooze@reddit
Hello, I know I’m late to this sub. What kind of water filters do you use?
_delta329_@reddit
For Point of Entry, or in home filtration systems, I’d go with big names such as Pentair, Culligan, Pur, 3M, Honeywell, GE. APEC has solid certifications and is fairly affordable. Look for certifications by NSF/WQA to NSF/ANSI 58.
For Point of Use, Brita is hard to beat. Their R&D, Quality Control, and performance are always consistent. Target’s Up&Up brand are actually Brita filters that are rebranded for Target and considerably cheaper. Looks for certifications by NSF/WQA to NSF/ANSI 42, 401, or 53.
I’d avoid trendy brands that make claims like their products are tested to or exceed requirements of NSF/ANSI ___. They often conduct their own testing outside of the necessary parameters of the standards to get beneficial results or they’ll pay mom and pop labs to essentially test in a manner that results in favorable data. I’d also avoid cheap Chinese brands. They often don’t perform, use harmful chemicals or cleaning products in their factories that leech or contaminate their products and in turn the water.
1_hih_1@reddit
@_delta329 Thanks for this. I guess we'll find out more if (CA or EPA?) is suing Berkey, as to how true their claims are. Unfortunate bc I was rooting for them originally, but am skeptical now that I've seen so much news. Mine is about 5 years old, I think the water does taste pretty good, starting to taste less good, but haven't replaced the filter yet,(single person less consumption) (but bad for a valid test I guess). I did the red dye test when I first bought it and it ran clear, out of curiosity I did it again about a week ago and water came out pink. Ran the pink water through again and came out less pink...somethings working, but then again, I don't know how much value to hold in the whole red dye thing...but nonetheless it's filtering some of it out. Thanks everyone, very interesting discussion.
meshreplacer@reddit
All these “youtube” reviews etc.. are Influencer campaigns. The filters and setup is way overpriced for what you get.
You can get a RO system for same price range and it is a superior system, standard filters that are significantly cheaper and are NSF rated, tested etc.. RO water is what you want. These overpriced gimmicks are primarily influencer products.
Example of a superior setup. https://www.purewaterproducts.com/black-and-white-ro
Even countertop RO systems and filters are 20-25bucks complete setup 197 bucks. One filter for that berkey is 130 bucks.
https://www.purewaterproducts.com/countertop-ro
I Use RO for my salt water aquarium. Only thing that works.
neytiri10@reddit
it's great for salt water aquariums but let's not forget about the 20 or so gallons of water you are paying for that is going down the drain for every couple of gallons of "clean" water you are getting. You have to factor that into the cost too.
KVJrIV@reddit
No you don't
GuestBig9692@reddit
RO water is terrible for the ecosystem. It uses more than two times the water that you get. So it takes at least 2-3 gallons of water to give you just 1 gallon of drinkable water, wasting at least 1-2 gallons of water that you can’t drink. Sure, I suppose you can use that waste water for something else if you collect it, but being realistic, mist people don’t.
ricopan@reddit
Not defending Berky. My problem with typical RO is that it sends the concentrated contaminants in 'brine' down the drain, adding the PFAS and other nasties to the gray water system or septic where it will eventually leach into the well. Not an immediate problem, but long term not a solution to contamination that doesn't degrade either. Granulated activated carbon and/or ion exchange filters will remove PFAS etc (whether adequately, or as efficiently as RO in a home system remains unclear), but at least these can then be 'disposed' of (thanks landfill) and removed from the immediate water cycle.
BallsOutKrunked@reddit
I've used ro systems before and liked them. But they have moving parts, consume filters, require maintenance, and consume electricity.
That doesn't mean it's bad pet say, but a gravity fed Berkey with no power consumption is a different beast.
farts4brian@reddit
never seen a basic RO system that consumed electricity
Howfreeisabird@reddit
Listen all I know is my city water KILLS my plants over night. And with berkey water they’re thriving and totally fine. It passes the red dye test and im just happy to keep my plants alive 😂
Dustdown@reddit (OP)
Sounds like your water might be over chlorinated. Hard to know without testing, but see what happens when you leave the water out overnight and then use it to water the plants. Chlorine evaporates over time so letting the water just sit might be a cheaper way (and much less hassle) than running it through your Berkey.
Chlorine levels are also easy to test at home. You can get them for just a few dollars. It's a simple test strip and unlike most strips, these are reliable. Test the chlorine levels from your city water and then test your Berkey. Look at the difference. That might give you an idea if chlorine is the problem or not. :-)
BuckABullet@reddit
Chlorine offgases rapidly; however many cities are now using chloramines and they will persist far longer than chlorine. Letting the water sit overnight will make almost no difference is chloramine levels.
broken2broken@reddit
Absolute truth! This is actually a common misconception.
Mysterious-Intern172@reddit
I have the new Boroux Legacy system with FOUR filters. Same as Berkey, just a new name and a few tweaks. I love it. My tap water tastes much better and I don't have drink water from plastic, worry about bottles or lugging home 100s of pounds of water. In fact, the water I drink has likely never touched plastic at all, my pipes are copper - the pot is stainless steel, and my vessels are all glass.
Dustdown@reddit (OP)
12,000 gallons is double what Berkey promised, so that's incredible.
Berkey, however, only tested their filters up to 200 gallons for lead. For other contaminants they tested even less. You can see their lab results on their website.
Does Boroux provide proof of their 12,000 gallons?
MNtroutslayer@reddit
Not even close. PFAS tested at only 400 gallons and lead 8.5 (harder of the two leads to remove) at 450 gallons. Chlorine and lead 6.5 (easiest things for a carbon block to remove) 6000 gallons. Their filters last a long time for taste and odor and perform poorly after 400 gallons on several important contaminants that are harder to reduce. They shouldn’t be advertising the thing that lasts the longest…they should be advertising the thing that lasts the least. Shady marketing.
NewContribution9068@reddit
It’s hard to trust the EPA after what they did in East Palestine
0PNRG@reddit
I've long used a good counter-top RO system, but Berkey's with the appropriate PF-2 or PF-4 filters have been quite good. But, they are different. My RO system removed everything, minerals included. Berkeys do not try to remove minerals, just the various "bad" things, medical waste, parasites, chlorine, flouride, etc.... assuming you are using the basic filters along with the PF-2/PF-4 filters.
Having used water filters for almost 15 years, the big problem with Berkeys is you do not simply change the filters every year or every 6 months or something like that. Ideally, you change them based on your water usage, how much you have filtered. It is hard to keep track of that. Admittedly, I've done a terrible job of keeping track of that the last couple of years since I stopped using my RO system. The reason for the switch is a long story...
Dustdown@reddit (OP)
I highly recommend keeping track of and replacing filters on time. If you don't, nothing is being filtered and gravity fed systems are prone to growing bacteria if left over time.
In2d__p@reddit
Hi all,
I have been using a Berkey water system since 2016 and trust their claims about how they filter the water. But as I got older, I began to question many things in my life. So I decided to test this system, not when it was new, but after I had used it for 11 months or about 250 Berkey Travel refills.
And you know what, my intuition was right.
Three markers were really high: chloroform 1.42 ppb, fluoride 5.26 ppm, total TMG 1.42 ppb.
I had a very unpleasant experience with customer support. I guess this is not the first time they have received such information from their clients. I live in New York and they want to check my top water results and it's really weird. When I asked what water source they use to test their filters, they were unable to provide this information.
They claim that their black filters last 3000 gallons or two years and come with a two year warranty, but the tricky part is that PF2 (fluoride filters) last 10-12 months or 1000 gallons, but the warranty is only six months.
I would not be surprised if my topwater test will show lower Fluorides level. with means its no longer working as filter, and start to release stored fluorides into filtered water. (this is a conspiracy theory so far)
Let me know what you think
Dustdown@reddit (OP)
Yeah, Berkey will not want anyone questioning their testing methods and it's highly likely nobody's discussed their claims internally since their original tests were run. From what I've seen they've never tested their own claims even, which is disappointing.
Fluoride in water is tricky as the pH of the water needs to be in the right range for the filters to work efficiently. There might be other factors too.
When labs test filters like this they typically use a special fluid (no idea what the technical term is) that has the right concentration of the contaminant they want to test for. So they don't test it on a particular source water, but rather a specifically designed mixture. Getting this right is extremely hard, so only labs can do it properly.
Very few companies in the filter industry want you to test their claims. It's a super complicated field and they'd rather people take their claims face value. Hope you'll share your results!
FalseCantaloupe9646@reddit
Berkey water filter scandal
BuddyBoy78@reddit
Youtuber Project farm did several tests on 10 Water Purifier systems including the Berkey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja0ioX6GSz0
ricopan@reddit
Appreciated the science demonstratino, but not terribly relevant as mostly relied on TDS.
13metalmilitia@reddit
Didn’t project farm do an extensive test of water filters?
PDS1000000@reddit
Yes and he did a great job. Berkey just was not up to the task and as we've all learned in the last couple years they lied, a lot
Constitutionality50@reddit
Can anyone recommend a water system that filters out flouride? Thanks
Dustdown@reddit (OP)
Berkey's actually have a fluoride filter. The technology used for fluoride is typically activated alumina. However, if the pH of the water isn't ideal the treatment might not work as well as it should.