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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 30 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 18 found the following review helpful:
 Makes Water Drinkable Sep 13, 2010
By Kendra Johnson
"Alaska Teacher"
We live in rural Alaska and the water here is full of iron, not to mention other metals, but iron is the worst. There are times when the water that comes out of the faucet is orange or brown. We have used this water filtration system for 4 years. I am confident in saying that the filters make the water drinkable. I am not sure of the % of metals it removes, but I do know that once our water is filtered it does not smell like iron, it is not orange, or brown, and it tastes clean. I would recommend this product to anyone who has concerns about their drinking water.
14 of 15 found the following review helpful:
 Berkey Quality is now a distant memory Jan 14, 2012
By Proveritas
I purchased the Imperial Berkey about 2 years ago. The unit came with 6 Black Berkey filters. I used only 2 at a time. 3 months ago I replaced the original first 2 Black Berkey filters with a pair from an unopened box. This left me with 2 more new filters left.
After one month, the water started tasting funny. I looked inside and discovered that the Black Berkey filters were both coming apart and oozing some gelatinous material into the water compartment where the filters were.
I have tried and tried to contact Berkey, but there phone number is just a voice recording. They have not answered my numerous emails. I contacted the distributor who is not at fault. He has been overwhelmed with similar complaints.
I cleaned out the Berkey unit completely and installed the final two Black Berkey filters. Last week, the same thing happened again! The filters were coming apart on the bottom where the black part is supposed to be sealed with the black plastic ring.
Now I have no filters left! I bought the Berkey Water units for everyday purification as well as for emergency water filtering in a survival situation. I have lost confidence in this company. Berkey does not respond to complaints, you don't even know if you are reaching them because no emails are ever acknowledged.
Do your research. There is another company called AquaRain, which makes filters that fit the Berkey. They are made in the USA. Also, a company called Pro Pur also makes filters that will fit the Berkey units. Pro Pur filters, unlike Berkey, are NSF certified.
Sorry to see another formerly great company fail due to poor quality control and even worse customer service. But in this economy, and with my family's health on the line, I can no longer recommend Berkey products or its company. Look elsewhere.
10 of 10 found the following review helpful:
Defective filters Dec 13, 2011
By Patricia Messenger
We have stream water at our ranch. For the past 11 years we used the $35.00 PUR countertop filter without problems. But I believed Berkey's advertising claims. I wanted filters that were the best, that could be scrubbed and reused. In the Spring of 2011, we ordered a Royal Berkey, and several replacement filters (the order was over $800.00). We set it up, and started using it. I have to say, Berkey is sloppy in so many areas. We didn't get the knob to lift the lid with, so I fashioned one from a drawer pull. I was supposed to get two plugs for the bottom of the top reservior, but only got one, so I had to use three filters instead of two.
I recently read that there is a defect in some of the black filters where it attaches to it's plastic base. I did the 'red dye test'. I poured water with red food color into the top. Berkey says the water should come out clear. I lifted the top up to see what was happening. Nothing was coming out of two of the filters, but pink, unfiltered water was pouring quickly out of the third. This means that we have been drinking unfiltered stream water since we bought the thing! I am SO ANGRY! This company has been aware that they have this problem since 2010, yet they continue to sell defective filters to unsuspecting consumers!
Berkey says they will replace the defective filters if I print up and fill out a 5 page form. I need to dig ALL of my filters out of storage, prime them, put them in the Berkey, do the red dye test, separate out the bad from the good, Set them all upright for 5 days to dry out, send off the bad filters AT MY OWN EXPENSE, put the Berkey back together with good filters, if I have enough good filters, and wait for the replacement filters.
Gah! We were so much better off with the PUR! I feel like such a sucker!
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
 Buyer beware Nov 24, 2011
By T. M. Conners
I purchased this in the spring of 2011. Twice now the filter has come apart (he glue fails) after being in water for a few months.
To their credit, Burkey replaced the filters. The problem is if you buy this product as part of your emergency preparedness program and store it on a shelf somewhere. It may fail when you finally use it at that point it's too late. Your water is not purified and you are way beyond the warranty replacement period.
In my opinion you cannot rely on this product.
17 of 20 found the following review helpful:
 Unable to prove their claims Nov 30, 2011
By That's What She Said
*****UPDATE***** November 28th 2011
My original review was deleted by Amazon. This gross and unjustified censorship is particularly disturbing, especially since my original review received nearly %98 helpful votes (approximately 50 votes). Anyways, since I always save my data...I was able to re-post this information. Please only try to contact me with questions AFTER you have read my ENTIRE review. I have put a lot of time trying to spell everything out here. You will see my email address embedded within this review is you have any SPECIFIC questions that were NOT already addressed. If you are wondering what my motivation is....it is to help people who are in search of clean drinking water. I remember how much of a heartache it was for me doing all of the research. I just want to help, that all.
Not to be a buzz kill, but I spend DAYS researching these berkey filters. I even tracked down a gentleman who claimed to be one of the heads of the Toxicology Department, Dr. Portier, at LSU. He said that LSU did infact do ONE water sample on the Black Berkey over 8 YEARS ago and that neither he or LSU endorses their product. He also said that while the test did take place, that not Himself or LSU authorized a document to be placed on the internet. He said the reason that he was so quick to call me back is because he has had nearly 20 different inquires in the past 8 years asking about this "so called" lab analysis document that Berkey puts on their website. He also went on to say, that SOMEONE had to of manufactured the "LSU document" because he did not provide ANYONE with that document. So, even if LSU did do a sample, and if everything went alright, then why did New Millennium Concepts have to manufacture a LSU lab analysis report? Then I got to thinking, if New Millennium Concept (the company the main distributor for Black Berkey filters) is soooooooooooo confident in their product, then
Why don't they have any Quality Assurance procedures put into place?
Why don't they have their filters annually tested?
Why don't they get an NSF (National Sanitation Foundation) certification.
Why don't they have a Micron Rating for their filter...Nominal or Absolute?
There I spoke with Valarie who was also very nice, she spend nearly 30 minutes talking to me on the phone about my questions. However, even though she was nice, she wasn't able to provide any logical explanations on why New Millennium Concepts did not provide any quality assurance testing on their filters, or why they do NOT recertify their filters annually to ensure that they are still working properly. When I pressed her on this issue, she explained that the tests were several hundred dollars apiece and that's why they did not do them frequently. Furthermore, her testament as to the quality of the Berkey Filters was that, "no one had ever gotten sick from using our Black Berkey filters". She went on to say that New Millennium Concepts has been in business since 1997 and they do a lot of business. She said that they sold over 350,000 dollars of product in December 2010 alone.
In conclusion, if New Millennium Concepts has been around as long as they say they have, and if they are selling over a quarter of a million dollars a month; then there is NO acceptable reason why they have not obtained an NSF certification, fail to conduct quality assurance on their products, or subject their filters to annual independent lab tests. These three steps would ensure the quality of their filters beyond doubt. Simply saying, "that no one has ever gotten sick using a Berkey Filter" is impossible to prove and meaningless. I have been drinking tap water for 30 years with all the fluoride, chlorine, and bacteria, and I have never gotten sick either. The problem is that unless the quality of water that you are drinking is SEVERELY contaminated, you won't get sick right away. Instead, it will be a slow cumulative effect on the body. That fact that Berkey or someone else manufactured lab analysis reports from LSU also scares me!!!
Bottom line is that the Berkey filters make some pretty awesome claims, but do very little to PROVE this to their consumers. History shows us that when a company makes great and unusual claims about their products, they NORMALLY back it up with proof; Berkey has failed to do that. As for Spectrum labs and the University of Arizona... I have yet to hear back from them.
This review is not meant to be negative in any way, it is solely to spread information and get to the bottom of this.
From what I can tell for sure, the best part about the filter is that the water collects in a 304 polished stainless steel basin, which is far superior to plastic! For this reason alone this filter might be worth buying? The Berkey filter will remove "some stuff", and in a survival situation this is definitely better than nothing. However, I am not able to use this filter for my EVERYDAY drinking water needs as several prominent Natural Health and Survival Personalities are endorsing!
If you want more info on how to contact New Millennium Concepts, or University of Arizona, or LSU toxicology department....feel free to contact me at wcoy79@yahoo.com and put "Berkey Water Filter" in subject line.
AGAIN, HERE ARE SOME "FACTS" TO CONSIDER BEFORE BUYING A BERKEY
1) THEY ARE NOT NSF CERTIFIED
2) THEY DO NOT HAVE ANY "RECENT" LAB TESTS ON THEIR FITLERS
3) THEY DO NOT PROVIDE A MICRON RATING FOR THEIR ELEMENTS. (YOU CAN READ WHY THEY CHOOSE NOT TO WITHIN THEIR FAQ SECTION ON THEIR WEBSITE, BUT ANYONE WHO KNOWS A GOOD DEAL ABOUT WATER FILTRATION WILL SEE RIGHT THROUGH THIS REASONING)
4) SPECTRUM LABS APPARENTLY WENT OUT OF BUSINESS SO THERE IS NO WAY TO VERIFY THEY DID TESTING FOR BERKEY
5) DR. PORTIER, THE HEAD OF LSU TOXICOLOGY DEPARTMENT BELIEVES THAT SOMEONE HAS MANUFACTURED THE LAB REPORT FROM LSU THAT IS CIRCULATING AROUND THE INTERNET. THIS IS ALSO THE SAME ONE THAT WAS EMAILED TO ME FROM VALARIE AT NEW MILLENIUM CONCEPTS (BERKEY FILTER ELEMENT MANUFACTURER)
6) I USED A POOL TEST KIT TO VERIFY THAT THE FILTERSREDUCES CHLORINE AND FOUND POSITIVE RESULTS. I AM NOT SURE HOW MUCH IT REMOVES, BUT IT DEFINITELY REMOVES SOME CHLORINE. I AM NOT SURE IF IT REMOVES CHLORAMINE THOUGH. HOWEVER, AFTER POURING REVERSE OSMOSIS WATER THROUGHT THE BERKEY FILTERS AND MEASURING THE pH BEFORE AND AFTER IT WENT THROGH THE FITLER ELEMENTS, I SAW THAT THEY pH HAD INCREASED AFTER IT WENT THROUGH THE FILTER. SINCE pH IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE AMOUNT OF PARTICLES/MINERALS CONTAINED WITHIN WATER, I REALIZED THAT THE BLACK BERKEY ELEMENTS ARE "ADDING" SOMETHING TO THE WATER. WHAT THAT IS, I AM NOT SURE, BUT I DEFINITELY DON'T LIKE THAT FACT.
7) THE MANUFACTURER CLAIMS THAT THESE FILTER ELEMENTS CAN BE USED FOR AN INDEFINITE AMOUNT OF TIME SO LONG AS THE FILTER'S GALLON RATING HAS NOT BEEN REACHED. WHILE I CANNOT PROVE THIS, IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THESE ELEMENTS ARE NOT MADE OF CERAMIC AND THAT THEY ARE MADE OF SOME FORM OF ACTIVATED CARBON. CARBON BECMOES A BREEDING GROUND FOR BACTERIA AND VIRUSES IN WET ENVIORNMENTS AFTER AROUND 5-6 MONTHS. FOR THIS REASON ALONE, ALL OTHER CARBON BASED FILTER ELEMENTS RECOMMEND THAT YOU SWITCH OUT YOUR FILTERS AFTER 6 MONTHS EVEN IF YOU HAVE NOT REACHED THAT FILTERS RATED GALLON CAPACITY. THE FACT THE VALARIE FROM NEW MILLENIUM CONCEPTS SAID THAT YOU CAN KEEP THE FITLER FOREVER SO LONG AS YOU DRY IT OUT WHEN NOT USING IT, SOUNDS A BIT FISHY TO ME.
8) THE MOST IMPORTANT FACT IS THAT WHILE ALL THE ABOVE FACTS ARE TRUE, THE MANUFACTURER AND ALL THE DISTRIBUTORS THAT I HAVE SPOKEN WITH OVER THE PHONE AND VIA EMAIL REFUSE TO Acknowledge THEM AS TRUTH. THIS WORRIES ME BECAUSE IT MAKES ME FEEL LIKE THEY ARE TYRING TO HIDE SOMETHING. INSTEAD, THEY JUST PICK AND CHOOSE WHICH FACTS THEY WANT TO ATTACK AND REFUSE TO GIVE LOGICAL EXPLANATIONS REGARDING THE OTHERS STATEMENTS. IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THE PUREEST WATER YOU CAN GET, TRY DISTILLING YOUR WATER (I KNOW, I KNOW, I AM OBSESSED WITH WATER). BUT IF YOU ARE ONLY LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO PURIFY WATER IN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS OR IN THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES THAT DON'T HAVE FILTRATION METHODS, THEN THE BERKEY OR SOME OTHER GRAVITY FED SYSTEM WILL WORK FOR YOU.
9) THE FLUORIDE ELEMENTS THAT BERKEY SELLS ARE FROM A THIRD PARTY MANUFACTURER AND HAVE NOT BEEN PROVEN TO REMOVE ANY SPECIFIC AMOUNT OF FLUORIDE. DISTILLING IS THE ONLY FOR SURE METHOD TO REMOVE FLUORIDE FROM WHAT I CAN GATHER.
BOTTOM LINE, THESE FILTERS ARE PROBABLY GOOD FOR EMERGENCY SITUATIONS AND EMERGENCY SITUATIONS ONLY. I HIGHLY DOUBT THAT THEY WILL REMOVE ANYTHING THAT THE CITY WATER HASN'T ALREADY TAKEN CARE OF, WHICH THE EXCEPTION OF CHLORINE.
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