Comments on: The Best Water Filters Of 2010

By: J. Victor Chatigny

J. Victor Chatigny — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:12:28 +0000

Mr. Farag,

I am interested in discussing with you the potential for ocean wave power generation systems providing the power for the Ampac deslination systems (an alternative energy source vs solar panels). I’ve served on the Board of Ocean Power technologies Inc (NASD: OPTT). and am now working with their Chairman on strategic marketing and partnering.

I can be reached at 757-277-5557

By: Matt

Matt — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 09:48:08 +0000

@Francisco, voce tem de saber que o pessoal aqui nao falam portugues. Coloque as suas perguntas em Google Translate.

By: Francisco

Francisco — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 19:10:05 +0000

Os fíltros de gravidade de barro ou terracota utilizam três tipos de velas de cerâmica . A mais completa é a “ESTERILAQUA”. Externamente cerâmica e internamente carvão ativo e prata coloidal. O carvão absorve o cloro e a prata coloidal esteriliza a água.
Vocês já testaram essas velas ?

By: Elsa

Elsa — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 03:13:50 +0000

Is Berkey safe to get?

By: Sam

Sam — Fri, 20 May 2011 20:40:47 +0000

Tricia
any updates? I would have bought a Berkey today, but I got the answering machine when I called the home office…then, surfing, I saw your comments! So I will hold off a bit…Sam

By: Francisco

Francisco — Tue, 10 May 2011 12:54:13 +0000

E os fíltros de barro? O que vocês tem a dizer deles em eficiência?

By: Adam Michaels

Adam Michaels — Tue, 10 May 2011 04:18:20 +0000

I try not to drink any liquid that I know hasn’t been through some kind of water filter. I myself have been using a reverse osmosis water filtration system for several years now. I continually get 0 ppm water, and the peace of mind of knowing my water is safe for consumption. My system was relatively cheap compared to most others out there. I got mine from Aquasafe systems, http://www.aquasafecanada.com and has been running smooth for years, and also has the carbon filter these “water filters” have, and has another 5 other filters. The problem with just a water filter is that they do not remove all chemicals or contaminants from the water, most of them just remove the chlorine, or just the smell.

By: Samuel A. Farag

Samuel A. Farag — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 01:41:28 +0000

Ampac USA manufactures few very reliable systems in USA and very affordable
http://www.ampac1.com
http://www.ampacpure.com

By: Olmo - Electric Car

Olmo - Electric Car — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 11:26:05 +0000

Hi, thank you for the nice compilation and review.

Do you have any experience with recycling of the old filters? In germany, you can give the used Brita cartidges to the farmacy, they will extract something from them… but I don’t know what.

thanks

olmo

By: Tricia L Ross

Tricia L Ross — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 03:43:19 +0000

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 10 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 10 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 dollar a piece 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 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? As was stated by the original person of this post, “Berkey filters will remove a portion of the substances that are attracted to activated charcoal if the black berkey option is used, and a portion of the substances attracted to alumina if the fluoride/arsenic option is used. It’s funny that a “minute” un-quantified amount of aluminum compound (presumably mostly aluminum oxide otherwise known as alumina) introduced by their fluoride filter is harmless; but a minute amount of fluoride and other substances is a serious health hazard?”
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 Jack Spirko of The Survival Podcast suggests. Granted Jack seems like a great guy, at the same time, an independent Berkey Filter Distributor is one of his sponsors…. Conflict of interest….you tell me?

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 by replying to this post and leaving your email address. If we put enough pressure on Berkey, they may spend the extra money to bring peace of mind to its consumers, that is if they past the lab tests?!?