FOOD Betrayed by Berkey - Why I Quit Using Berkey Water Filters + Class Action Lawsuits

[Wildwood]

We have hard water here. Berkey does not remove all of the stuff. But it does remove a lot. I have run a TDS on before and after, and gotten lower TDS after. Mainly because I was wondering if it would work to replace distilled water. And that answer would be - nope. Not meant for it, can't do it.

Btw, there is a filter that says it will do that. It's called Zero if I remember correctly.

Again, Berkey does not say it will make distilled water. Or that it will occur naturally occur minerals that are below a certain size. None of the hiking/emergency use filters offer that promise, Not Katadyn (or the many variants they sell), not LifeStraw, not Sawyer. If that is what you are looking for, you need to be looking at different systems. Heck, Sawyer doesn't even promise good tasting water, just safe from certain things. (And reports are that if the water has a nasty natural flavor beforehand, it will still have it afterwards.)

You can't buy apples and expect them to suddenly become oranges. Well, you can, but then you'd be as delusional as some of the rest of the nuts out there.

One of Berkey's selling points back in the day was that it left some beneficial minerals in your water. I don't know what they say about it now. The trace amount of minerals is what makes it taste so good IMHO. Our water has a softness to it after it goes through the filter...only way I can describe it. Everyone loves it.

I don't like the taste of distilled water and I've heard if that is the only liquid you consume, you would eventually be in trouble.

 

[bev]

Thanks for posting this, Tiger Lilly. I have more research to do.

Someone correct me if I’m wrong, please, but I think anyone who has bought these products can request to be included in the “class” filing suit.

Remember not that many years ago, a bunch of us joined the class action lawsuit over canned tuna? We eventually received coupons for a bunch of free cans of tuna, or a humongous check for under $5.00, if I recall correctly.

 

[Milkweed Host]

I have high amounts of Iron in our well water you cannot see it but its there and using filters it shows up in the filters they start turning rust brown with in a few weeks and clog up after year+ of use.

I have been plagued with iron and sulfur from my well water.
About one year ago, I started adding H2O2 at the well.
It will oxidize the iron and sulfur so that I can filter it out before going
into the water softener. I'm going through lots of five micron filters.
I use two in series and go through between two to four per month.

Also, it's not my idea as I found the info on the internet.

 

[dawgofwar10]

I prefer the Jim Beam black filter, tastes really good and after a few drinks you are ready to go out and kick some ass!!!!!

 

[kyrsyan]

I prefer the Jim Beam black filter, tastes really good and after a few drinks you are ready to go out and kick some ass!!!!!

There's a TikTok thing out of people putting distilled alcohol through Berkey filters. One of them made me just laugh so hard. Guy apparently truly hates hard liquor but he decided to try it. Whatever came out, he liked a lot better than what went in.

 

[Henry Bowman]

Many minerals are water soluble and or worked down to such small particles calcium and Iron is commonly found in well water.
I have high amounts of Iron in our well water you cannot see it but its there and using filters it shows up in the filters they start turning rust brown with in a few weeks and clog up after year+ of use.
In another part of the county the city water has really high amount of Calcium and limestone mix and it has caused health problems for people drinking it fo

Yes but that would then be a job for a whole house system NOT an at the point or gravity filter. You are talking about hard water and /or PH issues, not bacteria or virus. A softener and or neutralizer would be used in these circumstances. If you didnt the pipes and appliances clog and or rot out. No small filter like these will change that.

 

[Wolfcreek Farm]

Have they EVER claimed that?! I'd *never* try using simply filtered water to make colloidal silver... it still leaves in the dissolved minerals. The *only* water to use in making colloidal silver is distilled.

Summerthyme

I only use distilled water too.....also, if purchasing the distilled water...I will buy a gallon and put it into a clean stainless steel pan and heat it on the stove......IF there is any mineral deposits after heating and evaporation of that gallon of water, then I will not use that brand for making my colloidal silver, just saying

 

[BUBBAHOTEPT]

I wonder if many of the problems that have prompted people to do a deeper dive into the Berkey boils down to them increasing their prices too much. Once you do that, folks start to look real hard into what they are paying for. I’ll continue to use my Berkey because it is time for a change out of already purchased filters -black and the PF-2. Definitely food for thought here, and I would like to see more people post about their thoughts on Berkey. The table top Aquatru looks interesting…

 

[Mercury3]

I don't recall the details because it's been 5 or maybe 8 years ago when I was researching this filter one of the test results reported that one of the filters actually added aluminum to the filtered water. Very bad!

Another thing is it's common sense if it really does leave some minerals in the water it would also be leaving some toxins behind too. For these reasons among a few others I found I concluded this filter is mostly hype and not as effective as others most especially reverse osmosis.

 

[tech]

My wife bought one a couple of months ago only to find out they don't work if you use a water softener system....the water turns very cloudy.

Not true (at least using the black filters.) We have had a water softener for many years and have not had issues with our Berkey. Crystal clear output. You may have something else going on though that should be investigated.

Remember not that many years ago, a bunch of us joined the class action lawsuit over canned tuna? We eventually received coupons for a bunch of free cans of tuna, or a humongous check for under $5.00, if I recall correctly.

That was more trouble than it was worth

 

[kyrsyan]

Working my way through the first document. So far, it looks like some person in another country got scammed by some guy in TX who told them that he had created carbon filter tech, and more modern tech.
Then said person told them that he was breaching his contract and selling that tech and stock to Berkey. Another section says that the out of country business thinks that Berkey knowingly, through another third party, tried to buy the technology that the TX guy supposedly created just for them. (Added note: The third party is not included in the lawsuit and all information in regards to them has been blacked out.)

That's as far as I've gotten so far.
So far, sounds like one scammer got scammed by another scammer. And they both are trying to pull another, legit, company into the mix in an effort to steal their technology. And are hoping that NY laws will let them get away with it.

 

[kyrsyan]

Well the class action suit has one major problem up front. They are claiming that Berkey deliberately sold in California. All of the defendants live in California. For as long as I've known about Berkey, they has always stated that they cannot sell in California and will not ship to California.

Another problem, the issue of what is pure water. They are stating that water purification must result in 100% water, and only water. Sorry but that has never been the case for any water purification products.

Interesting. So they only found 3 "fails". They didn't bother to test for most of the items, they just assumed based on those 3.

Berkey's response says a lot. You should read it. They tested the wrong product. The product tested was used. And the product was not sold in CA. That Berkey does not promise 100% pure H2O. There is more. Basically, they bought a travel Berkey. But hand delivered and tested a Crown Berkey. No chain of evidence. No proof of harm. The plaintiff admits that they didn't deliver Berkey filters for testing, but "similar carbon filters" that should meet the requirements for evidence because they are carbon filters. Like all carbon filters are the same thing. Lots more.

And while some of their points irritate me, because they are legalese points, they are valid. And I understand why they are in the response.

These two cases are actually not linked in any way. One is a theft of tech case. The other is a "misled the customer case" under CA laws that wants to become a Federal case through slight of hand. Honestly, both are likely a lot of legalistic bs and someone trying to win the torte lottery by bending laws until they break.

And someone owes me for the headache I have from reading and translating all that legalese BS. Although, it was not as bad as reading through ACA. Nor as bad as reading through some of the AL law stuff. But there is a reason I don't like legalese. I'm going for a cup of chai and some chocolate.

 

[ainitfunny]

As for myself, I am annoyed that the promise filtration doesn't produce good enough water to make colloidal silver. experience. And, I am not a party to the lawsuit.

You cant expect ANY filter to produce DISTILLED WATER PURITY!

Whasamatter wit you?

 

[Tigerlily]

You cant expect ANY filter to produce DISTILLED WATER PURITY!

Whasamatter wit you?

I did read everyone else's comment about it.
I'm sorry I was so uninformed. Can we stop beating a dead horse now?

 

[BUBBAHOTEPT]

I still like my Berkey, but everyone has me thinking about the RO tabletops available that show some good specs and comparatively priced to the Berkey...
*Now that the filters are so expensive...

 

[rob0126]

Here is a basic water filter.

rt 3:36

View: https://youtu.be/lFtR1RnLpVA

The coupler is about 15.00 at lowes.

You can buy the activated charcoal at various places. Can range from 15-25 depending on the amount you need.

You will need the right mesh size to hold the charcoal in the coupler.

aquaticexperts.com has a finer activated charcoal and the bag comes with a fine mesh pouch.

So you can just cut out a couple pieces for each end of the coupler.

I havent tried to filter water with it yet but im pretty sure it can filter rain water.

Boil for extra safety of course.

Add to Info:

Those 5 gallon bucket paint strainer meshes at lowes/home depot seem to work well at straining out small seeable particles.
Just put it on a 5 gal bucket and pour the water in. Then pull off the mesh sock.

 

[Green Co.]

Video of a lady that had her water tested by an independent lab. Well water, sink water after going thru a "green sand" whole house filter, and sink water filtered by a Berkey. She explains how it was done, and the lab used. Results, Berkey was better. (she was using the black filters)

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3JwjN27dTE

 

[Rabbit]

Thanks for posting this, Tiger Lilly. I have more research to do.

Someone correct me if I’m wrong, please, but I think anyone who has bought these products can request to be included in the “class” filing suit.

Remember not that many years ago, a bunch of us joined the class action lawsuit over canned tuna? We eventually received coupons for a bunch of free cans of tuna, or a humongous check for under $5.00, if I recall correctly.

A Berkey costs way more than a can of tuna.

 

[BUBBAHOTEPT]

I just pulled the trigger on a -highly rated and certified- table top RO. I’ll store my Berkey and filters for a special kind of disaster for another day. It’s good to have options…

 

[nomifyle]

I bought my berkey after katrina. I only used it a few times because I did not like the taste of the water. I've bought replacement filters (off brand), but my original filters should still be fine. I keep telling myself that I need to prime the filters and start using the berkey. but so far I've not listened to myself. I will use my berkey at some point and maybe soon. I've been drinking walmart water for years and keep a good stash and I rotate what I have. But I need to get use to using the berkey because the walmart water is not always available and may be even less so in the future.

I didn't read the reports but I have slogged my way through all the comments. A couple of years ago walmart.com had a good sale ($100) on a stainless steel water distiller, I've also never used it either.

 

[Safetydude]

Keep in mind good RO units have a water rejection rates of 96-98 percent that means that for every gallon of RO water produced, over 95+ gallons of water is rejected and sent down the drain. You must have RO's that shutdown once the captive tank is full and then begin processing again once the captive tank is drawn down. Our RO came very much in hand during a do not drink order after a flash flood in AZ had contaminated muni water. They cranked up chlorine to unhealthy levels to drink, worse than a swimming pool. We provided drinking water to most neighborhood at the end of the cul-de-sac. BTW, you can use the RO waste water for gray water applications.

Ion exchange is also another good purification technology, but requires more prefiltration to minimize the impact on the ion-exchange cartridge. In labs where I worked we had wall mounted ion-exchange filter units mounted on the wall to make USP high purity water for chemical work. Eventually we ended up plumbing in a central RO water supply. Both RO and Ion-exchange can remove/reduce fluorides in the water as well as many other contaminates. Pharmaceutical drugs are much more difficult to remove and require some specialized filters to trap and sequester drug molecules.

 

[tm1439m]

There is anther company making a product that is very similar to a Berkey from what I understand. Sorry I have no link.

Could it be possible that this is just an attempt to discredit Berkey. There is so much misinformation out there these days.
Posting this here and on the thread started today on the subject.