Many of you have asked me what’s going on with Berkey water filters. As they’ve been off the market for most of this year, there’s been a lot of questions about when or if they will be available again. So here’s an update on Berkey, what’s next, and other options.
Find a replacement for Berkey Black Filters here
Disclaimer: I’ll try to spare you much of my personal opinions on the EPA, lest I turn into Ron Swanson. But let’s just say when there’s bigger fish to fry like the revolving door of PFA‘s coming into our water system and food supply, it really is baffling when the EPA takes up unreasonable side quests like they’ve done here.
Photos by emmaloo.co
What happened to Berkey?
Through expanded Covid-era regulations the EPA decided to use their new power to treat Berkey black filters as pesticides earlier this year. Berkey was forced to stop selling them.
Keep in mind these filters are not treated with any harmful substances. They are made out of the same naturally occurring substances that they always have been and no device like this has ever been classified as a pesticide in the past. They do not meet any definition of a pesticide.
As Berkey put it:
Berkey’s filters are not “substances or mixtures of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest”, as FIFRA defines pesticides. Rather, they mechanically remove contaminants through a tortuous maze of micropores, absorption and ionic adsorption.
The EPA’s inexplicable side quest
By the EPA deciding these are pesticides, it means Berkey must register them as pesticides to keep selling them. As you may imagine, this is a very lengthy time and money-consuming process.
While there are other similar (gravity) water filters on the market, the EPA decided to single Berkey out and go after them hard. They’ve been unable to sell their product since May. The EPA has even gone so far as to go after smaller retailers selling the products.
Essentially, it’s turned into “you pay to register this as a pesticide or you don’t get to sell it”.
If that sounds like extortion to you, I’m sure it’s just a coincidence 🙂
You can read Berkey’s press release on all of that here. They tried to work with them and come up with other solutions, but the EPA would not have it.
**I know this may be confusing after you read that it’s being classified as a pesticide, so I just want to clarify again that there are no harmful substances in the Berkey filter nor has it been treated with any pesticides. It also remains to be one of the most robust water filters out there. The EPA is really stretching the legal definition of a pesticide to try to make this fit.
What’s next for Berkey?
If you currently have a Berkey system and need the black filters, there is a new kind available. It’s sold under a different name and by a new company but will work the same as the previous black filters. Find them here.
In time, more products will be available by the new company. I am unable to share more information on that right now, but will update you as soon as they become available and I can direct you to where to purchase them.
Other options
I’m currently testing a new water purifier. While I don’t have a lot to report back quite yet, I will be posting a review of the new system in the new year. It’s by AquaTru. It’s from the same family of brands as AirDoctor and similarly, you get a significant discount by using my link to them.
This one is a bit different as it needs to be plugged in. It also has quite a bit more plastic which I had to consider. However, it does have comparable filtering abilities as Berkey.
In conclusion
While I’m sad to see a trusted brand like Berkey end, I applaud them for not kowtowing to the EPA. I look forward to the next chapter and will keep you all updated, including new options to explore.
*Post contains affiliate links. All thoughts and opinions are always my own.
I am frantically looking for a gravity fed alternative to Berkey now., and have been researching. What does this mean for other filtration systems such as Propur ProOne BIG+ (https://prooneusa.com/product/big-plus/?ref=349) which also has silver in their filters. I believe that is the key issue that caused EPA to declare their filters a “pesticide”, yes? I don’t want to spend $$ only to have the EPA go after them too. Would love to hear any good advice you may have, thanks! Pat
You’re correct about what the issue is. And that is a valid point that the EPA may go after other brands as well. For now, there is a new black filter coming on the market soon. And that company will be adding additional products including full water purification systems. I will update this post soon with that.