Definition
This is a standard which guarantees that the product subject to it meets certain safety and public health standards.
More specifically, regarding water filters, they must meet certain criteria:
• The filtration system must be able to reduce certain contaminants, including the list must be provided by the manufacturer,
• The filtration system has a consistent structure and does not add harmful substances to the filtered water,
• Advertising and literature associated with the product contains only true and non-confusing information,
• The place of production is subject to NSF inspection and each model must be tested.
NSF/ANSI Standards 42 & 53
These are the standards that apply specifically to water filters that claim to be NSF standard. Here is a summary.
NSF/ANSI Standard 42
• Organoleptic effects: filters must reduce contaminants which are unrelated to health: (chlorine, taste and odor, particles) likely to be present in drinking water of public or private origin,
• This standard uses carbon filtration in particular,
• There are different classifications in this standard depending on the rate of elimination of chlorine or particles. The best classification for chlorine claims a reduction of more than 75% (Class I). The best classification for particle reduction corresponds to an 85% reduction in particles between 1 and 5 microns (Class I).
NSF/ANSI Standard 53
• Concerns the reduction of contaminants related to health. These include Cryptosporidium, Giardia, lead, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether) likely to be present in drinking water of public or private origin,
• This standard uses carbon filtration in particular,
• To comply with this standard, the system must effectively reduce the content of lead,
• The system must be able to reduce the concentration of cysts such as Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Toxoplasma and Entamoeba by up to 99.95%,
• The standard certifies that the product effectively reduces VOCs such as: alachlor, atrazine, benzene, carbofuran, chlorobenzene, 2,4-D, odichlorobenzene, p-dichlorobenzene, lindane etc.
And Berkey© filters in all that ?
The manufacturer Berkey© has chosen not to subscribe to this standard. This does not mean that the Black Berkey© filters which equip the Berkey© filtration systems do not respect it. On the contrary, the tests carried out which are based on the NSF42/53 standards show that the Black Berkey® elements far exceed the standards of this standard.
Why this choice?
Berkey© systems are not just water filters intended to filter tap water, but effective purifiers on untreated water. Their deployment by NGOs or the army in emergency situations proves it...
- Concerning standard 42: it would be almost useless to have it certified as the capacity of the filters exceeds it... The strictest of the classes of standard 42 of the NSF standard recommends a 75% reduction in chlorine. Black Berkey© filters obtain a score of 99.9% on chloramines, 99.9% on free chlorine, 99.6% on chlorides and 99.9% on fluorides...
Same observation on particles. The strictest standard of this standard calls for an 85% reduction of particles between 1 and 5 microns. Black Berkey© filters operate on a scale of 24 to 26 nanometers, which is equivalent to 0.024 microns…
- Regarding standard 53: Black Berkey© filters eliminate 99.9% of lead and meet perfectly and even far exceed what is recommended by the NSF standard. Concerning Cryptosporidium, the Black Berkey© filters have a score of 99.997%, 99.99% for Giardia, 99.8% for leptospirosis… Here too, the results speak for themselves. The same goes for VOCs: 99.9% on alachlor, atrazine, benzene and its derivatives, liandane but also dozens of others.
In addition, Black Berkey© filters are also effective on viruses, bacteria, pharmaceutical residues, petroleum products, on dozens of pesticides, herbicides and heavy metals, alpha and gamma radiation and uranium.
Finally, it should be remembered that Black Berkey elements are not simple water filters but are water purifiers. The NSF standard requires “purifier” type elements to filter twice their nominal capacity of contaminated water through the filter before any measurements are taken. Clearly, the NSF standard would require filtering 45,400 liters of water to obtain the test results, where the lifespan of the Black Berkey® has been established at 22,700 liters, which makes absolutely no sense.
This means that Berkey would have to announce a lifespan of the Black Berkey® reduced by half, just to obtain NSF certification when they have the capacity to purify the double.
This is insane and explains why there is no gravity water purifier that meets the NSF standard, and this makes the Berkey® gravity filter all the more unique on the purifier market.
The results of the tests carried out on the Black Berkey® filter elements are therefore well above the recommendations of the NSF standard.
All the tests published by Berkey© were carried out by accredited and independent laboratories and were carried out following standards 42 and 53.
Requesting accreditation of this standard is therefore not only completely useless because it would completely reduce the true capacity of the systems equipped with Black Berkey® and would generate costs estimated at approximately 1 million dollars for all the pollutants that Berkey has tested.
It is for all these reasons that Berkey® did not consider it necessary to certify its systems by the NSF standard and not because they would not meet the expected results. Black Berkey® filters are much more efficient than other simple NSF labeled water filters, have a significantly longer lifespan and ultimately, an ultra economical cost per liter.
Consult the results of the tests carried out on the Black Berkey® elements
You can also find the various analysis results in our section dedicated.
