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Berkey Water Filters Cannot Be Shipped To California
This past November 2009, California signed into law AB 1953 / SB 1334 & 1395 / HSC Section 116875 and as a result directly affected the sales of all water filter and purification systems to the state. This revised “no lead law” as it’s commonly known, went into effect on January 1, 2010. Currently this law prevents any Berkey water filter from being sold to the state of California, and canvasses all Berkey products that comes in contact with water intended for drinking. This would include upper/lower chambers, all filters, and sport bottles.
The law stipulates that any “end-use device intended to convey or dispense water for human consumption through drinking or cooking,” as well as each of their individual components, materials and “pipe, pipe or plumbing fittings, or fixtures,” or flux, must be “lead free” as defined by California law. Under SB 1334, certification MUST be performed by an “independent ANSI-approved third party testing organization.” It appears that even if a product and each component of that product has no metal alloys and if a purification system actually reduces lead, under Section 116875, it must be be certified. An example of this would be the Berkey sport water purification bottle.
The Berkey sport bottle body utilizes LDPE, which must be certified, even though it is common knowledge that LDPE contains no lead, is very commonly used by food and water companies, and is monitored under federal regulations. Further, manufacturers are expected to reveal proprietary information regarding their systems, suppliers and manufacturers, without an absolute guarantee that such proprietary information will be kept confidential. This is of utmost concern due to the fact that if such proprietary information is conveyed to competitors, we would have no recourse. It also worth noting that if Berkey water filters desires to change any of their suppliers after certification, it appears that permission must be obtained by the certifying organization and that re-certification is mandatory, all at the expense of the company. Change of suppliers is a common occurrence as improvement of the Berkey product line is continually occurring.
Research indicates that there are at least two different certification standards available, but there seems to be disagreement as to which standards are acceptable to the state of California’s review Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), the agency in charge of reviewing products and their certification. There is further confusion regarding testing protocols. While DTSC has issued an outline, it appears that the final protocols have yet to be settled upon. Throughout Berkey water filters ongoing research on this issue, they were unable to get clarification on the above requirements, instead it was suggested that “lawyers review the wording of the law to determine” how “they interpret the scope of the mandatory certification…”. Unfortunately, many questions were not answered by the January 1st deadline and as such, “strict compliance with the law” was recommended and is now being adhered to.
Here’s an example of one of the requirements:
…Listee shall promptly furnish to CC, in writing, the street address, hours of operation, anticipated dates when plants will be temporarily closed or shut down, anticipated dates when plants will temporarily cease production and all local or state holidays of each plant where the listed product is being manufactured or to be manufactured by or on behalf of Listee, and each location where the listed product is warehoused or stored by or on behalf of Listee. Listee shall also provide the name and telephone number of a contact person for each such plant or storage location, both at the time of application for evaluation and in the event of any changes in this information. Listee shall provide such information for all plants and storage locations, whether foreign or domestic. If the product is imported or to be imported, Listee shall also provide the name, street address, telephone number and contact person of the importer and the consignee…
Note: Berkey Water Filters does not have manufacturing plants or warehouses in the state of CA
This revised law has put the burden of proof on the manufacturer and is understandable, however the great additional expense will be difficult for Berkey water filters to absorb into the cost structure. To be clear, Berkey products do not contain lead and testing results from NSF/ANSI certified labs show that these systems reduce lead in water. If every state were to establish their own specific overarching certification criteria such as CA, small companies like Berkey would not be able to meet these requirements and would be put out of business.
Big Berkey Water Filters will continue to monitor the situation and hopefully gain clarification on the issues for which there are currently no definite answers. While many water purification and water filter companies are ignoring the law due to it’s vagueness, there is no interest on Berkey’s behalf to go this route. Berkey water filters considers it a high priority to support the tens of thousands of current CA customers in addition to potential future customer who have interest in the product and hope to come to a resolution soon.
Tags: Berkey, berkey water filter california, berkey water filters
I’m a native-son of California…the lawyers & politicians have ruined this state in so many ways…I’m ready to move out of state…they way the state treats business, at all levels, is sad. I’m sorry for the they way the” Berkey Company” is being treated…it is no wonder why businesses are leaving California “right & left.”
In the meantime, I’d still like a Berkey Filter…if they ever get their mind made up as to what they want from their new ‘Law.”
Ok, I see the explanation for California, what is it for Iowa? Same kind of bureaucratic BS? Thanks!
Hi Silver A - Iowa requires licensing fees to be paid to the state for rights to sell the systems in the state. These are high and set a bad precedent for other states that may also require such fees to generate revenue.
Thanks for your explanation. We will order one for our Texas home.
I’m so tired of this state and it’s laws. It’s becoming a model for how to over-manage everything and just pass bad legislation and I really wonder home much CA is influenced by NWO cronies. I’ll find a way to get my Berkey. Thanks for helping us out.
I’m currently working on several projects for the State of CA, and it is an absolute mess. For one project alone, they have wasted about $500,000 of taxpayer money. I’m moving out of CA this fall and can hardly wait!
Good for you for refusing to comply with this nonsense. I’ll ship to a friend’s house in another state.
I’ve lived in CA for 22 years. When I first came in, it was a very libertarian state. Now the socialist nannys have woven their way into everything. Imagine a homeowner’s association on acid! The choice between candidates for governor is typical of California politics, do you want a liberal socialist, or would you prefer an out and out communist?
With the commerce clause of the constitution, no state may regulate commerce between states, it is the federal government’s sole pervue. What California is doing is restraint of trade. They do it with everything now (you should see the CA regs on gas appliances and small engines). They have the nerve to claim it creates jobs in California by creating voids that CA businesses can fill. What a joke. We are bleeding businesses and high wage earners at the seems.
I will get a Berkey if I have to open a UPS store account in Nevada and sneak it back into CA in the dark of night. If I concealed it in a bail of marijuana, these idiots would probably let me go, as long as I had a CA prescription of course.
I was going to order last year, I suppose it would be wise to stock lots of food before these idiots in California make that illegal too! I really think it’s time to move to Arizona or some other free state in the Union if such still exists. I will try to order a Berkey through someone outside this pathetic state.
Yes, the socialists/marxists have taken over CA. And, headed to other states.
Sorry Berkey for the destruction of your business opportunities.
And Phillip, they already are taking food away from folks in many states by banning vegetable gardening by people on their own property. Wake up folks and fast before the communists kill our country. Banning food growing and very soon, storage, water filtering and energy needs of people………. Please see where this is headed!!!!!
I have been a resident of the state of California for 25 years. I would give my eye teeth to find a buyer for my home so I could exist in this state. The Marxists and Socialists DO have a strangle hold on this state. I recently purchased a Crown Berkey for my “earthquake kit”. I have the seed bank and all of the rest of what I need. Water is a BIG issue here so, I simply had my friend in Colorado order and send the Berkey to me here. Guess those Marxist/Socialists aren’t the sharpest tools in the shed!
It’s good to know what is happening in California. I left the state after living there most of my life, to be near my mother who has been ill. I think sometimes people don’t realize how many good things there are about California. But what I would like to say is that laws encroaching on small business and more specifically, on businesses that serve the alternative health community (and water filters are still considered “alternative”), are not the product of “communists” or “socialists”. By and large they are the products of pure capitalism wherein the biggest companies exert undue influence in getting laws passed that serve themselves. This law serves the massive corporations by cutting out small producers. It also serves those who would force us to stay in the status quo, and that, again, is not “socialist” but very much a conventional capitalist idea, very much in accordance with the history of this country in which corporations are given personhood and no one can fight against them. Rather than pointing fingers at “socialists” and “communists”, how about just putting some energy into getting the law changed? It’s wrong, no matter who is responsible.
I can’t stand this state. I was born in CA and as I have grown up, it has become more and more statist, a police state, and a nanny state. Disgusting.
We want to remove the fluoride from our water, but it is impossible with the morons in government. I hope this gets resolved I want a Berkey!
@victoria
Capitalism? The word you are looking for is fascism. Government and corporations working together is not capitalism, it is fascism.
Is it against the law to send one to CA if it’s a gift for my daughter?
You can’t ship but can I ship it from NY?
Yes, we cannot ship them to CA for any reason. You can send it from NY though since it’s not a direct sale to consumer transaction.
What a crock of crap. No wonder why this place is going down the tubes. Lame, I just want a water filter
“By and large they are the products of pure capitalism wherein the biggest companies exert undue influence in getting laws passed that serve themselves.”
Dear Victoria Baker,
What you call capitalism is NOT true capitalism, it is corporatism, as evidenced by your subsequent statement: “corporations are given personhood”. This was done officially by FDR, a liberal socialist democrat. (And BTW, liberal socialist Marxism is by no means limited to the Democratic party.)
True capitalism requires a free market, (which we do NOT have by any stretch of the imagination.) Corporatism is all about monopolies and special interest legislation, which is diametrically opposed to true capitalism. The fact is, only true capitalism would rescue this situation. You and many other people in the general population have bought into the lame-stream media propaganda that goes to great lengths to confuse the two by disseminating such disinformation and by continually calling corporatism capitalism.
You’re also under the misguided notion that “the people” can actually change a law like this for the better. As long as corporatism rules, that will never happen, primarily because the state is also a corporation. So, every time some well-intentioned person or organization works to make or change a law to “improve” something or try to remedy some sort of inequity or injustice, the corporate lawyers get in there and make sure there are hidden clauses and requirements that effectively accomplish just the opposite and in fact make the situation even worse for the common citizen by strengthening the position of corporations, including the state. S510, the fake food safety bill, the Patriot Act, and Obamacare are prime examples of this.
Get a clue and figure out how you’re going to survive the coordinated global efforts to depopulate the planet, because that’s what all this crap is about - bottom line.
Any California legislators reading this??? Here is a prime example of why so many companies are LEAVING California. I live in Riverside Ca. where the state reclaims WASTE water,filters it and sells it back to the people who FLUSHED it. But I can’t purchase a QUALITY filter to be sure the water is safe for my family to drink thanks to the same people who made it questionable in the first place. Kindly get your “stuff” together.
What about the website-More than Alive? Can they ship it to California?
Hi Jeff -
No, unfortunately all dealers are bound by this regulation and cannot ship to CA.
Thanks
Dan
This so saddens me! We live in California and started saving up to buy a Berkey water system and I just found this post. California is such a beautiful state. I wish the lawmakers followed suit.
Wow, I’m right there with Mark; and yet, the state has no problem whatsoever mandating that fluoride be put in our drinking water.
FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT DON’T KNOW YET, FLUORIDE IS A POISON! ALL OF YOU, PLEASE RESEARCH THIS!
No worries however, I shall have my Berkey water system, as I have family throughout the U.S.
I’m sorry that you have to go through this.
If you won’t leave CA because they won’t ship you a Berkey, leave because ITS ABOUT TO FALL INTO THE OCEAN!!!!!!!!!!!
How very sad that soldiers sacrifice their lives to secure our freedoms and politicians try to take these freedoms away left and right. It’s up to us, the people, to fight these self-serving beaurocrats … but unfortunately too many have drank the koolaid or are complacent. I want a healthy environment to help heal my toxic-neuro-damaged children and CA is making it very hard for me to do that. Good for you Berkey for being wise and not letting CA or any other state destroy you
Is it possible to get your product through ebay … just a thought … or are there laws preventing this as well (sigh).
Hi Cara -
No, unfortunately the manufacturer and all dealers are restricted from sending these systems to CA as part of the law.
Thanks
Dan
It has come to my attention, that no one in the USA Govt. Cares about the tax payer
You water is sub standard to other parts of the world. Sweden, Demark, just to start !
The United States does not care about , how it poisons their people !
Start using ” Buzzle.com ” Do a little research, on things.. Like Sodium Lauryl Sulfate !
Use ” You Tube.com ”
Ralph Nader said 20 years ago, on ” Larry King Live” Big Business will rule the USA ”
It is here ! The time is now !
In a little while you not be able to buy vitamins, hydrogen peroxide.
FOLKS YOU HAVE TO GET UP AND SAVE AMERICA !
PEOPLE IN RUSSIA HATE THE USA ! WHY ??? BECAUSE THEY THINK WE CONTROL GAS PRICES !
THEY ARE HALF RIGHT !! WE HAVE GREAT PEOPLE IN MARYLAND MARK GREENBERG.. WHO TRIED TO STAND UP TO THE SPECULATORS
WHO ARE THE SPECULATORS ???
THE BIG BANKS THAT THE TAX PAYER BAILED OUT !!!!
START MAKING A LITTLE NOISE !!
QUESTION …
WHAT COUNTRY HAS NO ” HOSPITAL ACQUIRED INFECTIONS ??
ANSWER…
DENMARK !!!! NOT THE USA !!!!
GET YOUR HEAD OUT YOUR BUTTOCK !!! MAKE THE USA NUMBER ONE !!
AND THE ANSWER IS NOT THE GOVERNMENT !!
THE ANSWER IS YOU !! TELL WASHINGTON YOU HAVE HAD ENOUGH !
PROTECT YOUR WATER !! USE BERKEY WATER FILTER SYSTEMS
GOOD LUCK
I just read that cancer is caused by chlorinated water. I believe. I also read that floride is in plant poisons. Too much can have a bad affect on humans.
The chemical companies sold floride to our government and made plenty big bucks. Do you think that they’ll back off? Even while they kill off their buyers?
I’m done bathing in city water, and drinking unfiltered water.
Lots of good rhetoric here. Yes California government has completely lost it’s common sense. But hey, ya’ll voted for that fool Jerry Brown. Why complain? You have more illegal aliens out there than here in Texas, and guess what? They don’t vote. I feel sorry for you all. Oh, yeah, I’m buying beach front property in Nevada. Can’t wait for the next California earth quake. Oh, and please take New York (Where more than half of all corruption in this country is found) and Florida (where people go to die)with you. We can do without those three states.
Master Rod
I live in california, bought my berkey years ago and had it sent to a sister in nevada.
I need to get more ceramic filters. can I have them sent to ca do I have to do another nevada run?
Hi -
Unfortunately we still cannot ship them to CA, so you would need to do a Nevada run, or have her forward them onto you.
Thanks
Dan
Wow. More destruction of smaller businesses. We here in PA have a new and very stupid food safety law which makes it almost impossible for small farmers who sell at farmers markets to stay in business. Foolishness like standing hot water sinks for sellers of eggs, cheese, etc, inspected kitchens even for home baked cookies, forbidding of any and all PETS in your ENTIRE house, and no children in your kitchen!
Destruction of our freedoms and our nation. Wish you well, Berkey!
Have the filter sent to a trusted friend, and send the friend money for postage!
Unfortunately Cara, our soldiers aren’t fighting for your freedom, they’re fighting to keep your empire building overlords foriegn interests in tact.
If our soldiers were fighting for your freedom, why did the 4th ammendement go ‘poof’?
In the mid 1990, my husband and I started making a trip out west each year. A ROAD TRIP. We enjoyed the freedom in Montana, especially. Unfortunately, the escapees from California brought their politics with them, and the western United States is being ruined. Liberalism is a mental disorder.
Hello, great article! I will keep following your site
I was born in CA in 1957 and left for good in 1991. The governing bodies in CA have done their best to kill all small business there. In the early 80s they pushed out most small woodworking businesses. Some went to Mexico. We were contacted by no less that 5 southern states that would pay our taxes, set up our business and offer subsidies to hire their working class people. As much as I love the southern states, it’s too hot for me there so I move it to OR and closed for good 4 years ago. Imports of cheap goods from China was the last shot to the chest of my industry.
CA is now a bankrupt state, financially and morally [government not citizens]. They blame everything BUT themselves for the state they are in.
I live in OR and have my Berkey! And they do not add fluoride to our water so the black berkey is good enough.
Best of everything to you in CA
CA is corrupted by idiotic socialists who have a Keynesian belief system. This results in so many wasted tax dollars. The mafia (govt) gets to take your money and the bureaucrats get to spend it and make laws/rules that we never get to vote on. If we vote on a tax and it gets shot down, they simply find a way to make people pay a “fee”. The Golden State is going down.
@ D. Smith - http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/cancer/bassin-2001.pdf
@ David Stone - Couldn’t have said it better myself….ROCK ON!!!!
If you live in CA and would like to get a berkey water system I can take delivery of it here in WA and mail it to you in CA. There are ways around stupid laws. If interested you can contact me at christopher_g_lehman@yahoo.com
I was raised in CA, lived there almost 40 years. A very few relatives and friends aside, no real regrets moving out of state. Please feel free to follow suit.
@Chris Good Luck….Big Brother is watching….if he catches you, they’ll write some other stupid, unconstitutional law (after the fact, of course) and the penalty for circumventing that law will be death by slow torture.
It’s called fascism. The power gets concentrated into the hands of the few that can jump through such hurdles.
We’ve lived in California for 30 years, and the laws are getting more restrictive daily. This one is a typical law that isn’t for anyone’s protection, it’s simply a income generation scheme for our politicians who can not stop spending money they don’t have. Many of the laws are passed under the guise of being for our benefit, but are simply for dollars coming in. Unfortunately our politicians are only able to add, they’re not bright enough to subtract the dollars that are leaving the state because of their fee’s.
cc: Jerry Brown
California government and most statist governments will continue to allow/create laws like this and find that one day, the costs (in arrears) are so large that communities, then state governments will collapse under their own weight. And this is after attempting to enforce such rediculous (even though maybe well meaning) laws.
Prop 65 is a prime example. These Prop 65 stickers are so prevalent on every building, and yet every home would fail the test. So, should there should be one on every door. CARB is going to waste billions. California Food and Drug Branch is well meaning but a duplicate of the Fed FDA. Cal OSHA is a duplicate of the Fed OSHA. Stop this stupidity and waste!!!