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The Difference Between Black Berkeys and Ceramic Filters - A Quick History and Comparison
To understand the differences between the Super Sterasyl Ceramic filter and the Black Berkey purification element, it helps to have a brief history on the evolution of the business. Essentially, the Super Sterasyl filters are an evolution of ceramic filter technology originally discovered in 1827 by Henry Doulton in Britain. Over the years, the Doulton company made noteworthy improvements upon the ceramic filters by introducing methods for bacteria removal and self sterilization. Once these improvements were incorporated, gravity filters became heavily used by military forces, relief organizations, and missionaries who lacked access to clean water. The general public also took note and the Doulton company built it’s core business around this Super Sterysyl Ceramic filter technology. Eventually In 1985, British Berkefeld was acquired by Doulton and continues to sell these ceramic filters across the world to this day.
Through a distribution partnership with Berkefeld, the US based company New Millennium Concepts gave North American residents the opportunity to purchase the Super Sterysyl Ceramic filter product locally. New Millennium Concepts then built upon this filtration franchise by designing and creating the Black Berkey Element and expanding the lineup of Berkey housing systems and accessories. Designed over a decade ago, the Black Berkey is a proprietary combination of approximately 6 different types of media designed to take filtration to the next level. They exceed EPA log 7 ANSI / NSF protocols for filtration and thus are rated as water purifiers.
Without going into too much detail, from a filtration perspective the Black Berkey’s filter out the same chemicals and contaminants that the Super Sterasyl Ceramic Filters do, but go above and beyond by removing Lead, MTBE’s, and other heavy metals. In addition, since the Black Berkey’s are water purifiers, they will filter out a contaminant like Chlorine to undetectable levels, while the ceramics will only remove > 90% of Chlorine.
The Black Berkeys and the Ceramics are basically the same in terms of life span, cleaning, price, and overall day to day use. While both filters are very durable, the ceramics have a slight edge and may benefit missionaries or those who expect to place daily physical wear and tear on the filter when breaking down the system for transport. In essence, both filters are outstanding performers with a long proven track record and tens of thousands of satisfied customers, however the Black Berkeys are more comprehensive in the array of contaminants addressed and have an advantage in their ability to remove some of these contaminants to a higher percentage.
It’s important to note that if you already own the Ceramics and are looking to address some of these missed contaminants like Lead and MTBE’s, the PF-4’s will remove this in addition to growing public concerns like Fluoride and Arsenic. Along those same lines, if you own or are considering purchasing the Black Berkeys and would like to remove Fluoride and Arsenic, choosing the PF-2’s as an add-on will accomplish this goal. To learn more about other configuration aspects of Berkey filters, please read my article, Intro to Berkey Water Filters 101.
Tags: berkey black or white, berkey filter comparison, black berkey, black berkey elements, ceramic filters, ceramics vs black berkeys, difference berkey filters, super sterasyl ceramic filters, super sterasyl filters
Other filter companies talk about Microns can you give me an idea of how your filters stack up beside them? because your flow rates are great and if I had an idea of the micron rating on your filters it would greatly help with my decision ( ps I’m already leaning towards the Big Berkey) thanks for the help
Ryan
Hi Ryan - Per the manufacturer:
With respect to the micron rating, we do not use or publish a micron rating for the Black Berkey elements for the following reasons.
There is much confusion with respect to nominal and absolute micron ratings. An absolute micron rating is one that states the maximum pore size expected within an element. The nominal micron rating is the average pore size within the element. This means that if 90% of the pores are .02 microns and ten percent are 2 microns, one could claim the nominal micron rating as .2 microns, which would imply that pathogenic bacteria and parasites would be totally removed. But in reality the bulk of the water would channel through the larger 2-micron pores and thereby allow both bacteria and parasites to pass through. Therefore a nominal micron-rating claim can be very misleading.
With respect to the absolute micron rating, there is also confusion because there are two different standards to determine absolute; in the US the standard is 99.9% removal, but the international standard in 99.99% removal or 10 times greater removal.
Clever marketers of products can use the confusion over the above differences to make product “A” appear to be better than product “B” when product B may be far superior in reality. For example, we used to report an absolute rating using the international standard because we have a large international customer base. Several years ago we published a rating on our ceramic filters. A particular company began to publish that our elements were .9 microns whereas theirs were .2 microns. However, our micron rating was based on absolute (international) while theirs was based on a nominal(US)rating. When tested at Spectrum Labs, it was found that at the .2 to .3 microns range our filter removed more particulate than the other brand. Unfortunately many people make there purchasing decisions based on a micron rating that can be legitimately distorted and to a significant degree.
We soon became weary of trying to explain the above to our customers and so we decided not to participate any longer in publishing a micron rating. Rather, we think an absolute pathogenic bacteria removal rate is a far better gauge because it is far more difficult to abuse. Based on that criterion, the Black Berkey elements remove greater than 99.9999999% of pathogenic bacteria such as E.coli. To our knowledge, no other personal filtration element can match that capability. In fact, the Black Berkey elements are so powerful, they are unique in their ability to mechanically remove food coloring from water.
Hi Dan, thanks for the quick response. I will go ahead and order my system online and recommend this website to others who may be interested in the Big Berkey.
I have researched many filtering systems and this one seems to be the best one.
Thank you for all the wonderful data and information you provide on this website. I have come across aqua rain and other filters and would appreciate the help in comparing the black berkey filters vs other such competitors. Any information you can provide to help clarify and differentiate the two would be much appreciated!
Hi Greg -
As for the Aqua Rain water filter, we are unable to do a detailed comparison due to the fact that the Aquarain website does not provide filtration removal details across the many chemicals and contaminants that the black berkeys remove. We unfortunately also cannot find copies of test results on the site for verification of any claims. What we did find was removal rates for 3 organisms, Cryptosporidium parvum, Klebsiella terrigena, and Brevundimonas diminuta; all of which the black berkey water filters remove to log 7 purification standards.
As for other water filters, just let us know what you have in mind. We will make an effort to put a comparison together and post the results on our site for you.
Thanks - Dan
You made some excellent points here. I did a search on the black berkey filters and users agree with what your saying. Thanks for all your good articles.
You state that the black filters can be cleaned and reused. You also state that they will last for up to 3,000 gallons per element. Does that mean that if they are cleaned they will last for another 3,000 gallons? Or does it mean that it will need to be cleaned during the initial 3,000 gallons and then you need a new one?
Hi Mike - The 3000 gallon mark per black berkey element is considered a estimated point of full saturation. At this point, they should be replaced. Up and until that 3000 gallon mark, you can clean and maintain the black berkey as many times as needed. Depending on the source water, a cleaning may be required every month, once a year, or never. More than 60% of our customers are able to use the elements the entire life without a need for a cleaning.
Our local water company is going to be adding chloramine to our water supply instead of chlorine.
Unfortunately, we have found no filters currently in existence that will reduce or remove the highly toxic byproducts including NDMA, hydrazine, iodoacids and DXAA. Filters certified by NSF at classification 42 wil reduce the monochloramine itself but not the byproducts.
We have the sterysyl filters with the PF-4 add on filter. Will these protect us.
Our Sterysyl filters and pf-4 filters have been inactive for about two years. Are there any special precautions we need to make when reactivating their use.
There no special precautions to make. You can clean your ceramic filters with a brush prior to use and they should be fine. However, the PF-4 fluoride water filters only last for 6 months once they are put into use. If you had used the PF-4’s 2 years ago, then they have expired by this time, and require replacement.
The black berkey filters are currently undergoing testing for chloramine removal. Also, the black berkeys are adept at removing disinfection byproducts of chlorine, but until these other chloramine dbp’s have been tested for, no claims can be made.
For the ceramic water filter / PF-4 combination, we are not aware of outstanding tests that British Berkefeld is conducting for these chemicals mentioned above, so we cannot make a statement as to their efficacy in this regard.
I have a Berkey filter system with the black cartridges. After using for a while, we put it into storage. Today, upon examination of the unit, I found small amounts of black stuff, probably mold, growing on an instruction sheet I had left in the upper chamber, and the metal surface felt damp. The cartridges appear to have some whitish splotches on them, although this could be mineral deposits. My worry is that this is mold also. How should I go about cleaning them, or should they be replaced?
Thanks,
Dean
Hi Dean - Please use a scotch brite pad and fully scrub the filters under luke warm running water. Upon completion, you may install them into your system. We then recommend performing a red food coloring test on the filters to ensure they are still working to design specifications.
You show some very useful comparisons with other water purifiers/filters items on the market but there seems to be lacking one of the most popular, namely the reverse osmosis system. Is there a reason you have not included this item in the comparisons? Can you include this? I know of some differences as far of costs and maintenance, and taking out good minerals, but I would like a comparison of the bad things each takes out. Thank you!
Hi Lawrence -
Thanks for the suggestion. This is on our “to do” list and we hope to have this available soon.
Thanks
Dan
Hi Barbara -
Please refer to the black berkey filters page for details on what the filters remove. At the bottom of the page you will also find testing results for the black berkey filters from NSF/EPA certified testing facilities. Please refer to those links for more details. As for “removed to non-detectable levels”, 99.99% would be regarded as detectable since they are detecting .01%. As would be 90% (10 detectable) and 95% (5% detectable). Even at the 99.99999% purification level, there is still levels of detection. Non-detectable levels represents the fact that no residual was detected by the instruments used. Below detectable levels represents the fact that residuals could not be detected above the sensitivities of the testing instruments used.
A side by side comparison of both the black berkey elements and ceramic filters can be found in our comparison of berkey water filter vs top consumer filter brands linked from the home page. Hope this helps.
Thanks
Dan