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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 bacteria to a 99.99999% level and viruses to a 99.9999% level. Also, the black berkeys filter out Chlorine to undetectable levels, while the ceramics will only remove > 90% of Chlorine.
The Black Berkeys will last longer than the Ceramics, but are basically the same in terms 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 our 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
It has been mentioned that the ceramic filters last 3,000 gallons each before needing to be replaced. It has also been stated that if the source water is more contaminated, then the the filters will be used up / saturated sooner. It would be nearly impossible to keep track of how many thousand gallons have been filtered. If they were used in an emergency situation and lake water was used, it would obviously decrease the life of the ceramic filter.
Given the varying quality of the source water and not being able to keep track of volume filtered, how do you know when it is time to replace the filters?
If the lifespan of the filter has been unknowingly been reached and they are still used, is there a risk of drinking contaminated water? Thank you.
Hi Julie -
Berkey water filters are a small grass roots family owned company that’s been in business for over 25 years here in the US and more in England. They have a very small advertising budget and all primary advertising that is done is by their small dealers and they do not associate, nor sell to big box stores and the like. Being a large competitor in this market is not an objective of theirs.
The only thing that differentiates one filter from another is the type and quality of filter media that is used. All claims by berkey water filters are based off of testing that has been done and this is typically the case with other filters on the market also. The berkeys were originally designed for outdoor use and filtering dirty water and as with all filters, you technically never know if they are filtering as designed unless you perform some type of post-filtration testing. With the black berkeys, you can perform a red food coloring test at any time to make sure they are still filtering as designed, and this can be done in the outdoors, on the go, if needed.
We always recommend to customers that if they are filtering water that they know is highly contaminated with bacteria, and they are concerned about it being filtered out, they can pre-treat the water with a chlorine or bleach solution to kill the bacteria. They then would run it through the berkey afterwards and let the berkey remove any remaining bacteria, disinfection products used, and any other contaminants in that water. This is not required for filtering water with the berkey, but is suggested for customers who want to be extra cautious and add another layer of defense.
Thanks
Dan
Hi G -
The black berkeys last 6000 gallons per set of 2 and the 9″ ceramic filters last 1200 per set of 2. A good way to keep track of where you’re at is to approximate how many times you fill the system with source water per day and multiply that by the gallon sized system you have and the amount of days/weeks/years you’ve been using it.
If filtering highly contaminated water for a long period of time, yes they will saturate quicker. In this scenario, ideally you would to choose a running water source like a stream or river so that concentrations of contaminants are lower. Typically chemical contaminants are what will exhaust a filter the quickest, not bacteria, so this would usually exhaust first. A change in taste and smell of the filtering water would be the first tip-off that they have reached saturation. Having red food coloring available so that you can perform performance tests every so often would be recommended if you plan on filtering this water primarily for a long period of time. Also, as just mentioned in another reply, having a disinfection product to pre-treat the water as a 2nd layer of defense would also be recommended as part of your preparations. And finally, a back-up set of filters would also be highly recommend.
Thanks
Dan