Berkey Water Filter Test Results

I am one of those people that love Berkey water filters and would give it a high scoring review. I feel good knowing it’s filtering out contaminants and the water tastes excellent. However, one thing I have never done was actually test the water after it has been filtered. I thought it would be eye opening to test city tap water and well water to compare it to the berkey filtered water. Read below to see my Berkey water filter test results. 

Why I Purchased a Berkey Water Filter

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About 5 years ago I wanted a water filter since I was renting an old house and was concerned about contaminants like lead from pipes getting into my water. I ended up purchasing the Berkey water filter after hours and hours of research. The Berkey uses granular activated carbon, and here are the main reasons I purchased: 

• Removes 200 contaminants which is a higher number than less expensive pitcher options 
• Filters last for 6,000 gallons so I won’t need to replace them for 5 years based on my water usage
• High scoring reviews and people love these filters 

Now let’s get into the Berkey water filter test results.

Berkey Water Filter Test Results

There are so many water quality tests out there and it can range from free to $400. I’ll be keeping it on the budget friendly side and purchased the Varify Complete Water Test Kit. 

The test covers some of the most commonly found primary and secondary contaminants which can be toxic and affect color, taste, and odor. It tests for the following 16 parameters :

• Lead
• Fluoride
• Iron
• Copper
• Free Chlorine
• Total Chlorine
• Nitrite
• Nitrate
• pH
• Hardness
• Total Alkalinity
• Hydrogen Sulfide
• Sulfate
• Zinc
• Sodium Chloride
• Manganese 

Berkey Water Filter Test Results vs City Tap Water 

I discovered that my city tap water does a pretty decent job keeping contaminants at a safe level. With the city tap water, most of the contaminants were at zero to begin with, woot woot! 

Not including fluoride (since I’m not using the fluoride removal filter), there were two contaminants that were above zero when I tested city tap water: 

• Chlorine
• Nitrate

I then filtered the city tap water with my Berkey filter and the test showed that it did remove the chlorine. Berkey filters do not remove nitrates which is known. If you want to remove nitrates you would need reverse osmosis. 

City Tap Water Results:

I will also be posting my results for well water and will update the post once I have this information.

What does the Berkey filter NOT remove?

I think it’s important to note that Berkey filters do not remove nitrates. They do remove nitrites. This was confusing to me at first, and originally thought they removed nitrates. They actually sent out an email about it recently so others may be confused as well. You can remove nitrates if you get a reverse osmosis filter. You can read more about what Berkey has to say about nitrates vs nitrites here. 

What does the Berkey filter remove?

The test I took only looked at 16 different parameters. Berkey filter actually removes 200 contaminants so my test is just a very small sample of the contaminants Berkey water filters remove. 

Berkey partnered with the Environmental Working Group to create an easy way to look up the water quality in the city you live. Just enter your zip code here. After you enter your zip code, it will note the contaminants in your area that exceed EWG drinking water guidelines. It will also note which contaminants the Berkey water filter would remove. 

Final Thoughts

I highly recommend getting a water filter. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) in the United States sets standards for drinking water quality, however according to the EPA’s water filtration guide, you can still expect a small amount of contaminants. For this reason it’s good to take precautions to reduce your long-term exposure to contaminants. Also, filters make your water taste great!

I went ahead and tested my city tap water compared to my filtered Berkey water and the Berkey removed the chlorine. I’m lucky that my city tap water tested zero for many of the contaminants, but there was only 16 parameters to test with the water quality kit I purchased. Berkey water filter removes 200 different contaminants so this test was a very small sample size. Let me know if you have ever done any testing with your water filter, would love to hear your results too.

Cheers to staying healthy and hydrated!

Brekke Jo