BerkeyBlack Berkey Filter Replacement Elements, 2-Pack

The Black Berkey element is the subject of the two loudest Reddit threads about this brand - the disputed NSF-53 claim, where the criticism is that the lab ran roughly two litres through an element rather than the throughput the standard calls for, and the aluminum-leaching accusations. Since the stop-sale order the volume has shifted to owners asking which replacement brand to buy now that Berkey is sold out.

Written coverage is genuinely split. Water Filter Guru's Tap Score testing on city water showed complete reduction of lead, chlorine, copper, barium, manganese and the PFAS compounds tested; TechGearLab measured 88.3% chlorine, 79.4% iron and 30.4% sulfate and placed Berkey mid-field. Reference sites now file the brand as lab-tested but uncertified and under an active EPA stop-sale order, and much of the current coverage is framed as Berkey alternatives.

BOS Water's 2024 gravity comparison tested a Big Berkey running Black Berkey elements and made it the best overall pick of seven systems. Its May 2026 rerun could not retest the element at all because of the stop-sale order and substituted Phoenix, so no current independent bench test of the Black Berkey exists. Water Filter Guru's aluminum finding was attributed to the PF-2 add-on rather than to this element. BOS Water earns affiliate commission on the systems it links to.

Product, and the two pools disagree, which is itself the finding. The authorized dealer BigBerkeyWaterFilters.com shows 4.9 out of 5 from 213 reviews on genuine stock sold before the order. Walmart's marketplace listings for the same part number sit at 3.4 from 39 and 3.8 from 14, at 39 to 90 dollars against 166 at the dealer. Recorded as a disagreement rather than averaged: the low ratings most plausibly describe a different, unverifiable supply.