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For years, Berkey Filters has been a trusted water filtration option for myself and for millions of families. However, recent circumstances have changed things. Is Berkey still an option? And if not, what alternatives are there for ensuring safe, clean drinking water in your home? Read on to find out.
My family has been living off-grid since 2017. We harvest rainwater from the roof and store it in a buried concrete cistern. This water is then pumped into the house, passing through a 2-stage particulate filter. It is then stored in a pressure tank where it can then flow to fixtures throughout the house.
The particulate filter is fine for getting out the fine dirt and debris, but at 20 microns they just aren’t up to filtering out the things that can make you sick, like bacteria and viruses from bird droppings and the like.
We knew that we needed something more robust to filter our drinking water but didn’t want the power usage or potential water waste of a reverse osmosis or UV light system. We needed something proven to remove the nasties without using power in the process.
Enter the Berkey Filter.
I did a ton of research on all kinds of home countertop gravity water filters. Initially, I didn’t want to spend the money because we had just finished building our home and were pretty well tapped out. But ultimately, I broke down and purchased a Big Berkey in the spring of 2018. You can read about our full experience in this post.
We’ve loved the experience of having a Berkey. The water tastes amazing and has been perfectly safe to drink. In fact, the one time my husband accidentally drank our sink water he ended up horribly sick for two days. Yikes.
With our Berkey, we’ve had reliable, clean water at a fraction of the price and waste of other filter or bottled water options. I loved it so much I started recommending them to friends and family, and then to readers of this blog. Things were going well!
And then, I started noticing a lot of Berkey items starting to be Out of Stock and staying that way. I contacted the Berkey distributor I’d purchased from to ask what was going on. They said they were having supply issues and were told they should be resolved in a matter of months. That didn’t end up being the case, unfortunately.
The EPA vs. Berkey
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Stop Sale order to James Enterprises, Inc. (JEI), the largest US distributor at that time of Berkey Water Filters by New Millenium Concepts, Ltd. (NMCL). A similar Stop Sale was issued to Berkey International LLC . This Stop Sale order related specifically to the nature of the black filter elements.
Water filters making certain public health claims, like the ability to filter out microorganisms, are regulated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Berkey products made specific microbiological claims, which was actually one of the reasons I became so interested in them in the first place given our cistern water.
According to the EPA, these claims meant that Berkey filters should be categorized as a pesticide and issued a Stop Sale until they could rectify the situation.
This was at the tail end of 2022, and since then the situation has not been rectified. In fact, NMCL filed an Application for Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction against the EPA in response. Berkey International LLC filed a very similar suit with the same law firm in the United States Federal Court District of Puerto Rico.
So what now?
Even if Berkey settles with the EPA and makes their filters totally compliant with what they are asking for, it has become abundantly clear to me that folks need to keep their options open.
I know that I personally have had a great experience with our Berkey filters for the past 5+ years, but they are not a panacea. I have always been a bit irked by their unwillingness to obtain NSF/ANSI certification, as well as their claim that selling in California and Iowa would be a cost-prohibitive red tape.
I’m not going to get into the nitty-gritty of what I believe is at play here, as there is a LOT of nuance and it is easy for the general public to make snap judgments about government oversight or corporate greed. I want to avoid black-and-white thinking here. Moreover, I don’t want to tell you exactly what you ought to think.
What I AM going to do is show you some alternatives to Berkey filters to consider for your home. After all, relying solely on one source for anything without some kind of backup leaves you unprepared.
Some of the links I use are affiliate links, but some are not. I always advocate for buying directly from the manufacturer whenever possible, and some of them don’t have affiliate programs. While it is nice to make a small commission from an affiliate purchase, it isn’t the end-all-be-all for me. I’d rather you have access to the best buying options and if I happen to make money, great. But if not, that’s okay too. My goal is to serve you.
So without further ado, let’s explore some of the best water filter alternatives!

Beyond Berkey: The Best Home Water Filter Options
For the purposes of this post, I’m going to be focusing on four main alternatives that are the most similar to Berkey. I will not be focusing on reverse osmosis systems, mechanical systems, UV systems, or filters that integrate with your plumbing. Are there more Berkey alternatives out there? Sure. But these are the four that, in my estimation, are the best and highest quality alternatives for folks who were drawn to Berkey filters in the first place.
BOROUX foundation. Water Filters
In the years leading up to the Berkey debacle, I had been an affiliate with BerkeyFilters.com (JEI). They are the folks I had originally purchased our unit from, and I had such a wonderful customer service experience that becoming an affiliate for them was a no-brainer.
Unfortunately, as one of the largest distributors of Berkey Filters in the US, they were the first to close their Berkey operations. But they were able to make an important pivot instead of simply closing for good.
Todd Emerson, who started James Enterprise Inc. (JEI) and who operated BerkeyFilters.com, decided to work with Boroux to create their own filter system.
Boroux had previously been known for their high-quality glass shatter-proof tumblers and stainless steel cups. We actually have four of their stainless cups that came as part of the bundle deal they had going when I first purchased our Berkey and they are still our FAVORITE cups.
Taking some lessons from their frustrations with NMCL, Boroux has poured a lot of effort into obtaining the proper testing and certifications. They strive to stay as transparent as possible about their methods and processes, even if they turn off some potential customers along the way.
I recently had the opportunity to try out their new Legacy filter system and wrote a massive review on it. You can read all about it here.
The fact that they technically can’t say they filter out microorganisms leaves a bit of uncertainty for me too, since microorganism contaminants are a primary concern of mine with our cistern water. With their specs being so similar, I have a hard time believing they wouldn’t remove them. But I can’t yet speak to that experience and don’t want to make those claims.
That said, if I had a municipal water source and wanted a high-quality filter, I would buy this in a heartbeat.
BOROUX currently has two sizes of filter systems available: BOROUX Legacy and Legacy Compact. Their original Legacy filter has a capacity of 3 gallons, which is right between the Big Berkey (2.25 gallons) and Royal Berkey (3.25 gallons). Their newer Compact version is 1.5 gallons, which is the same size as the Travel Berkey, and sits just shy of 18-inches so it can fit nicely underneath standard cabinets.
Their black filter elements claim TWICE the rated number of gallons per filter and have specs VERY similar to Berkey. They can also fit into all sizes of Berkey as well as a number of other major gravity filters, including Alexapure Pro and the ProOne Big+ and Big II.
They are also NSF/ANSI/CAN 372: “Lead-Free: This indicates that a product complies with EPA’s lead-free requirements. The solders and fluxes must have a lead content less than 0.2%, and the wetted surfaces of pipes, pipe fittings, and plumbing fixtures must have a weighted average lead content of less than 0.25%.”
You can read more about their certification and testing process here.
Alexapure Pro
Alexapure is a very similar stainless steel gravity filter that is widely trusted in the prepper community. They have solid, reliable, independent testing data and are shown to be able to remove microbiological contaminants. They claim to be “Manufactured from NSF/ANSI standard 61 and California Prop 65 Compliant certified coconut shell carbon and raw materials” but don’t say outright that the entire filter is certified, if that is an important feature for you.
Alexapure only offers one size of filter comparable to the Big Berkey at 2.25 gallons, so if you’re looking for a larger capacity filter this one likely isn’t it.
The big thing that held me back from buying this particular filter the first time around is the fact that the filters only have a rated lifespan of about 200 gallons. And at $80-100+ that can start to get pretty pricey for our family of three, who might use that much in 2-3 months. That’s roughly $0.50 per gallon compared to $0.02-0.03 for a standard replacement set of Berkey black filters or $0.012 for the newer Boroux filters, which can process up to 12,000 gallons per pair.
To equal the capacity of two Berkey or Boroux filters that cost around $160 per pair, we’d go through roughly 30 Alexapure filters at an eye-popping total of $2,500-3,000. That sounds sort of crazy to me. (Alexapure owners, please chime in if this has not been the case for you!)
Still though, the Alexapure Pro is a solid choice for a stainless steel countertop gravity filter with a long track record of success in the homesteading and prepping community and is worth consideration.
ProOne Big+ and Traveler+
ProOne (rebranded from Propur in 2021) is another high-quality stainless steel gravity filter. Their white filters are tested by a certified independent lab to NSF/ANSI Standards 42, 53, P231, P401 and P473.
There are several upsides to this filter. First, they do not require any priming (which is great for those of us who don’t have trustworthy water to prime with). Second, they don’t need to be kept saturated when not in use, which is great for when you need to take extended trips away. Third, they remove fluoride on their own without the need for secondary fluoride filters, for folks who care about that.
As far as cost per gallon, these fare slightly better than Alexapure filters but still not as well as Boroux or Berkey. ProOne states to replace these every 6 months or 1000 gallons. At roughly $79 per filter, that works out to $0.079 per gallon.
- Buy directly from ProOne
- Buy ProOne Big+ 3 Gallon on Amazon
- Buy ProOne Traveler 1.5 Gallon on Amazon
If You Already Have a Berkey and Need Replacement Filters
If you’re like us and you already have a Berkey of your own but need viable replacement filters, you have several options.
One, you can actually still order Berkey filters through Conscious Water, which is based in Canada. They are able to ship to the US, so if you’re dead set on only using Berkey black filter elements, this is definitely something to consider. Keep in mind, prices are listed in Canadian dollars and will be different in USD.
Boroux and ProOne filters listed above both fit into the top chamber of most Berkey filters. Double-check your specific model before you order though, as ProOne offers both 7-inch and 9-inch filters.
Some Berkey suppliers now carry the white super sterasyl filters typically associated with British Berkefeld/Doulton. One pair, typically priced around $80, can filter around 1,000 gallons. This works out to $0.08 per gallon, which isn’t too terrible. The super sterasyl filters have a very long track record of success and are NSF/ANSI Standard 42, 53, and 372 tested and approved.
A Note About Purchasing Filters on Amazon
First, I caution anyone from buying cheap replacement filters on Amazon. Berkey already had issues with purported knock-offs on Amazon before the troubles with the EPA. That problem has ballooned since then.
Whether Berkey’s claims themselves are 100% trustworthy or not, these knock-offs have their own issues. I looked through many different inexpensive Berkey replacement filters on Amazon. Most of them claimed to have some kind of NSF/ANSI certification, which on the surface sounds fine but can sometimes be hard to verify.
Your best bet is to plug in the name of the filter in question at the NSF website to see what pops up.
When I started digging through the reviews, most of them discussed how they would do things like pass the “red dye test” at their initial installation only to fail a month or two later. Or about the weakness of the plastic stems that fit through the holes between chambers and how they would crack and fail within a few months.
The saying in our house is, “the most expensive tool is a cheap tool,” and that certainly seems to be true in this case.
Beyond that, having filters that fail that quickly can be dangerous if you’re on a water source where microbes can be an issue, like we are. Skip the cheap alternatives and get something from a company you can trace and that has real testing data.
If you’re purchasing from Amazon, do your best to make sure the store you’re shopping WITHIN Amazon is an official dealer and not a no-name reseller.
For example, buy ProOne filters from the ProOne Amazon store. Buy Doulton/British Berkefeld filters from the Doulton Amazon store. This is generally a good practice no matter what you’re buying on Amazon.
If you find a filter that looks like it might do the job and the price is right, try searching for the name of the brand in a separate search tab. Does that company have a website? Is there verifiable safety and testing data? If not, you might want to pass.
Clean water moving forward…
I wish I could see into the future and know how things were going to pan out with Berkey and the EPA. The legal system is slow and arduous, and even if things get sorted out, it feels like Berkey will have an uphill battle to reclaim trust in the eyes of many.
I’m not entirely sure what option our family will choose the next time we need to replace our Berkey, but in researching for this post I was pleased to actually find several suitable options.
If nothing else, my hope is that Berkey’s current troubles prompt more companies to innovate and find high-quality, affordable water filtration solutions that folks of all stripes can access. Whether you live in the country with cistern water, like us, or you live in a city with lead contamination, clean water is something we should all have access to.
Source Materials
If you would like to check out the source material I used in researching this post, see the references below:
- Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act
- “Update on ‘Berkey’ NMCL Court Case vs. EPA”
- NMCL vs. EPA Filing in North Texas United States District Court
- EPA Stop Sale Order to James Enterprises, Inc. formerly of BerkeyFilters.com
- EPA Stop Sale Order to Berkey International LLC
- “The Beginning of Boroux” – what happened with BerkeyFilters.com
- Understanding Industry Regulations, a FIFRA Overview from Boroux
Keep learning with us:
Berkey filters are just one aspect of our off-grid life you may be interested in. Check out these other posts from the blog and learn more!
- Our original Berkey filter review
- Saving Tons of Water at Home (with a cistern, well, or to save $$$ on your city water bill)
- Is harvesting rainwater illegal??
- Off-Grid Rainwater Harvesting: Our System Setup
Learn more about our original cordwood homestead project here. And be sure to join us on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram for more homesteading goodies that don’t necessarily make it to the blog. Thanks for reading!

What about Epicwater filters and jugs. They claim to filter out viruses, cysts, giardia,etc. 99.9% filtration. Company out of Colorado. If you research them, please let me know what you find. The nano filter for off-grid, where you can use lake or stream water plus Amazon sells their products.
I’ll definitely take a closer look at them! For the moment, I was mostly focused on the stainless steel countertop options. I see that Epic Water pitchers are made of BPA-free plastic, which could be a downside for folks looking to avoid plastic in general but a great option for those who would prefer the ease of use and space-saving nature of a pitcher or a dispenser that can fit easily inside most refrigerators. At some point I’ll try to do a post that includes these sorts of options as well. Thanks for pointing them out to me!
Radiant Life Catalog sells a stainless gravity filter – I think their store is pretty solid on offering good water filtration products but wondering if you happened to have looked at theirs and how it compares to these that you reviewed especially as relates to rainwater use.
I had no idea! They didn’t even pop up in my searches, which seems a shame because it looks like a solid option. It appears that their filters are also similar to (or may be the same thing as) the super sterasyl filters. They say to replace them annually but don’t give a gallon amount, so it’s hard to compare mathematically but honestly that’s not a big problem. I appreciate that they are made in the US, at any rate. When I go to amend the post I’ll be sure to include them in it.
Thanks for your feedback!
May I ask, when you built and set up your system did you have to get a certificate of occupancy that was also contingent upon water testing to prove you had fully potable water? Where we’re at in TN they will require water testing results on a rainwater system – wondering if you navigated the same and whether you just submitted test results from your Berkey since your whole house filtration is not as robust. Like you, with rainwater setup and filtration we’re considering viable options to reduce solar load.
No, we did not have a water contingency on our certificate of occupancy. Of all the myriad requirements our county inspections subjected us to, potable water was actually not one of them. At least one working sink and toilet? Yes. Drinking water? Surprisingly not. I’m still on the hunt for a suitable whole-house solution that isn’t wasteful or power-hungry for situations like ours though. I mean, solutions exist but most are not super practical for a lot of off-grid folks.
Interesting! At least the lack of water testing worked in your favor!
I have lived with a cistern since 1989 in our present home. Two things stand out. One, you need to bleach your cistern. the bleach kills bacteria in the cistern and will disapate within 3 days. You also need to clean you cistern. We do occasionally put bleach in our cistern. Here is a link to how to figure out how much bleach to use: https://nkyhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/cisternmainttips.pdf
I also have a Berkey and love it. thanks for the blog post
We actually do both of those things pretty regularly, I’ve just never written about it specifically. That’s a really solid PDF though and folks should check it out. Thanks for sharing it!