Often used as a selling point by some manufacturers, what is the NSF standard and what is its purpose? And do Berkey® filters comply with the standards of this norm?
Définition
This is a standard that guarantees that the product that is subject to it meets certain safety and public health standards.
More specifically, water filters must meet certain criteria:
• The filter system must be able to reduce certain contaminants, a list of which must be provided by the manufacturer,
• The filtration system has a consistent structure and does not add harmful substances to the filtered water,
• The advertising and documentation associated with the product contains only real and non-misleading information,
• The place of production is controlled by NSF and each model must be tested.
NSF/ANSI 42 & 53 Standards
These are the standards that apply specifically to water filters that claim to be NSF. Here is a summary.
NSF/ANSI 42 Standard
• Organoleptic effects: filters must reduce contaminants that are not related to health: (chlorine, taste and odor, particulates) that may be present in public or private drinking water,
• This standard uses carbon filtration in particular,
• There are different classifications in this standard depending on the rate of removal of chlorine or particles. The best classification for chlorine claims a reduction of more than 75% (Class I). The best rating for particle reduction is 85% reduction of particles between 1 and 5 microns (Class I).
NSF/ANSI 53 Standard
• Concerns the reduction of health-related contaminants. These include Cryptosporidium, Giardia, lead, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether) that may be present in public or private drinking water,
• This standard uses carbon filtration,
• To meet this standard, the system must effectively reduce the lead content,
• The system must be able to reduce up to 99.95% of cysts such as Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Toxoplasma and Entamoeba,
• The standard certifies that the product effectively reduces VOCs such as: alachlor, atrazine, benzene, carbofuran, chlorobenzene, 2,4-D, odichlorobenzene, p-dichlorobenzene, lindane etc.
What about Berkey® filters?
The manufacturer Berkey® has chosen not to subscribe to this standard. This does not mean that the Black Berkey® filters used in Berkey® filtration systems do not comply with this standard. On the contrary, the tests carried out based on NSF42/53 standards show that the Black Berkey® elements largely exceed the standards of this standard.
Why this choice?
Berkey® systems are not just water filters designed to filter tap water, but effective purifiers for untreated water. Their deployment by NGOs or the military in emergency situations proves it...
- Regarding the 42 standard: The strictest class of NSF Standard 42 calls for a 75% reduction in chlorine. Black Berkey® filters score 99.9% on chloramines, 99.9% on free chlorine, 99.6% on chlorides and 99.9% on fluorides...
The same is true for particles. The strictest standard of this norm recommends a reduction of 85% of particles between 1 and 5 microns. Black Berkey® filters operate on a scale of 24 to 26 nanometers, which is equivalent to 0.024 microns…
- Regarding the 53 standard : Black Berkey® filters eliminate 99.9% of lead and perfectly meet and even exceed the NSF standard. Concerning Cryptosporidium, Black Berkey® filters have a score of 99.997%, 99.99% on Giardia, 99.8% on leptospirosis... Here again, the results speak for themselves. The same goes for VOCs: 99.9 % for alachlor, atrazine, benzene and its derivatives, liandane and dozens of others.
In addition, Black Berkey® filters are also effective against viruses, bacteria, pharmaceutical residues, petroleum products, dozens of pesticides, herbicides and heavy metals, alpha and gamma radiation and uranium.
Last but not least, it is important to remember that Black Berkey elements are not simple water filters but water purifiers. The NSF standard requires that "purifier" type elements filter twice their nominal capacity of contaminated water through the filter before any measurements are taken. In plain English, the NSF standard would require 45400 liters of water to be filtered to get test results, where the life of the Black Berkey® has been established at 22700 liters, which makes absolutely no sense.
This means that Berkey would have to advertise a half life for the Black Berkey® just to get NSF certification when they have the ability to purify twice as much.
This makes no sense and explains why there are no NSF-standard gravity water purifiers, and it makes the Berkey® gravity filter all the more unique in the purifier market.
Results of the tests carried out on Black Berkey® filter elements are therefore well above the NSF standard.
All of the tests published by Berkey® were carried out by accredited and independent laboratories and were performed according to standards 42 and 53.
To ask for the certification of this standard is therefore not only perfectly useless because it would be totally reductive regarding the true capacity of the systems equipped with Black Berkey® and would generate costs estimated at approximately 1 million dollars for all the pollutants that Berkey has tested.
It is for these reasons that Berkey® did not feel it was necessary to certify its systems to the NSF standard, not because they would not meet the expected results. Black Berkey® filters perform far better than other simple NSF-certified water filters, last much longer, and ultimately cost less per liter.
See the results of tests performed on Black Berkey® elements.
You can also find the different test results in our dedicated section.