Berkey® vs. Brita

Brita has been marketing water filtration systems for many years. These devices have evolved over time, and the home filtration range now consists of jug filters and tap filters. In both cases, the level of filtration is quite similar. Let's take a closer look at what they are.

Volume of use

Berkey® has thought of every situation and markets systems suitable for everyone, whether you are a single person or a large family, in the city or in a remote area without access to tap water. From the smallest to the largest model, we find the Travel Berkey®, with a capacity of 5.6 litres, designed for one or two people, up to the Crown Berkey®, with a capacity of 22.7 litres, which, equipped with additional filters, can filter more than 2,000 litres per day!

Brita sells different sizes of carafes. Most have a capacity of 2.4 litres, and the largest has a capacity of 3.5 litres. There is also a "water dispenser" available today with a capacity of 8.2 litres, but it only holds 5.2 litres of filtered water.

Replacement cost of filter elements

Filtration performance is the most important quality of a water filter. This is a subject we will deal with next. But another important criterion is the price per litre filtered, in other words the life span of the filter elements and their cost. Because even though the Berkey® system has a higher initial cost than a carafe filter, the pair of Black Berkey® filters that come with our water purifiers have a capacity of 22,700 litres, which in the end comes to less than one euro cent per litre filtered.

The Brita cartridges that come with their carafes have a capacity of 100 litres and need to be replaced every 4 weeks. In the end, at the price of these filter cartridges, to match the capacity of a single pair of Black Berkey® filters (22,700 litres) supplied with each Berkey® system, you would have to spend 1362€.

Berkey vs Brita - Berkey® Store

The useful capacity of a filter element before replacement and its cost of acquisition are more important criteria than they appear. Indeed, if you think it is useful to filter your tap water with a carafe filter, it is because you think or know that it is polluted. And if this is the case, filtering your drinking water is fine, but it is not enough. This filtered water should also be used for your hot drinks (tea, coffee, herbal tea...) and for cooking your pasta, rice, vegetables... Because boiling water does not remove pollutants! As a result, for a family of 4 people, an average of 8 litres of filtered water are used per day. And with 100 litres of Brita cartridge capacity, that's 12.5 days of use. Would you change your filters at least twice a month? Have you calculated the cost of changing your filters twice a month?

Système Berkey - Berkey® Store

Filtration capacity

Berkey® is clearly transparent by publishing the results of analyses carried out by an independent laboratory. These analyses detail all the pollutants treated by the Black Berkey® filtration elements as well as their rate of elimination. Chemicals, heavy metals, pesticides, drug residues, bacteria, viruses, the list is long and documented. Black Berkey® filters are capable of removing 100% of pathogenic substances from ordinary drinking water. In addition, Berkey® systems are classified as water purifiers, effective against viruses and capable of making water safe to drink from any source*.

At Brita, the motto is "BRITA filter cartridges give you cleaner tap water". The details of the filtration only mention reducing the hardness of the tap water, helping to protect household appliances, reducing certain heavy metals (lead, copper), capturing chlorine and substances that can alter the taste by offering pleasant tasting filtered water. So even though it has been a popular brand for many years, Brita filters are ultimately only marginally effective in removing the increasing number of residual pollutants from tap water. Indeed, Brita filters are in no way comparable to the excellent performance of Black Berkey® filters.

Conclusion

As you can see, Berkey® filters come out on top in this comparison, being far more versatile, being able to accommodate all sizes of families and uses, being far more efficient in terms of filtration capacity, but also being cheaper in terms of price and maintenance costs, even if the initial purchase is more expensive.

Specific tests have been carried out on heavy metals and radioactive isotopes by an independent laboratory on different filtration systems. The Brita filter is part of these tests, you can see the results on this page. You will see that the results are very poor, and even bad on aluminium since the filters increase its content (see here a summary table).

You can find the right model for your needs by purchasing a Berkey® system with confidence from Berkey® Store. You'll be buying a high-performance, long-lasting system that provides clean, healthy drinking water for a long time.