British Berkefeld Gravity Filters

Canada is a big country with thousands of different localized water conditions. Your local tap water source will have unique issues. Your choice of water filter should match your local water conditions.

The Ultra Sterasyl ceramic replacement filter, made by British Berkefeld, is effective against a broad range of contaminants... more than occur in your water supply. It does not remove fluoride.

If fluoride is added to your water supply, see British Berkefeld Gravity System for Fluoride and the Ultra Fluoride ceramic replacement filter.

Tap water in Vancouver, BC is disinfected with chlorine. Fluoride is not added. British Berkefeld Gravity Filter Systems with Ultra Sterasyl replacement filters are an excellent choice for residents of Metro Vancouver. Find out more about tap water in Metro Vancouver here,and find more about the contaminants reduced by British Berkefeld's Ultra Sterasyl filters here.

Your water is most likely supplied by a community water district, or from a private well. Water districts are required to test and report the quality of water they are supplying. For instance, municipalities publish annual Water Quality Reports which you can find online. If you live within a rural water district, contact the district manager and ask for their most recent report.

If you get your water from a private well, get the well water tested by an accredited lab in your area.

The Ultra Sterasyl replacement gravity filter by British Berkefeld is NSF certified. It protects against chlorine, lead, heavy metals, chemicals, PFAS (PFOS & PFOA), pesticides, pharmaceuticals, microplastics, bacteria, and cysts.

The Ultra Fluoride replacement gravity filter by British Berkefeld protects against fluoride, chlorine, lead, heavy metals, chemicals, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, microplastics, and bacteria.

British Berkefeld systems with Ultra Sterasyl ceramic filters are NSF certified and are the superior product. Both brands have test results for hundreds of contaminants, but good test results should also indicate that protection is sustained for a reasonable number of gallons of use. Berkey test results lacked this important factor.

British Berkefeld's solution for fluoride reduction is an all-in-one ceramic filter that installs in the upper chamber of a gravity filter system.

Berkey's solution for fluoride reduction required purchasing a second set of specialty filters that hang in the finished water in the bottom chamber.

The public refers to 'removing' contaminants. Water filtration professionals refer to 'reducing' contaminants. Here is why.

Although >99.99% reduction may be accomplished when a filter is first put into use, this level of reduction will not be sustained throughout the entire service life of the filter. The gallonage point at which a filter fails to maintain protection at the Maximum Acceptable Concentration (MAC) for a particular contaminant is the point at which a filter cartridge should be replaced...or before this point is reached.

No. The Ultra Sterasyl and Ultra Fluoride ceramic filters do not require priming.

Yes. British Berkefeld has specialized in and perfected the use of ceramic filters for water purification for almost 200 years. Purification refers to the removal of micro-organisms.

If you open the spigot and lift the upper chamber off the lower chamber, does water flow out of the spigot? If so, it means your upper chamber sits so tightly into your lower chamber that an airlock has been created. An easy solution is to create a slight air gap between the upper and lower chambers by bending a paperclip or a twist tie over the upper lip of the lower chamber.

Check that your spigot washers are properly positioned, and that the spigot is sufficiently tightened to prevent leaks.

We recommend cleaning your housing once per month with warm soapy water. Use dilute vinegar on the stainless steel housing if any limescale build up needs to be removed.

Do NOT use warm water, vinegar, or soap to clean the ceramic replacement filters.

Yes, this is normal. This remaining water in the upper chamber will be pushed through the filters when the next batch of water is introduced.

The water below the spigot hole in the lower chamber will be mixed with the next load of water that filters through from the upper chamber.

In this way, all the water in your system keeps moving along and gets continually replaced by new, incoming water.

If the system will be unused for more than 3 days, remove the ceramic filters from the housing, drain as much water as possible out of the threaded end of the filters, lay the ceramic filters on a drying rack, or position in such a way as to provide clean air circulation to all sides of the cartridges while you are away. Empty the housing. Leave the upper and lower chambers inverted on a drying rack. When you return from vacation, re-install the ceramic filters and flush one entire batch of water through the system before resuming use.

Do not leave wet filters unused in a location where they might freeze…such as overwintering them in a summer cottage.