Berkey RB4X4-BB Royal Stainless Steel Water Filtration System

Bought this about 3 months ago and was happy with the convenience of use. Out of the box the stainless steel containers had 3 minor dents no big deal. Then a month ago, I noticed one of the four elements was defective as water was flowing out of it like a faucet while the other 3 were dripping along. Got a replacement element (actually they sent me two I guess they knew I would have problems with at least one more since they come in pairs). I was told that there was a defective batch in which the glue was coming undone. Glue? Hmmm. Well, a month ago, I notice sediment (I get my water from a creek) in the 'filtered' water. I did the red food dye test and one of the elements clearly failed. Then I notice that in two others, the plastic base was coming unglued from the element. There was very sloppy glue work where the plastic was peeling off. And finally, I noticed that the threads on the plastic bolt and nut strips very easily. On initial installation of the elements, the threads hold nicely as you hand-tighten the nuts. But later when you unscrew them for a cleaning, and try to re-install them the plastic nuts just strip with moderate torque. On the first element, I thought it was my fault for over-torquing it. But this happened to all the elements. I work on carbon bike components so I know a thing or two about not over-torquing. This should not even be an issue especially when Berkey emphasizes re-tightening the nuts when running the red food dye test. In fact, they recommend doing the dye test "upon first use then at six month intervals". First use? So much for quality control or quality confidence. Oh well, live and learn. I'm hoping I can get a full refund after 3 months since I have lost all confidence in this filtration system. We shall see...

edit: The customer support at Berkeyfilters.com was very supportive and understanding. The defective batch of filter elements have been isolated and removed from circulation. They are accepting my return for a full refund. If/when they fix the issue with the stripping threads, then I would reconsider their product.

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