Big Berkey w/ 2 Black Berkey Filters

I searched for the best water purification technique available primarily because I was shocked at the state of our drinking water and I couldn't just go on blindly dumping chemicals into my body. My criterion was to remove all added chemicals from my drinking water including Fluoride and as an Engineer with a scientific background I needed scientific backing.

Note: The usage of Fluoride in our water systems is controversial, but Ninety-seven percent of western Europe has eliminated fluoride from drinking water. goggle "Fluorosis" and "fluoride side effects", read the article on "about dot com" on "fluoride removal". Read the article on "livestrong dot com" on "side effects of fluoride ingestion". I quote, "Fluoride ingestion has been associated with adverse health effects such as IQ deficits in children, depression, weight gain and heart disease. The "Journal of Applied Clinical Pediatrics" reports that "high fluoride intake has a damaging effect on intellectual ability," and human studies from China, India, Iran and Mexico found that elevated levels of fluoride in children resulted in reduced performance and impaired development of intelligence. The U.S. National Research Council has also found that fluoride affects normal endocrine function, which may contribute to hypothyroidism, or reduced activity of the thyroid gland. Hypothyroidism can lead to fatigue, depression, weight gain, hair loss, muscle pains and heart disease.

I started off with on a friends recommendation the Nikken Pi-Mag which i soon rejected because they independent lab results were not available, fluorine was not removed from the water and I could not trust a MLM companies claims' that were not scientifically verifiable.

I looked at Aquasana and Multipure's product line but I became obvious that the life expectancy was about a year and I would deal with leaks, and defective housing. The reviews for the New Wave were 10Stage Filter were promising on amazon and I bought it right away, but soon grew suspicious of their claims as there were no results posted on their website either. I called New Wave customer service which I must add was great and friendly and asked for the independent lab results, which they emailed. After analyzing the results I was disappointed to see that a company that makes water filters provided results from a lab called, Truesdale lab but back in 1995 (15yrs ago!). Surely they can get this tested recently since both regulations and water quality have changed since then and made this readily available to their customers via their website. Anyway the results they provided showed that it was tested for Cyst Removal (based on the 1988 NSF standard), Lead, Choloform and Lindane removal. Fluorine was not removed which for me was not good enough.

I returned the New Wave Environ and finally found the Berkey filter system which has an additinal fluoride filter as well. Although more expensive (about 250 inclusive of a set of flouride filters), the Berkey filters would be cheaper in the long run as they last between 3,400 gallons to 19,500 gallons depending on water quality, unlike the New Wave Filter's 1500 gallons. Furthermore I liked openness and readily accessible lab results by independent labs such as the University of Arizona, LSU and Spectrum labs (google Berkey lab results). Furthermore they are used by emergency organizations like the Redcross and Unicef.

I must add that there is no perfect system, the fluoride filters usually use an activated alumina filter media and Aluminia has been associated with Alzheimers. I was concerned about any aluminum dust residue left in the water and a little more research revealed the residue to me negligible.

Here is a comparison:

Water boiled in an Aluminium pan for 5mins had: 2.791 ppm aluminum

Colgate toothpaste: 52.878 ppm aluminum.

The Berkey flouride filter after 10 cycles had .037 ppm aluminum and after 20 Cycles: .029 ppm aluminum which in my opinion was negligible and safe.

I hope this helps you and saves you time!

*****update 6 months into using it a filter cartilage just broke! i emailed the company for a replacement and am waiting to hear back! if you can get a RO machine. Dropping the product from 4stars to 3stars.

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