Berkey Phoenix Filter FAQ

Phoenix elements are made by New Millennium Concepts, Ltd. — the same company behind the Berkey systems — as the officially endorsed replacement for Black Berkey® Elements. Black Berkey elements cannot currently be sold individually because of an Environmental Protection Agency regulatory matter. The filtration approach is very similar: activated carbon media held in a sintered block that water must travel through along a tortuous path. Priming, seating, cleaning and capacity are close enough that the two are directly interchangeable in any Berkey stainless system.

The media is built on CTC 60 coconut shell carbon, activated at high temperature in a controlled environment to open up millions of micropores. That carbon is then molded and sintered under compression and heat into a dense but porous structure. Water passes through the block along a long, twisted path, which traps silt, sediment, rust, colloids and some particulate metals physically, while the carbon adsorbs organic compounds such as chlorine, VOCs, pesticides, herbicides, pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals and PFAS. Gravity does the work, so contact time is long, which is part of why the taste result is noticeably clean.

The base is a glass-filled polymer that is BPA-free and compliant for food contact, rather than the nylon housing used on Black Berkey elements. Each element measures roughly 9½ inches by 2½ inches including the stem.

Priming is required — an unprimed element will flow slowly or not at all. Replacement elements ship with a PrimeEasy universal primer; complete systems ship with the Prime Rite kit, and either works. Press the element stem firmly into the primer to seat it, then open the cold tap slowly. Once beads of water appear on the outside of the element, keep the water running for about a minute until it runs clear and the element looks fully saturated. Repeat for each element, install them in the upper chamber, and discard the first one to two batches of filtered water before drinking.

When flow slows or you see scale and debris on the outside, take the elements out, scrub the surface gently with a stiff brush or a non-scratch pad under cold running water, re-prime, and put them back. Never use soap or cleaners — the carbon will take them up. Follow the scrub with a red food coloring test to confirm everything is seated correctly.

Take out any PF-2 elements first, then add up to 1/8 teaspoon (about ten drops) of red food coloring per gallon of upper-chamber capacity and let the system filter. Clear water in the lower chamber means the elements are sealed and seated properly. If pink or red comes through, re-seat the elements, hand-tighten the wing nuts, and test again. Remember what the test is: a seal check, not a measure of filter life. We keep a step-by-step red dye test walkthrough on the site.

Unused elements theoretically have an indefinite shelf life. For elements that have already been used, shake out the excess water, air-dry them somewhere sunny for one to three days until they are completely dry, then seal them in a gallon bag so the carbon does not pick up odors. Before reinstalling, scrub the outside under cold water and re-prime.

All Berkey stainless steel gravity systems: Big Berkey, Travel Berkey, Royal Berkey, Imperial Berkey and Crown Berkey. The mounting holes and wing-nut hardware are the same as Black Berkey elements, and they work with Berkey PF-2 fluoride and arsenic elements, which attach to the bottom of each stem.

We strongly advise against it. The elements are designed to reduce heavy metals, but they cannot remove the mineral salts a softener adds, and those salts clog the pores early and cut effectiveness. If your only supply is softened, draw from a bypass tap or an unsoftened line instead, and check with us before committing to a setup.

No. Carbon-based gravity filtration does not change water hardness.

Two standards, and it is worth being precise about what each covers. NSF/ANSI 42 covers chlorine, taste and odor reduction. NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 covers lead-free materials — meaning the product's own materials contain no more than the allowed lead content. Standard 372 is not a lead-reduction claim. Separately, results for PFAS, lead and heavy metals come from independent accredited laboratory reports rather than an NSF certification, and we publish those plainly on our Phoenix Berkey filter test results page.

Independent lab testing shows PFOA and PFOS reduced from a spiked challenge below the reporting limit through 1,500 liters of throughput. That is documented testing, not a certification, and in-use results depend on your water, flow rate and maintenance. We wrote a full plain-language breakdown of what the PFAS lab data does and does not show, and a guide to the EPA's current PFAS strategy.

Lab tests show an initial fluoride reduction of up to 75.5%, but carbon-based media lose that ability fairly quickly with use. For consistent fluoride reduction you need the PF-2 elements added to each stem, which are rated for up to 1,000 gallons and are available in our replacement filters collection.

Yes — chlorine and taste and odor are the certified claims under NSF/ANSI 42, and the broader lab work reflects the manufacturer's documentation covering more than 200 common contaminants in municipal supplies.

By design. These elements deliberately leave healthy minerals such as calcium and magnesium in the water, so a TDS meter — which counts dissolved solids broadly — will read about the same. An unchanged TDS number is not a sign of a failed filter; a TDS meter cannot tell healthy minerals from contaminants.

Up to 4.2 gallons per hour per pair, measured with the upper chamber full; flow tapers as the level drops, and bigger systems flow faster with additional pairs installed. If flow drops unexpectedly, check that the elements were fully primed, rescrub and re-prime under cold water, confirm the wing nuts are snug and the stems seated, and run a red dye test to rule out an internal leak. Very turbid source water may need more frequent cleaning.

Plan on 2,750 gallons per element, or 5,500 gallons per pair, with replacement sooner if your source water is heavy on sediment or minerals. Element sets are on our replacement filters page.

No — the manufacturer states the elements contain none of these, with all components compliant with drinking water material standards.

Phoenix elements are produced by an international New Millennium Concepts partner in India that holds ISO 9001 for quality management and the WQA Gold Seal for water treatment products — certifications that require internal and external audits, annual surveillance and periodic recertification. Production includes dedicated QC staff, multiple inspection points through packaging, raw-material testing, and in-house lab checks of carbon CTC values on every batch.

Per manufacturer policy, Berkey filter products are not currently sold to residents of California or Iowa, where state registration and labeling requirements have not been pursued for these gravity systems. If you are in either state, contact us and we will tell you honestly where things stand.

If you want to compare systems before buying, our 20 head-to-head comparisons cover Berkey against Brita, Waterdrop, Purewell, AquaRain, ProPur, Doulton, Katadyn and more — including where a gravity system is the wrong answer. If you already know you want Phoenix elements, they are available here, and the underlying lab documentation is public so you can check every claim on this page yourself.

Full disclosure: we run BerkeyHome.com, a Berkey dealer — take that bias as you will. Every specification on this page comes from the manufacturer's documentation or published lab reports, and we are happy to be checked against them.