Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

We read all these spectacular reviews about this product, so purchased the Big Berkey with two Black Berkey filters for $250. It is a hansom system. We followed the instructions for setting it up to the letter. We measured the water from the tap and it read 324 on our electronic meter. The first cycle reading from the Big Berkey was 920, the second cycle the water read 674, the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth cycles the reading leveled out at 206. So it increased purity by only 1/3. We compared that to bottled distilled water which read 000, absolutely pure! We also compared it to our tap water filtered through the Britta filter system, which came in around 035, and the Zero water filter which, as its name implies, read 000; again, absolutely pure. Now the really bad news, the return. Understandably they won't take the Black Berkey filters back, who would want something that doesn't work? So that's $99, and they also deduct 15% for a restocking fee, so of the $250 purchase price, we get $128 back. So all the hype and advertising doesn't measure up. If it says it purifies water, it should do what it says, and the numbers just aren't there. I think another important note is that the Big Berkey cannot be sold in California, and as I learned from another negative review, it is because it doesn't measure up to their purity standards. Well, it doesn't measure up to ours either, so if I have to take a 50% loss, so be it. Learn from our mistake.