Berkey vs Brita: which is actually certified — and what does a certified gallon cost?

Last reviewed July 2026.

Same job, same shelf — but the certifications underneath are not the same. Here is Berkey against Brita on the only two axes we score: what the certification actually covers, and what a certified gallon costs.

• Berkey: certified to NSF/ANSI 42 only — genuinely certified, but no certified lead claim.
• Brita: cheapest certified-for-lead filter is the OB06 at $0.167/certified gallon (WQA, NSF/ANSI 42, 53, 401).

Every model, side by side

Price per filter ÷ certified capacity in gallons. Certification data from the certifiers' public listings; the listing always wins.

How often you actually replace them

Only one side of this comparison has a certified capacity to quote. The Brita OB06 is listed at 120 gallons — at roughly half a gallon of drinking water per person per day, 8 months for one person and 2 months for a family of four. That number comes from what the certifier tested to, not from the box.

Berkey has no certified capacity in any accredited listing, so there is no equivalent figure to set beside it. Whatever replacement interval the brand recommends, no accredited body has tested that the claim still holds at the end of it. That is the practical difference: on one side the expiry point is certified, on the other it is asserted.

So which one

For a certified lead claim this one is not close: Brita. The OB06 holds NSF/ANSI 53 with WQA and works out at $0.167 per certified gallon. It is the only side of this comparison where a lead claim is both listed and priceable.

Berkey is genuinely certified, but to NSF/ANSI 42 — taste, odour and chlorine. That is a real listing for a real claim, and it is not a lead claim. No amount of 42 adds up to 53; they are tested against different contaminants. If lead is why you are filtering, 42-only is a miss however reputable the brand.

None of which makes Berkey a bad filter at what it is certified to do — it makes it the wrong filter to buy for lead. If lead is not your concern, the comparison above is the wrong one to be reading; start from the full ranking and pick on the claim you actually want.

The full stories: Is Berkey NSF certified? · Is Brita NSF certified? · what 42, 53 and 401 mean

We do not test filters — we index what accredited certifiers publish, with attribution, and make no health or treatment claims. A certification covers a specific model against a specific standard; it is not a general seal of quality. We are not affiliated with NSF International.