History of Berkey water filters

  • 1815   

John Doulton founded his first pottery in Lambeth, England. The company produced ceramic busts, figurines, canning jars and tableware. Influenced by the progress of the Industrial Revolution, however, Doulton also worked to develop industrial applications for its ceramic technology.

  • 1827   

The first Doulton water filters using various earth and clay materials were introduced.

  • 1837   

Queen Victoria recognized the health dangers in her drinking water and commissioned John Doulton to produce a water filter for the Royal household. Doulton created a gravity fed stoneware filter that combined the technology of a ceramic filter with the artistry of a handcrafted pottery water container.

  • 1862   

John Doulton’s son, Henry, introduced the Doulton Manganous Carbon water filter, the same year that Louis Pasteur’s experiments on beverage contamination led to the idea that micro-organisms infecting animals and humans cause disease.  This more advanced understanding of bacteria led Doulton to direct research and development efforts to the creation of a porous ceramic capable of filtering out these tiny organisms.

  • 1901   

King Edward VII  knighted Henry Doulton and honored the company by authorizing it to use the word “Royal” in reference to its products.  Thereafter, all ceramic products manufactured by the company were called Royal Doulton.

  • 1906   

Doulton introduced a filter that proved to be equal to the one Louis Pasteur had developed in France. It was rapidly adopted by hospitals, laboratories and for use in domestic water filtration throughout the world. The range and efficiency of Doulton domestic water filters have been widely extended over the years to meet the demands of increasingly sophisticated uses.

  • 1972   

Doulton was taken over by Pearson & Son Ltd.

  • 1980   

Pearson group purchased Fairey Holdings

  • 1985   

The company changed its name to Fairey Industrial Ceramics Ltd. and acquired the rights to the trademarks Berkefeld (later changed to British Berkefeld). The Berkefeld line of water filters comprised of ceramic filters and gravity water filters.

  • 1998   

New Millenium Concepts Ltd (NMCL) entered into an agreement with Fairey to distribute British Berkefeld products in North America.

  • 1999   

NMCL trademarked the names BerkeyTM and Big BerkeyTM in the US.

  • 2003   

NMCL developed the Black BerkeyTM purification elements, a new generation of filters that are more powerful than any other gravity filter element currently available on the market. Black BerkeyTM elements have been tested with 10,000 times the amount of pathogens required for standard protocol and removed 100% of the pathogens (tested under an electron microscope), setting a new standard in water purification.  (See Berkey Lab Test Results)