A strainer is a filter used for retaining or removing contaminants from liquids. Common types of strainers include basket strainers, duplex strainers, self-cleaning strainers, and temporary strainers. Strainers are a great solution for water treatment applications. Read More…
Leading Manufacturers
Shelco Filters
Middletown, CT | 800-543-5843Liquid filters are just a part of our complete line of filters and cartridges. Shelco is dedicated to providing our customers with excellent quality customer service and high quality products. This is shown through our state-of-the-art research and development team working to increase performance while reducing costs. We take pride in the fact that Shelco filters are distributed and used all over the world in a wide range of high-purity applications.

TIGG Corporation
Coraopolis, PA | 800-925-0011TIGG Corporation specializes in using activated carbon as filtration media for air and water purification for environmental remediation, industrial processing and municipal water treatment. TIGG designs and manufactures activated carbon filtration equipment and systems with more than 60 standard modular activated carbon absorbers for vapor and liquid applications.

Clean Liquid Systems
Spring, TX | 713-253-0100Clean Liquid Systems is a leading manufacturer of air and liquid filters. Our number one priority is to create the best filters that match the needs of our customers. We strive to have a fast turnaround while not reducing the quality of our products. Filtration is the only thing we do and ensure that we make our products right. We provide our customers with hundreds of years of experience and great prices to keep them competitive.

Flow Ezy Filters, Inc.
Ann Arbor, MI | 800-237-1165We manufacture liquid filters for customers of all sizes! There is no job too small or too large for us to handle when it comes to liquid filters and we love a challenge! Since our inception, we have been dedicated to providing our customers with excellent quality customer service and high quality products sure to keep you coming back to us for all of your needs. For more information on what we are able to do for you visit our website today!

Filtros Ltd.
East Rochester, NY | 800-633-2143Our porous ceramic filters are high-performance liquid filters, gas filters and even chemical filters (when used with anything that doesn't attack glass). Diffuser filters for sewage treatment come in dome, disc, plate and tube shapes. Our filters can be molded or machined to the shape you need.


Strainer Names
Liquid filters go by a variety of interchangeable names. Strainers are another name for bag filters, which are common filter types. This is particularly true of bags with poor filtering characteristics. A filtering instrument with a relatively modest amount of filtration is called a "strainer." For instance, a reverse osmosis water filter would never be referred to as a strainer since it has a very high degree of filtration done on a small scale.
Strainers are used to filter out bigger particles from a flow. For example, Big-pored strainers are used to filter undesirable large particles from milk while leaving behind desired, smaller particles when manufacturing dairy products. Strainers are often composed of metal and fashioned into a mesh for heavy-duty purposes. For lighter-duty purposes, they may be fashioned out of cloth.
Types of Strainers
The different types of strainers include:
Basket Strainers
Most water treatment applications use basket strainers. These strainers are typically installed in horizontal pipeline configurations and located upstream of machinery, valves, and other heavy equipment. Basket strainers serve as an effective pre-filter, keeping the machinery down the line from debris and damage. This helps cut down costs, replacement expenses, and downtime in the future.

Basket strainers are the best solution where ultra-fine filtration is required, but high pressure needs to be maintained. These strainers are often made from stainless steel because stainless steel is durable and easy to clean. Because of their basket shape, a larger filter area is created, and they have a high capacity to hold contaminants.
Even though the removal and cleaning of basket strainers are easy, and double or multi-cylinder configurations are available to help cut down on regular processing downtime. Selecting a mesh size will depend on the size of contaminants that must be removed. This makes basket strainers an effective and customizable filtration tool in all water treatment applications.
Duplex Strainers
Duplex strainers provide the same level of filtration as single strainers. However, they do not require a system to be shut down regularly for cleaning. The configuration of the double strainer allows workers to simply swap out strainers when one is full. The switch can be made while the system is functioning. Water pressure is only minimally affected when the changeover is being done.

Self-cleaning Strainers
Self-cleaning strainers provide continuous flow and little pressure change through a motorized filtration device. The water flows upwards towards the filter, which blocks suspended particles from passing through. These particles are pushed downwards to be collected.
When the pressure drops to a set point, contaminants are automatically eliminated through the flush valve. Shutting down the system is unnecessary because a backward system is used to continually clean the filter and remove debris. Self-cleaning strainers effectively filter water at every contamination level, from freshwater to brackish water to salt water. Self-cleaning strainers also provide a high level of filtration for high-viscosity liquids. These types of strainers can be used as both pre-filters and secondary filters in water treatment applications.
Temporary Strainers
Temporary strainers are installed to coarse debris and unwanted contaminants for a set amount of time. Once there is no longer any debris available in the system, the temporary strainer can be removed. A spacer washer is installed in its place. Temporary strainers use either flat disks or cone-shaped baskets for removing contaminants and are available in various mesh sizes. The cone-shaped strainers have a large filtration area. However, temporary strainers with a flat disk design are an effective choice when one can’t install baskets.
Applications of Strainers
- They are used for keeping contaminants out of equipment and machinery.
- Strainers are used in swimming pool pumps. For example, the basket strainer keeps the swimming pool clear of leaves, insects, and other debris on the bottom or surface of the pool.
- These strainers can remove larger particles like organic matter, sand, rocks, and chemical clots from a pipeline.
- In petrochemical operations, strainers are used because they can strain the undesired solid particles from fuel lines and transport pipelines.
- Strainers are also used in paint manufacturing.
Benefits of Strainers
- They are highly effective filters.
- Basket strainers have a high holding capacity with no change in pressure.
- The stainless steel design makes strainers easy to clean.
- Duplex strainers can be rotated out easily, without the need to shut down the system completely.