Membrane
Pre-Filtration
Automatic self-cleaning screen filtration ahead of RO and UF membranes, protecting membrane surfaces from fouling without interrupting feed flow.
Two Stages Ahead of the Membranes
Filtaworx automatic self-cleaning filters can take both pre-filtration stages ahead of a membrane train. The first sits behind the intake strainers, typically at 150–300 µm, holding back the coarse load before it reaches anything expensive. The second runs at 10 µm — downstream of media filtration where there is one, since that stage is only effectively 20–50 µm, or directly behind the first stage where there is not.
Backwash on either stage is triggered by differential pressure — typically a 0.5 bar rise, and nearer 1 bar on a 10 µm screen, because the trigger follows screen area and solids loading rather than a fixed number. It completes in under 20 seconds, uses less than 1% of throughput, and never interrupts feed flow.
The standard range screens from 800 µm down to 30 µm. For membrane duty we build stainless screens down to 10 µm, made to order rather than as a catalogue item and priced on application. Seawater intake is the hardest version of it — variable turbidity, marine growth, and no tolerance for a shutdown. Tell us where the filter sits in your train and what the feed does, and we will quote the screen for it.
Membrane Pre-Filtration Challenges
Membrane Fouling
Suspended solids foul UF and RO membrane surfaces, reducing flux over time.
Frequent CIP Cycles
Clean-in-place cycles increase chemical use and take the membrane train offline.
Manual Strainers Need Watching
Manual strainers ahead of membranes need regular operator attention to stay ahead of solids loading.
Availability Lost to Cleaning
Plant availability drops every time pre-filtration requires a shutdown to clean.
Variable Feed Water Quality
Changing inlet conditions make a fixed manual cleaning schedule unreliable.
Shortened Element Life
Undersized or worn pre-filtration passes fine solids that shorten membrane element life.
Cartridge Change-Outs by Hand
The fine stage ahead of the membranes is usually cartridges, replaced manually and hundreds of elements at a time. A single badly seated element lets feed bypass the filtration altogether.
Differential Pressure You Pay For
Cartridges accumulate solids and biological growth across a run. The pressure needed to push feed through them is pumping energy spent every hour they stay in service.
A Consumable and a Waste Stream
Spent elements are a recurring purchase and something to dispose of. Both scale with how much solids loading reaches them.
Filtaworx Membrane Pre-Filtration Benefits
First- and second-stage screen filtration for UF and RO plants, including raw seawater intake for desalination.
Feed Flow Never Stops
Continuous automatic backwash keeps the screen clean without interrupting feed flow to the membrane train.
Consistent Filtration Degree
A fixed screen aperture holds the solids loading reaching the membrane surface steady, instead of drifting as a manual element blinds.
Fewer CIP Cycles
Lower solids loading means fewer clean-in-place cycles, cutting chemical consumption and downtime.
Cleaning on Demand, Not on Schedule
Differential-pressure-triggered backwash responds to actual solids loading rather than a fixed calendar.
Longer Element Life
Reduces the risk of premature membrane fouling and the replacement cost that follows it.
Built for Continuous and Remote Duty
Suits continuous-duty membrane plants, including remote or minimally-staffed sites.
Fewer Change-Outs Downstream
Every gram held at 10 µm upstream is a gram the cartridge stage never sees, so elements run closer to their rated life instead of being pulled early.
A Screen Instead of a Consumable
At 10 µm a self-cleaning screen can take the duty a cartridge stage takes, cleaning itself on differential pressure rather than being pulled and replaced. Where that suits the plant the consumable disappears; where it does not, the screen runs upstream and takes the load off.
The Change-Out Interval Is a Diagnostic
Replacing cartridges more often than every one to three months points at a problem upstream of them rather than at the cartridges themselves. Upstream is where this stage sits.
Protect Your Membrane Train
Send us your feed water quality and flow requirements and our team will recommend first- and second-stage pre-filtration for your UF or RO plant. The configurator sizes one against your own numbers.