Self-cleaning strainer
Self-Cleaning Strainer SystemsAutomatic basket strainers, single or duplex
A basket strainer that cleans itself on pressure drop — no lid, no bag, no stop.
Sized to your flow, particle size and line by K Factor application engineering
Automatic strainer
One strainer, one switch, two valves
An industrial basket strainer with an engineered backwash. The basket collects the solids. When the pressure drop across it reaches the set point, the panel closes the outlet, opens the backwash port and lets line pressure push the solids to drain. Seconds later it is filtering again.
Filtering phase
Filtering
Dirty water drops into the basket. Solids stay on the mesh; clean water leaves through it.
Switch trips
The differential pressure switch reads inlet minus outlet. At the set point it signals the panel.
Backwash phase
Backwash
Outlet valve closes, backwash valve opens. Line pressure pushes the solids down through the port to drain.
Back to service
The panel timer closes the port and reopens the outlet. No operator, no cartridge, no brush.
Two arrangements
Single or duplex strainer
Simplex basket strainer — pause and purge
A single basket. On backwash the outlet closes for a few seconds while the solids go to drain, then flow resumes. The simplest system, for lines that can take a short pause.
Basket strainer · DP switch · outlet valve · backwash valve · control panel
Duplex basket strainer — continuous flow
Two baskets. When one loads, the panel swaps the inlet to the idle basket and flushes the loaded one in reverse with pressurised flush water. Flow never stops.
Two baskets · two DP switches · four 3-way valves · flush booster pump · control panel
Applications
Where a self-cleaning strainer fits
Cooling tower side stream filter
Towers scrub the air: dust, pollen and rust end up in the basin water. A side-stream loop from the basin pump through the strainer and back keeps the circuit clean without touching the main line. Our first automated backwash strainer ran on a cooling tower.
Size one for your tower →Pump suction strainer
A pump drawing from a basin, pond or tank pulls in whatever floats or settles there. A self-cleaning suction strainer ahead of it protects the pump, and the backwash clears what the suction pulls in.
Nozzle and seal-water protection
Spray nozzles, atomisers and mechanical-seal flush lines plug on particles larger than their smallest opening. A strainer ahead of them, sized to that opening, keeps them running.
Pre-filtration ahead of fine filters
A coarse automated strainer in front of a backwash filter, cartridges or membranes takes the big solids out first and stretches the life of what follows.
How we design it
Four questions, one system
What to capture
Tell us the particle size you need to stop. That sets the mesh.
How much flow
Your flow rate sets the strainer size and the flange size.
Can flow pause?
A few seconds now and then — single strainer. Never — duplex.
We build it
A pipeline basket strainer with its valves, switch and panel, plumbed and wired. You connect inlet, outlet and drain.
Strainer or K-OptiFil? A strainer stops the coarse solids and backwashes them away. For fine filtration at high flow, the K-OptiFil automatic backwash filter is the next step. We tell you which one your process needs.
FAQ
How does a self-cleaning strainer work?
What is a self-cleaning strainer?
A self-cleaning basket strainer is a basket strainer that cleans itself. A pressure switch senses when the basket is loaded and a control panel backwashes the solids to drain through automated valves — no operator opens the lid.
Does the flow stop during backwash?
On a single strainer, for a few seconds. On a duplex strainer, no — the second basket takes the flow while the first is flushed.
What particle size can it capture?
The mesh is selected for the particle size you tell us to capture. Coarse screening and fine straining both fit; below the strainer range, a backwash filter takes over.
Is it a standard product?
No. Every system is designed to the application — the strainer, the valves and the panel are chosen for your flow, fluid and line. That is why we ask for your process first.
Contact
Send us your process
Flow, particle size and fluid. We size the strainer and come back with a proposal.