Pleated Cellulose Sediment Cartridge

Grit in the aerator. Sand in the toilet tank. A carbon or SMART cartridge that clogs long before its time. Dirt, rust and silt do more than cloud your water: they bury the expensive stages downstream. A sediment filter's job is to catch them first.

This 5-micron pleated sediment cartridge does that job with a large surface of pleated cellulose media wrapped around a polypropylene core. It is the first stage in Crystal Quest triple cartridge systems and the sediment pre-filter on whole house and whole house reverse osmosis systems, protecting the SMART, carbon and membrane stages that follow. Four sizes fit countertop, under-sink, whole house and Big Blue housings.

At a glance

• 5-micron rating: catches sand, silt, rust and other suspended particles
• Pleated for capacity: folding the media multiplies its surface area, so it holds more dirt before flow drops
• Protects what comes next: keeps sediment off SMART, carbon block and RO membrane stages
• Strong build: polypropylene core, vinyl plastisol end caps sealed to the media
• Four sizes with a typical life of 12 to 24 months

What you are looking at

The cartridge is built around deep, evenly spaced pleats. The pleated cellulose media wraps a rigid polypropylene core, polyethylene netting holds the pleats in place, and both ends are sealed in vinyl plastisol so water cannot bypass the media. As the cartridge works, the pleats darken with what they catch, a visible record of what stayed out of your system.

How a pleated sediment filter works

Mechanical filtration by size

Sediment filtration is straining. Water passes through the cellulose media and particles larger than its 5-micron rating are trapped. Nothing is added to the water and nothing chemical happens; the cartridge simply holds back what is too big to pass.

Why pleats beat a plain wrap

Folding the media into pleats packs far more filter surface into the same cartridge. More surface means water moves through the media more slowly at any given point, which keeps the pressure drop low and spreads the dirt over a larger area. The result is strong flow and a long run before the cartridge loads up.

Surface loading you can see

Pleated media catches most dirt on its outer face, where you can see it. That makes it easy to judge how hard your water is working the filter and to adjust your change schedule if your sediment load is heavy.

Why a pre-filter pays for itself

Carbon, SMART media and RO membranes are built to treat chemistry, not to strain mud. Every particle the sediment stage stops is one that cannot clog their pores or coat their surface, so a fresh sediment cartridge helps every downstream stage reach its full life.

What it reduces

Primary targets:

• Sediment: sand, silt, dirt and rust particles
• Other suspended particles down to 5 microns

Not designed to treat: anything dissolved. Chlorine, VOCs, dissolved metals such as iron and lead, nitrate, pesticides, fluoride and hardness pass through, as do bacteria and viruses. For those, the stages that follow it do the work: the SMART Filter Cartridge, the Coconut Based 5-Micron Carbon Block Filter Cartridge, specialty cartridges and reverse osmosis.

Why Crystal Quest

• The sediment stage our own systems specify. Crystal Quest's system manuals list this pleated cartridge as their standard sediment stage.
• Built to stay sealed. Vinyl plastisol end caps bond to the media so water cannot sneak around the pleats.
• Over 1,000,000 people served since 1994. Crystal Quest builds under ISO 9001 quality management and has made water filtration in the USA for over 30 years.
• Lifetime support. Call, email or chat with our water filtration team whenever you have a question.

Where it fits

• Triple cartridge systems: first stage, ahead of SMART Plus and the carbon block
• Whole house RO pre-filtration: first housing, ahead of SMART Plus
• Whole house cartridge systems: the sediment pre-filter
• Sizes by system: 2-7/8" x 9-3/4" (CQE-RC-04001) for countertop and under-sink systems; 2-7/8" x 20" (CQE-RC-04015) for whole house cartridge housings; 4-5/8" x 9-3/4" (CQE-RC-04033) and 4-5/8" x 20" (CQE-RC-04034) for larger compact, whole house and whole house RO housings

Choosing the right sediment filter

A sediment filter is the cheapest part of a water system and the one that protects all the expensive parts. Choosing one comes down to two things: the size your housing takes and how fine it filters.

What size sediment filter do I need?

Read the size on your current cartridge or measure it: width across, then length. Housings are named by nominal sizes, 2.5 x 10 and 2.5 x 20 inches for slim housings, 4.5 x 10 and 4.5 x 20 inches for Big Blue housings, and the cartridges that fit them measure 2-7/8 or 4-5/8 inches across and 9-3/4 or 20 inches long. This cartridge comes in all four.

Because these are industry standard shells, they fit standard housings whoever made them, not only Crystal Quest systems. The Compatibility tab lists our systems and other brands' housings that take each size.

What micron filter is best for well water?

For most homes, 5 micron is the right all-round sediment stage: fine enough to stop the sand, silt and rust that cloud water and clog carbon, SMART and RO stages, and open enough to keep your flow strong. If your well carries a lot of sand, put a coarser stage in front of it so this one does not load up in weeks.

What does a 5 micron filter remove?

Particles you could see or feel: sand, silt, dirt, rust flakes and pipe scale, down to 5 microns, which is far finer than a human hair. It does not change anything dissolved in the water, so chlorine, hardness, metals and nitrate pass straight through to the stages that treat them.

Common questions