Sections 46 61 53 & 46 61 63 — Cartridge & Bag Filtration Equipment
Two adjacent, distinct MasterFormat sections under 46 61 00 (Filtration Equipment) — real Fil-Trek cartridge, bag, and housing model data, NSF/ANSI 61 certification callouts, and the specification mistakes that turn a working spec into a fouled downstream process.
Have a 46 61 53 or 46 61 63 spec section in hand? Send it and get a real model match, not a catalog guess.
Request a Spec Review →Two Distinct Sections Under One Filtration Equipment Family
Section 46 61 53 — Cartridge Filters covers replaceable-element filtration housings and media (spun, pleated, membrane, sintered-metal, and wire-mesh cartridges) used for particulate removal in process water and chemical service. Section 46 61 63 — Bag Filters covers replaceable-bag filtration housings and felt/depth/mesh bag media serving the same general function at different flow scales and change-out mechanics. Both sit inside 46 61 00 (Filtration Equipment) alongside pressure filters (46 61 21), gravity filters (46 61 23), and microfiltration/ultrafiltration membrane equipment (46 61 33) — the broader filtration family within Division 46. A project spec may name one, the other, or both, and the two technologies are frequently evaluated against each other during the equipment-selection stage before a section number is even finalized.
Provide This to Get a Real Match Against Either Section
| What to Provide | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Flow rate (peak, not average) | High Flow cartridge elements run up to 500 GPM per element; bag housings scale by P1/P2/P4 count and vessel size — the wrong basis (average instead of peak) is the single most common cause of undersized housing selection. |
| Required micron rating + nominal vs. absolute | Absolute-rated lines (e.g. Beta 5000 high-flow cartridges) guarantee removal efficiency at the stated micron size; nominal-rated media (typical of most bag filtration) is an approximation. Downstream RO/UF membrane protection specs should call out absolute rating explicitly. |
| Fluid chemistry + concentration | Determines wetted material: PTFE membrane (Fluoro Pure) and stainless wire-mesh/sintered-metal (Ecomesh, Poroshield) cartridges exist specifically for aggressive liquids polymer media can't hold up against. |
| Corrosive/marine service requirement | FRP (fiberglass-reinforced plastic) cartridge and multi-bag housings are a distinct non-metallic pressure-vessel class built for this — not every vendor offers it, and a spec silent on housing material can default to metal that won't hold up. |
| NSF/ANSI 61 potable-water contact requirement | Available on specific cartridge housing models and on NSF-61/FDA-compliant bag media (e.g. Mera Felt MF61) — not universal across every model in a line, so the spec needs to name the requirement explicitly. |
| Continuous-operation / zero-downtime requirement | Duplex (dual-vessel) bag housings with valve changeover allow a bag swap without interrupting flow — relevant to any continuous chemical dosing or process line that can't tolerate a filtration shutdown for routine changeout. |
| Code-stamp requirement (ASME Section VIII Div. 1) | Code-stamped vs. economic non-code construction is a real cost and lead-time driver that should be confirmed against the project's pressure-vessel requirements before quoting, not assumed either way. |
Fil-Trek Cartridge Housing Series (Sampled)
Fil-Trek's cartridge housing line runs 18 real models across ASME Section VIII Division 1 code-stamped and economic non-code construction, with NSF/ANSI 61 potable-water certification available on specific models. Five representative series below.
| Series | Material / Construction | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| GL / L / LH Series | Standard metal, or internally lined for general corrosive service | ASME Section VIII Div. 1 code-stamped or economic non-code; PED (EU Pressure Equipment Directive) compliance available on several models. |
| UPW Series | Internally Teflon-lined, crevice-free | Built for ultra-pure water — pharmaceutical/semiconductor-grade process water, not general industrial service. |
| FRP / FRPH Series | Fiberglass-reinforced plastic (non-metallic) | Explicitly rated for corrosive and marine service — a distinct pressure-vessel material class most vendors don't offer at all. |
| VC Series | Dedicated carbon-canister vessel | Adsorption-based organics polishing, not particulate removal. |
| HPI Series | Hygienic, crevice-free design | Food/beverage and pharmaceutical hygienic-service applications. |
Cartridge media itself spans 17 real product lines — 2.5" diameter, 10"-40" lengths, 0.2-100 micron, DOE/SOE/222/226/bayonet end caps — including PTFE membrane (Fluoro Pure), stainless wire-mesh (Ecomesh), and sintered-metal (Poroshield) options for aggressive-liquid service standard polymer media can't hold up against. Full media-type selection detail: Spun vs. Pleated Sediment Cartridges →.
Fil-Trek Bag Housing Series (Sampled)
Fil-Trek's bag housing line runs 18 real models, P1/P2/P4-compatible, single-bag to 24+ bag capacity. Four representative series below.
| Series | Configuration | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Single- to 24+ bag capacity | Standard multi-bag vessels | P1/P2/P4 industry-standard bag sizes; scale by bag count and vessel size for total flow capacity. |
| FRP-BMB Series | Fiberglass multi-bag housing | Corrosive-liquid service — same FRP material theme as the cartridge housings above, in a multi-bag format. |
| DSL / DTL / SLDV / TLDV Series | Duplex (dual-vessel) with valve changeover | Zero-downtime bag swaps during continuous chemical process operation — a real engineering feature for lines that can't tolerate a filtration shutdown. |
| TW Series (high-flow crossover) | Single vessel, dual-purpose | Accepts either bag filters or high-flow cartridges without changing the housing — flexible where the media type may change over the equipment's service life. |
Bag media spans 15 real product lines, 1-200 micron, felt/depth/mesh construction — including Mera Felt NSF 61 (MF61), an NSF-61/FDA-compliant seamless polypropylene bag rated 3-100 micron. Source: Fil-Trek product/spec pages and Mera Felt MF61 datasheet, real flow/micron/material data as published by the manufacturer.
What Gets Missed in a 46 61 53 / 46 61 63 Spec
A nominal 5-micron rating and an absolute 5-micron rating are not the same guarantee — an absolute rating (e.g. Beta 5000 high-flow lines) certifies removal efficiency at that size with tested performance data. For RO/UF membrane pretreatment or any application where particulate breakthrough causes downstream damage, the spec needs to name absolute rating explicitly or it can be satisfied by media that doesn't actually protect what it's meant to protect.
FRP (fiberglass-reinforced plastic) cartridge and multi-bag housings exist specifically because standard metal or even lined-metal vessels aren't always the right answer for sustained corrosive or marine service — a spec silent on housing material can result in a metal vessel being quoted by default when a non-metallic option was actually needed.
High Flow cartridge elements are rated up to 500 GPM per element and bag housings scale by vessel/bag count — a housing sized to average demand rather than peak demand forces premature blinding and more frequent change-outs than a correctly sized system would need.
A standard single-vessel bag or cartridge housing requires a flow interruption (or a full parallel train) to change media. Duplex housings with valve changeover exist specifically to avoid that — if the process genuinely can't tolerate a shutdown for routine media changeout, that needs to be in the spec, not assumed to be handled by operational scheduling.
NSF/ANSI 61 potable-water contact certification is real and available — but on specific models and specific bag media (e.g. Mera Felt MF61), not automatically across every housing or cartridge in a manufacturer's catalog. A municipal potable-water spec needs to confirm the certification against the exact model quoted, not the product family in general.
Cartridge vs. Bag — Where to Go Deeper
This page covers both sections as CSI spec references. For the actual factor-by-factor decision between the two technologies — rating precision, flow capacity per unit, housing material options, and change-out mechanics — see the dedicated comparison: Bag vs. Cartridge Filtration →. For cartridge media-type selection specifically (spun vs. pleated), see Spun vs. Pleated Sediment Cartridges →. For a full housing-sizing and RO-protection worksheet, see the Industrial Cartridge Filtration Spec Check → (free 14-page field guide).
Section 46 61 53 / 46 61 63 FAQ
Are cartridge filters and bag filters the same CSI MasterFormat section?
No — they're adjacent but distinct sections under 46 61 00 (Filtration Equipment): Section 46 61 53 covers Cartridge Filters and Section 46 61 63 covers Bag Filters. Both sit within Division 46 (Water & Wastewater Equipment) alongside other filtration technologies like pressure filters (46 61 21), gravity filters (46 61 23), and microfiltration/ultrafiltration membrane equipment (46 61 33). A spec section may reference either or both depending on which technology the engineer has selected for the application.
How do I decide which technology — cartridge or bag — a given spec actually needs?
That depends on rating precision needed, flow scale, and housing material requirements — there's no universal answer. See the full factor-by-factor breakdown on the Bag vs. Cartridge Filtration comparison page for the real trade-offs (rating precision, flow capacity per unit, housing material options, and change-out mechanics).
What does LibertyCES need to quote against a 46 61 53 or 46 61 63 spec section?
Peak (not average) flow rate, the required micron rating and whether it needs to be absolute or nominal, the fluid chemistry and concentration, any corrosive/marine-service or NSF/ANSI 61 requirement, whether continuous operation without a shutdown for changeout is required, and any ASME Section VIII Div. 1 code-stamp requirement. Send the spec section itself if available — LibertyCES matches it against real Fil-Trek cartridge, bag, and housing model lines rather than a generic filtration description.
Does LibertyCES carry housings that handle both cartridge and bag media?
Yes — Fil-Trek's TW Series high-flow housing is a real dual-purpose design that accepts either bag filters or high-flow cartridges in the same vessel without a housing change, which matters when a spec anticipates the media type changing over the equipment's service life.
What documentation does LibertyCES provide for a 46 61 53 / 46 61 63 submittal?
Manufacturer cut sheets, technical data sheets, micron-rating and material-compatibility documentation, and IOM manuals for the exact housing and media quoted. NSF/ANSI 61 certification is provided where the specific model carries it — confirm the requirement against the model, not the product family, before the submittal goes in. See the Bid Desk for full submittal-support scope.
Working a 46 61 53 or 46 61 63 spec right now?
Send James the spec section and the flow rate, fluid, and micron rating required — get a real model match, a cartridge-vs-bag recommendation, or submittal documentation back.
Ready to buy or need a fast answer? Call, text, or email James directly — (559) 395-5500 · [email protected].