Basket Strainer

Size: 1/2" - 24" (DN15 - DN600)

Pressure: Class 150 - 300 / PN 10-40

Standard: MSS SP-89, ASME B16.34, ASME B16.5 (flanged)

Body Materials: A216 WCB, A351 CF8M, A351 CF8, cast iron (GG25), ductile iron (GGG40)

Screen: Perforated stainless steel (304/316) or monel screen, mesh sizes from 1/32" to 1/2" perforations, optional fine mesh wire screen insert (20-200 mesh)

Design: Horizontal or vertical installation, bolted cover with gasket, basket/screen removable through top cover opening, drain plug on body bottom, flow direction: inlet through screen → outlet

Why Basket Strainers Dominate Pump Protection

Pumps eat debris. Valve seats get scored. Heat exchanger tubes plug up. Every one of these traces back to the same cause—something got past the inlet that shouldn't have been there. A basket strainer sits between the contamination source and the equipment that can't tolerate it. Fluid enters the body, hits the screen outside-in, debris collects inside the basket, clean fluid passes through. Simple.

The reason basket strainers dominate pump duty isn't complicated: open-top access. Unbolt the cover, lift the basket, dump the debris, rinse it, drop it back in, bolt the cover down—five minutes. No pipeline disconnect. No shutdown cycle. You see what you're catching—pipe scale, gasket fragments, construction trash. When you know what's in the basket, you know what's in your process.

Screen selection matches the threat. Coarse perforations—1/8" to 1/2"—for pump protection on water and general process lines. These catch the big stuff: weld beads, rust flakes, gasket pieces. Fine mesh, 40 to 100 mesh, for instrument protection and spray nozzle duty. Match the mesh to what you need to stop, not to the finest screen available.

Body Material—Don't Overspec, Don't Underspec

Carbon steel (WCB) covers general service—water, oil, non-corrosive process, Class 150 and 300. Stainless (CF8M / 316) handles corrosive media—seawater, chemical lines—where carbon steel pits in two years. Cast iron (GG25) lands in low-pressure water where cost beats corrosion resistance—building HVAC, municipal water, irrigation. Ductile iron (GGG40) bridges the gap: stronger than cast iron, cheaper than steel, good enough for a lot of industrial water duty.

A CF8M body on a clean-water HVAC line is money wasted. A GG25 body on a seawater intake is a two-year replacement cycle. Get the material right for the service.

A: Yes—with flow downward. The basket works the same way. Vertical upward flow works too, but debris can fall back into the outlet when you pull the basket. Horizontal or downward-vertical is preferred.

A: Perforated screen alone for coarse filtration—pump protection, general debris. Add a mesh wire insert inside the perforated basket for fine filtration—instrument protection, spray nozzle protection, particles smaller than 1/32". The perforated basket provides structure; the mesh provides fine filtration.

A: Depends on debris loading. Clean water—weekly or monthly. Commissioning with construction debris—check daily until the system runs clean. Heavy loading—install a differential pressure gauge and clean when the drop exceeds your threshold.

A: Clean basket—0.5 to 2 psi, depending on flow rate and mesh. As debris loads the screen, drop increases. That's your cleaning signal. If clean-basket drop exceeds your tolerance, the mesh may be too fine for the flow rate.

A: Yes—rated for permanent service. Not a temporary strainer. The body, flanges, pressure rating, and gasketed cover are designed for continuous duty.