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Filter RFQ Builder

Write a vendor-neutral cartridge filter RFQ: the part and housing, your “or equal” rule, micron basis, flow data, certification and units. Download it as Word or PDF with a bidder response table.

Step 1 of 7

Installed part and housing

Only step 1 needs an answer. Everything else is optional, and anything you leave blank reads "not specified" in your document. Your draft stays in this browser; nothing is stored or sent unless you choose to.

Agency or company nameOptional

If left blank, your documents simply leave it out.

Dimensions alone don't prove fit. Two cartridges with the same nominal size can seal differently in the same housing.

Import a list

Paste rows from a spreadsheet, or choose a .csv, .tsv or .txt file. It is read in your browser and nothing is uploaded.

Paste rowsOptional

Or choose a file

Line 1

ManufacturerOptional

Complete part number, including suffix

DescriptionOptional

Housing make / modelOptional

Cartridges per housingOptional

LengthOptional

Outside diameter (OD)Optional

Inside diameter (ID)Optional

End cap styleOptional

Seal / O-ring materialOptional

Label photo availableOptional

Sources and legal notes

California Public Contract Code §3400 — Brand or trade names in public works specifications, "or equal," and its exceptions.
U.S. EPA, Membrane Filtration Guidance Manual (2005) — Glossary definition of pore size as nominal (average) or absolute (maximum).
ISO 16889:2022 — Multi-pass filter test written for hydraulic fluid power filter elements.
Machinery Lubrication: Clarifying the New ISO Contamination Filtration Standards — Background on how beta-ratio ratings have been quoted at different thresholds (hydraulic and lubrication context).
NSF/ANSI 61: Drinking Water System Components – Health Effects — Scope of the standard. It addresses health effects and does not set performance requirements.
22 CCR §64591 (Indirect Additives) — Certification of materials and products that contact drinking water, by an ANSI-accredited organization.
22 CCR §64593 — Limited exceptions.
40 CFR §141.719(a) — Bag and cartridge filters: treatment credit rests on challenge testing of filters and housings identical to those in service.

Nominal and absolute ratings. Pore size is generally described as nominal (an average) or absolute (a maximum). In practice, a nominal rating means most particles at the stated size are captured and some pass; an absolute rating means nearly all are. Manufacturers don't all use one test method or efficiency threshold, so two "5 micron nominal" cartridges may not perform the same way. Ask for the test method either way.

Beta ratio. A beta ratio compares particles above a given size upstream of the filter with those downstream. The best-known standardized multi-pass test, ISO 16889, was written for hydraulic oil filters, not water cartridges. When a quote cites a beta ratio, ask which test method produced it.

What a listing covers. NSF/ANSI/CAN 61 addresses health effects, meaning what a product in contact with drinking water may leach into it. It does not set performance requirements. California's Waterworks Standards (22 CCR §64591) generally require such products to be certified by an ANSI-accredited certification body; §64593 lists limited exceptions.

Treatment credit. Under the federal LT2 rule (40 CFR §141.719(a)), Cryptosporidium credit for bag and cartridge filters rests on challenge testing of filters and housings identical to those in service. A change there is an engineering and permitting decision.

General information, not legal or engineering advice. Confirm with your purchasing staff, counsel or engineer.